A Cup of Silver Linings

By: Karen Hawkins

Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert, Nancy Linari, Angel Pean, Amanda Ronconi

Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins

Publisher's Summary

New York Times best-selling author Karen Hawkins returns to her beloved Dove Pond series with another “mesmerizing fusion of the mystical and the everyday” (Susan Andersen, New York Times best-selling author) - but this time, the magic is in the tea leaves.

Ava Dove - the sixth of the seven famed Dove sisters and owner of Ava Dove’s Landscaping and Specialty Teas - is frantic. Just as her fabulous new tearoom is about to open, her herbal teas have gone wonky. Suddenly, her sleep-inducing tea is startling her clients awake with vivid dreams, her romance-kindling tea is causing people to blurt out their darkest secrets, and her anti-anxiety tea is making them spend hours staring into mirrors. Ava is desperate for a remedy, but her search leads her into dangerous territory, as she is forced to face a dark secret she’s been hiding for more than a decade. 

Meanwhile, successful architect Ellen Foster has arrived in Dove Pond to attend the funeral of her estranged daughter, Julie. Grieving deeply, Ellen is determined to fix up her daughter’s ramshackle house, sell it, and then sweep her 16-year-old granddaughter, Kristen, off to a saner, calmer life in Raleigh. But Kristen has other plans. Desperate to stay with her friends in Dove Pond, Kristen sets off on a quest she’s avoided her whole life - to find her never-been-there father in the hopes of winning her freedom from the grandmother she barely knows. 

Together, Ava, Kristen, and Ellen embark on a reluctant but magical journey of healing, friendship, and family that will delight fans of Alice Hoffman, Kate Morton, and Sarah Addison Allen. 

©2021 Karen Hawkins. All rights reserved (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved

Seriously lacking substance

The first book in this series (The Book Charmer) was thoughtful and sweet, so I was excited to see a second, this book is a real disappointment. I think the story had potential, but sadly there is no movement in the story at all for most of the book. I felt like it was about 2 hours of substance with 10 hours of restating the same 2 story themes over and over and over and over and over. One of my favorite things about the first book was the development of the friendships and the way all the characters interacted. That is lacking in this story, you don't get the sense of community and support that was really beautiful in the first.

As for narrators - it bothered me a bit in the first book that the narrator changes for each character, but it wasn't as noticeably annoying as this book. Amanda Ronconi should have read the entire book - the teenagers voice was really flat and the grandmothers voice was super screechy.

Her books are always a little corny

This is the 3rd or 4th book I've read of hers. Not this one but a couple of the ones I read before were hilarious.

Silver Linings

This was a great addition to this series. I love all the characters. Dealing with death, remorse and forgiveness! Dove Pond is a wonderful place to live! Terrific narrators!