At the end of The Book Charmer, there was a snippet of Karen Hawkin’s e-novella, Love in the Afternoon. I gave it a quick skim, learning only that a) a ghost was involved and b) dude ghost was in a bathtub wearing a blonde wig and bothering the other dude that lived in the house. What even? So, I figured if the library had it, I would do a quick digital loan and find out what the fudge-a-roo was going on.
Love in the Afternoon (2019)
Written by: Karen Hawkins
Genre: Magic Realism
Pages: 126 (eNovella)
Series: Dove Pond
Publisher: Gallery Books
The Premise:
Young widow Sofia Rodriquez has just accepted the position of greenhouse manager for Ava Dove’s booming herbal tea business. Sofia is delighted to have found a job that will make use of her gardening skills and allow her to spend time with her son, Noah, who has been diagnosed with Asperger’s. Adding to her joy is the charming farmhouse she’s renting on the edge of Dove Pond.
The only cloud on Sofia’s horizon is her next door neighbor, Jake, whose yard is a thorny jungle worthy of Sleeping Beauty. Soon enough, Sofia discovers that Jake himself is just as thorny and unpleasant as his yard.
After his fiancé left him, work-from-home IT whiz and game developer Jake Klaine has gone from Prince Charming to complete hermit. But Jake isn’t really alone; he’s living with a ghost: a (formerly) hairy man named Doyle who’s a fan of bad puns and who refuses to leave Jake’s bathtub. This is nothing new for Jake, as he’s been talking to ghosts since he was a boy. He finds real people harder to deal with, like the kid next door who won’t stop bugging him about the new game he’s developing.
Sofia and Jake know all too well that life isn’t a game. They’ve both lost the person they loved most. But under the watchful eye of the ghostly Doyle and Sofia’s new friend Ava, who has abilities of her own, Jake and Sofia decide to take a chance and let in an outsider. Soon they discover that, with a little magic, even the thorniest walls are no match for the innocent trust of a lonely child and the fierce determination of a woman wielding a razor-sharp pruner and a heart big enough to make even the most stubborn flower bloom.
No spoilers
Discussion: Is it just me or is that a weirdly long blurb for a story so short?
This feels like one of those stories an author has in their brain and wants it out — and it also happens to be big enough to chuck out for sale among the masses. Note that this isn’t a bad thing. It’s a simple tale that the premise lays all out for you. There’s very little conflict aside from Sofia and Jake trying to decide if they should take the step and ask the other if they’re interested. It was cute when they did, and I would argue that it’s a very movie moment. Not over the top, but something I think even Ava would approve of.
It’s a simple little story with chill vibes and a cute ending. I don’t have experience in working with anyone that has Asperger’s (though I do with someone in the very mild part of the autism spectrum), but I think that Sofia’s son Noah was represented well. Many things were mentioned that can be a part of what a person with Asperger’s has trouble with, so Noah felt like a real child. I did wonder if, given how Jake acts and how we’re told he was as a youngster, maybe it would be revealed that he was a little on the spectrum himself. He’s not, but it still annoyed me a bit how Doyle told him to do things. There was a lot of just straight-up yelling — which was fine sometimes since Doyle would be in the tub upstairs while Jake was downstairs — but other times he would basically be insulting toward Jake. I assume this was a “dude needs a kick in the ass to get his shit together” kind of thing, but the way Jake liked to be quiet or hang out in his own head made it feel more like Doyle should have spoken to him more rather than just insult him. He’s a ghost there to provide guidance — so actually have more heart-to-hearts and guide Jake. He sometimes did, but the attitude felt more dominant for much of the book.
A nice touch is that Sofia is from a Puerto Rican family and cooks up things her family always makes, such as papas rellenas, and Jake is all about it. Bonus: there’s a recipe for that at the end of the story. Jake and Sofia’s interactions are cute, and there’s some nice symbolism with the thorny rose bushes covering Jake’s house. Because Sofia works for Ava, I hope to at least get a cameo of the couple in the next book, A Cup of Silver Linings.
In Conclusion: It’s a quick read, so if you feel like having a nice little tidbit of sunshine to peruse this summer, by all means, go back to Dove Pond (assuming you read The Book Charmer) and watch a couple fall in love.
Although can we stop comparing guys to Zac Efron? I have never seen anything this dude has been in, and despite looking him up before, he’s so generic pretty boy that I always forget again. All it makes me think of is a bunch of teen stuff that I never saw — because I wasn’t a teen when he was doing his thing. In a nutshell, it puts in mind a teen boy and that’s creepy.
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