Book Details:
- Written by Rachel Linden
- Published: August 02, 2022
- Publisher: Berkley, An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC
- 2024 Hallmark Movie: The Magic of Lemon Drops
- Fiction/Magical Realism/Contemporary Romance
Back Cover Synopsis (via Penguin Random House)
Lolly Blanchard’s life only seems to give her lemons. Ten years ago, after her mother’s tragic death, she broke up with her first love and abandoned her dream of opening a restaurant in order to keep her family’s struggling Seattle diner afloat and care for her younger sister and grieving father. Now, a decade later, she dutifully whips up the diner’s famous lemon meringue pies each morning while still pining for all she’s lost.
As Lolly’s thirty-third birthday approaches, her quirky great-aunt gives her a mysterious gift—three lemon drops, each of which allows her to live a single day in a life that might have been hers. What if her mom hadn’t passed away? What if she had opened her own restaurant in England? What if she hadn’t broken up with the only man she’s ever loved? Surprising and empowering, each experience helps Lolly let go of her regrets and realize the key to transforming her life lies not in redoing her past but in having the courage to embrace her present.
Books I want to read because of this book:
- The Secret of Orange Blossom Cake – Rachel Linden
My Thoughts:
I found this book on sale through Audible and picked up my physical copy from Barnes & Noble because I must confess, whenever possible I like to have access to both an audio and print copy of a given book.
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book because I went into it pretty much blind. I just knew the cover looked cute, it was turned into a Hallmark movie, and so I assumed there must be some merit to the story. I ended up really enjoying this book! There is so much life wisdom packed into this book that I could definitely see myself reading this book again in the future. A mark of a good book, no doubt.
WARNING:
If you have not read this book and don’t wish to have the story spoiled please turn away now
Books this reminded me of:
- Happy Medium – Sarah Adler: Goat Farm
- Midnight Library – Matt Haig: Alternate Lives
- The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz: Agreements or promises we make with ourselves or others that hold us back and how to break free from them and learn to make different agreements that propel us to the life we are meant for.
Successful Storytelling Elements
- Likable/Relatable Main Character:
Lolly, the main character, is such a sweet character. Her vintage, hipster-like personality really shines through plus she is just honorable and downright a good person. As a reader I couldn’t help but root for her. In truth all the characters are likable, except maybe Rory’s mom -Nancy. Having such relatable characters made the story more familiar and “true to life.” I feel like in our own everyday lives there are mostly good people going through difficult situations rather than true “villains” and this story’s characters really highlight this.
- Life Lessons:
Rachel Linden does a great job of sprinkling wonderful life lessons throughout her story and illustrating it in various ways. For instance, this story shows readers how we often make well intentioned promises to others to people please or out of duty. Rachel Linden shows Lolly making promises to Rory, her mom, and even herself that she intends to keep but which she hadn’t actually fully thought through. It all starts with the middle school life goals list, promises she wants to keep to herself.
Then with Rory, the promises come when she agrees to do the polar plunge as a way to celebrate the new year, and then later when she is engaged to marry him. Both promises are eventually broken.
One of the big promises she makes is to her mom on her deathbed, a promise to keep the family together and keep the family Eatery going, a promise on which her life hinges. In the end she is freed from this family obligation and at last able to live her life and keep the promises she made herself albeit in a somewhat different way than she had imagined when she was young.
Aunt Gert and Lolly’s mom both become great sources for life wisdom. They have so many great lines and passages that remind readers of life truth that stir the heartstrings and remind us to keep going in the face of life challenges.
- Immersive Experience
The whole book revolves around the Eatery (the family restaurant) and the family’s famous Lemon Drop Pie. At the end of the book readers get the pie recipe which I love. I enjoy when books provide recipes or playlists, things like that which make for a more immersive experience.
- Plot
I enjoyed the way Rachel Linden arranged the sequence of events. There was a satisfying quality in the way things were neatly tied together. There was a sense of connectedness and circularity between events that kept me going back and making connections to different parts of the story.
In Conclusion
All right well, that is all for now. Hopefully this provides some food for thought and as always, if you are interested, I would love to hear what you think in the comments section below.
xoxo,
Angelica Sophia
Angelica Sophia 
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