Seriously, this series has the most amazing covers. Once again, that’s what drew me in even before I knew it was the next book in the Dove Pond series.

Just as in the first book of this series, The Book Charmer, the first half of this book moved quite slow. Actually, it moved even slower that the first book. I actually felt there were too many perspectives. I understand how the lives and stories of Ava and Kristen overlap, but it just felt like too much to me. There was so much going on. Kirsten grieving her mom and worried she would have to move with her grandmother, Ellen (the grandmother) trying to bond with Kristen and regretting the relationship she didn’t have with her now deceased daughter, Ava trying to get her tea room ready for opening while hiding a huge secret from even her sisters while also trying to be a comforting present in Kristen’s life, Ava also losing business when she has a bad batch of teas.

While I loved Sarah in the first book, we were only given random scenes with her here that didn’t show her charm to the extent that I would have liked. With the minimal amount given, I don’t understand why any of the chapters were written from Sarah’s perspective. Again, it was too much.

When I was reading Kristen’s storyline, I wanted things to stay on her storyline. While I was reading Ava’s, I wanted it to stay on Ava. That is to say, I enjoyed both of their stories. It was the jumping back and forth that got to me. (I should note, this is not something that generally bothers me in a story.) And as the story jumped characters, it also jumped time. With the weeks flying by, it made no sense that Kristen’s story hadn’t progressed more.

Here are a bunch of positive things. Most of the characters are wonderful. I still enjoyed the quirky and magical nature of the Dove family. The town as a whole is downright charming. The concepts are original and interesting. All of that kept me coming back. It was the loosey-goosey nature of the flow of the story that had me only reading a chapter at a time.

I feel invested enough in the Dove sisters to want to know what happens next, but I’m hoping the next story is a bit more cohesive.

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

You can find more of my reviews at All In Good Time.