Hummingbird Cake

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When all else fails, turn to the divine taste of hummingbird cake.

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That was the promotional pitch I received for this book. I didn’t know anything else about it, but there was a cake on the cover and I like cake, so I decided to give this novel a try. It’s a contemporary story about Carrigan, her best friends Laine and Ella, and Carrigan’s husband Jack. The story starts right in the action with Carrigan upset about the affair she’s sure her husband is having. There’s no proof or reason why she should think this, but she does. The rest of the book is full of several other situations involving no real reasons for happening.

I found it hard to get into this book because I never really connected with the characters. Carrigan and Ella seem sort of mean to Laine, yet they’re all best friends. Jack’s perfect, but then suddenly he’s cheating on his wife (or so she thinks). Carriagn’s this confident rebel, until she’s suddenly an insecure church mouse who will take things out on Laine, but not confront her husband. Even Laine, who’s the preachy one who’s always going to church, we find out abandoned her faith for a moment. I got a good feel for all of the characters’ quirks, but didn’t quite find the redeeming qualities that held everyone together. Instead of reading the book and watching these characters live through their experiences and wondering how they would get through them, I kept wondering why the characters would ever put themselves into those situations in the first place. I love a book that pulls me into the characters’ world, but this one didn’t do it for me.

If I had connected better with the characters, I would have enjoyed the book more. I’m not usually a reader of dramas, but the plot is well-conceived and interesting. FYI – if you’re looking for a Jeannette Oke romance, this isn’t for you. Not all of the characters are Christians, so there’s some drinking and swearing (which I actually appreciate when it’s true to character – nothing worse than a frustrated unbeliever yelling, “Oh, fiddlesticks!”); however, I wouldn’t consider any of it to be excessive.

Though I didn’t connect well with it, I’m still glad that I read it. I wouldn’t hesitate to pass this book along to fellow fiction readers. 3 out of 5 stars.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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