Queen Bee: A Novel (Lowcountry Tales Book 13) Kindle Edition

If you are craving a relief from the serious happenings of life, this is the book for you! The characters are a joy to follow, the story resonates with humor - I enjoyed this book so much I may just sit down and read it again! Dorothea Benton Frank has scored again….

"Queen Bee" by Dorothea Benton Frank to me was a fun read and pure delight. A nice break from heavier or more complicated stories. But, as I look now, I see the book got many poor reviews which surprised me. I guess if one has read every single book by an author, it is possible then, to judge the latest book by all of those before it.Holly is a 30 year old, never married, nor even in a relationship, is a bee keeper. The honey they produce is raved about and she find joy in talking to them, just as pet owners might talk to their cat or dog. She lives with her mother - The Queen Bee, or QB as she became known, and the mother is relentless in picking on Holly to the point of driving her insane. It seems that Holly's sister, Leslie, was the favored child and since she married Charlie, and moved away, the mom just became a big lump, rarely getting out of bed and stuff like that.Archie is a widower with two young boys who lost his wife barely a year ago. He is a professor of religions and Holly tends to his kids after school until Archie gets home, or when he has unexpected meetings etc. Holly absolutely adores these two boys and they love her. She makes their life wonderful and helps with homework etc. Since Holly thinks she could love Archie, she invited them for dinner one evening and then often made meals for them that compensated for the pizza Arrchie would call for every night.Leslie comes crying home to momma and Holly because after her 6 yr. marriage to Charlie she has no clue what is going on with him. He decides he likes dressing like a woman. Leslie loves her hubby but is having a very hard time dealing with his choices. Charlie goes to las Vegas because he truly believes he can make it big time as a woman impersonator.At first momma was disgusted but as she grew into the idea decides to go to las Vegas with Charlie and Leslie and thinks he is so good, she designs and sews costumes for him. He begins to really get hot in clubs - Leslie gets more disgusted and in the mantime mom meets Suzanne (who is retired Marine named Buster something or other. Buster (Suz) falls in love with momma and when mom has to go back home and ends up in hospital Suz flies out, uninvited and swears to stay with momma until her demise - which is not close at all.In the meantime, Archie marries this woman, Sharon, who is a nightmare to the boys and a total bitch.I found this story amusing and enjoyed the info about bees and some of the bee antics in the story add a laugh-out-loud or two throughout.Save the rest just in case you read this very quick read yourself. I love this book.

For many years DBF was in my top 5 favorite writers but she lost that spot with All Summer Long and Same Beach Next Year. I vowed to not buy any more of her books and I guess the old never say never saying fits with this situation! I bought Queen Bee and oh my goodness am I glad I did! I so love all of the characters, they are each so different yet so the same...all looking for acceptance, love and happiness. They are so rounded in the descriptions and in their day to day lives I feel as if I know them and want nothing but the best for each of them. Because I love gardening and honey bees are so amazing and so important to us and our earth I loved reading the informative information about them and them being such a big part of the story. This style of writing, this wonderful story, these warm and interesting characters...all comprise what DBF use to be and with this book it seems she has rallied and come back to us...Welcome back Dorthea, I have missed you! I highly recommend this wonderful book!

Entertaining read. I loved the thoughts before the chapters. Great read, nice flow, I found it hard to put down.

Being a native South Carolinian, now living in Georgia, I love reading Dorothea Benton Frank's books. It brings back memories of family vacations - sitting on the front porch with a cool glass of sweet tea, peeling and eating freshly boiled shrimp, enjoying the sunsets at Myrtle Beach, Murrells Inlet, Charleston, Edisto Island, Sullivan's Island Shem Creek....... Ahhhhhhh - the ocean air....... crabbing....... combing the beaches for seashells, sand dollars, shark's teeth....... Paradise! Reading these books take me home.This book was delightful. Not only was it a good story, I loved the information on bees. Makes me want to own hives and plant oodles of flowers and herbs.I would love to see this book turned in to a Hallmark movie. (Hello! Hallmark!! Are you listening??)If you need a quick, easy read for the weekend, this is it. I highly recommend.

Lots of repetition, but it has its good moments. I probably just like the older books more. No big deal

Well written with interesting facts about honey bees sprinkled throughout the story. Loved it!

I'm a huge fan of Dottie Frank but I must say that this book is not what I'm used to. I have read Sullivan's Island, Return to Sullivan's Island, Porch Lights, The Last Original Wife, Same Beach Next Year and 1 more. The reason I adore her books is because they're so witty and cozy. Full of warmth, fun and character with a tiny bit of southern sass.But this book, Queen Bee, is nothing like it. I'm on page 131 right now and getting a bit annoyed frankly. It is like an ordinary story, nothing charming nor witty. I still have to read more than half a book but already I am rather disappointed.I still will buy all of her books -I'm THAT hooked!- but I hope Queen Bee will be the last and only disappointment.

I ljust finished this book. I loved it! I laughed. I teared up. I cheered! What a great group of characters! Hope this is the beginning of a series of books about them!