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The Hum of Bees
The Hum of Bees won a 2022 Golden Crown Literary Award in the Contemporary Romance: Mid-Length Novels category!
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Can a fragile recluse and a public figure hiding from the press find love?
Eugenia Gallant has given everything up for her work life. Now she is being thrown under the bus by her superior. He has replaced her with an interim, taken away her work keys, and ordered her to take her three months accrued vacation ‘to think things over’ before testifying at the upcoming court case. Exhausted, betrayed, and reviled, all she wants to do is hide out for the summer somewhere where no one knows her. But where in Canada can a woman go to hide from a nationwide media storm?
Darcy Gordon is all but a recluse. She lives on her farm outside the village of Wellington on Lake Ontario and minds her own business. She doesn’t watch TV, doesn’t have internet, not even a phone plan. Returning to her ancestral home after a spectacular crash and burn, she has lost confidence in her ability to navigate the world. When a mutual friend asks her if Eugenia can stay in the little cabin on her property, Darcy agrees as a favour, not knowing it will turn both their lives upside down.
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WLW, HEA
Length = Appx. 83,020 words
Emotional angst.
Mature lead characters.
Brief references to suicide, sexual abuse. No detailed descriptions of either.
Sex in context of a loving relationship.
First in the Prince Edward County Series.
---------------
Can a fragile recluse and a public figure hiding from the press find love?
Eugenia Gallant has given everything up for her work life. Now she is being thrown under the bus by her superior. He has replaced her with an interim, taken away her work keys, and ordered her to take her three months accrued vacation ‘to think things over’ before testifying at the upcoming court case. Exhausted, betrayed, and reviled, all she wants to do is hide out for the summer somewhere where no one knows her. But where in Canada can a woman go to hide from a nationwide media storm?
Darcy Gordon is all but a recluse. She lives on her farm outside the village of Wellington on Lake Ontario and minds her own business. She doesn’t watch TV, doesn’t have internet, not even a phone plan. Returning to her ancestral home after a spectacular crash and burn, she has lost confidence in her ability to navigate the world. When a mutual friend asks her if Eugenia can stay in the little cabin on her property, Darcy agrees as a favour, not knowing it will turn both their lives upside down.
====================
WLW, HEA
Length = Appx. 83,020 words
Emotional angst.
Mature lead characters.
Brief references to suicide, sexual abuse. No detailed descriptions of either.
Sex in context of a loving relationship.
First in the Prince Edward County Series.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 14, 2021
4 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Patricia Spencer
6 books17 followersI am the author of the following works of fiction:
- The Life Bestowed, a sapphic romance featuring mature characters and intended for a mature readership. It is the second in the Prince Edward County series, set in Canada. Two years in the writing, professionally edited, and sensitivity-read by trans women, this new book was released on February 6, 2024 on Amazon.
Tagline: Is a future possible when the past hasn't been healed?
- The Hum of Bees, a sapphic romance featuring mature characters and intended for a mature readership. Winner of a 2022 Goldie Award for Contemporary Fiction. Published Nov. 2021. Contemporary Canadian. First in the Prince Edward County series.
Tagline: Can a fragile recluse and a public figure caught up in a media storm find love?
- Lie With Me, a sweet, woman-disguised-as-a-man sapphic romance set in pre-Regency England. Published June 2021. Lie With Me is a Sheena's Favourite on The Lesbian Review.
Tagline: A penniless Countess. A rich Marquis. A grand deception.
The above books are all available on Amazon worldwide.
Works in Progress:
A sapphic trilogy, I'll Get You Home. This is a rewritten, sapphic version of Day Three, which is the love story between a combat photographer and the TV producer who hires her to produce a documentary. Spending three hellish days under fire, they discover that getting home again is just as challenging as surviving war. Set in the recent past (1994) in a Balkan war zone modelled after the Siege of Sarajevo, the first third of the story is set abroad and the remainder is set in Washington, D.C. and Maine, USA.
Tagline: Surviving war takes courage. Getting home takes love.
- The Life Bestowed, a sapphic romance featuring mature characters and intended for a mature readership. It is the second in the Prince Edward County series, set in Canada. Two years in the writing, professionally edited, and sensitivity-read by trans women, this new book was released on February 6, 2024 on Amazon.
Tagline: Is a future possible when the past hasn't been healed?
- The Hum of Bees, a sapphic romance featuring mature characters and intended for a mature readership. Winner of a 2022 Goldie Award for Contemporary Fiction. Published Nov. 2021. Contemporary Canadian. First in the Prince Edward County series.
Tagline: Can a fragile recluse and a public figure caught up in a media storm find love?
- Lie With Me, a sweet, woman-disguised-as-a-man sapphic romance set in pre-Regency England. Published June 2021. Lie With Me is a Sheena's Favourite on The Lesbian Review.
Tagline: A penniless Countess. A rich Marquis. A grand deception.
The above books are all available on Amazon worldwide.
Works in Progress:
A sapphic trilogy, I'll Get You Home. This is a rewritten, sapphic version of Day Three, which is the love story between a combat photographer and the TV producer who hires her to produce a documentary. Spending three hellish days under fire, they discover that getting home again is just as challenging as surviving war. Set in the recent past (1994) in a Balkan war zone modelled after the Siege of Sarajevo, the first third of the story is set abroad and the remainder is set in Washington, D.C. and Maine, USA.
Tagline: Surviving war takes courage. Getting home takes love.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 24, 2022
The title of this book caught me plus it is a romance with mature female leads and from the first paragraph and mention of Wellington, Ontario, I was hooked.
The main characters are both trying to escape from life changing events and the accompanying notoriety. Darcy Gordon is well settled in her country life, slowly renovating the centuries old family farm house. She keeps to herself - her privacy respected by neighboring townspeople. But now she has been asked by lavender farmer Natalie to rent out her little cabin to a friend in desperate need of a place to stay. Along comes Bishop Eugenia Gallant on forced leave because of a pending lawsuit against the Church. Of course Darcy doesn't know that. Both women have weighty secrets, frustrations, expectations and spiritual doubts and as they grow closer together emotionally, they have to come to grips with that over time, the journey neither straightforward nor without eventual public scrutiny. I'll stop here and allow the story to unfold.
The author has crafted a beautiful tale with a compelling plot and interwoven slow but hot romance. Legal machinations, blackmail and sensitive topics all deftly handled -there is a thin thread of humor, supporting characters well fleshed, clear descriptions of specific surrounding areas that made them come alive and main character interaction that kept the storyline going. I couldn't ask for more as I read with ease to a satisfactory conclusion.
I highly recommend this book as a hidden gem and purchased the hard copy. Firmly on my re-read shelf.
The main characters are both trying to escape from life changing events and the accompanying notoriety. Darcy Gordon is well settled in her country life, slowly renovating the centuries old family farm house. She keeps to herself - her privacy respected by neighboring townspeople. But now she has been asked by lavender farmer Natalie to rent out her little cabin to a friend in desperate need of a place to stay. Along comes Bishop Eugenia Gallant on forced leave because of a pending lawsuit against the Church. Of course Darcy doesn't know that. Both women have weighty secrets, frustrations, expectations and spiritual doubts and as they grow closer together emotionally, they have to come to grips with that over time, the journey neither straightforward nor without eventual public scrutiny. I'll stop here and allow the story to unfold.
The author has crafted a beautiful tale with a compelling plot and interwoven slow but hot romance. Legal machinations, blackmail and sensitive topics all deftly handled -there is a thin thread of humor, supporting characters well fleshed, clear descriptions of specific surrounding areas that made them come alive and main character interaction that kept the storyline going. I couldn't ask for more as I read with ease to a satisfactory conclusion.
I highly recommend this book as a hidden gem and purchased the hard copy. Firmly on my re-read shelf.
November 2, 2022
A poignant and heart-warming love story.
Darcy and Eugenia, two women in their 50s, have more or less given up on love. Darcy has retreated from the world in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. Eugenia is a bishop being scapegoated by her church in a highly publicized sexual abuse scandal. What they share is an unwavering moral compass, a belief in decency, truth, honesty and the duty to fight injustice.
This isn’t a light read. It’s deeply emotional. It’s complex. As the women fall in love, their relationship begins to heal their deep scars and make their lives more bearable.
The writing is top-notch. Poetic, even. (None of the amateurish, fanfic-rooted quirking and smirking and huffing I’m always railing against in lesfic. No blue-eyed babes, either.)
There was a bit much religion for my taste, but I’m setting aside that little quibble because, hey, what do you expect in a story about a bishop in the midst of a church scandal?! (The one thing I could not forgive was the bit about finding meaning in Darcy’s tragedy – “it wasn’t pointless [because she] grew from it.” Ugh. I detest such everything-happens-for-a-reason claptrap.)
The more I think about this book, the more it resonates - mainly for the humanism and strength and overall goodness of the main characters. Eugenia is kind and caring and morally strong. Darcy is loyal and honest to a fault. Their mutual friend, Natalie, is compassionate, one of those rare souls who refuses to ever engage in gossip.
I highly recommend this overlooked gem.
Darcy and Eugenia, two women in their 50s, have more or less given up on love. Darcy has retreated from the world in the wake of unimaginable tragedy. Eugenia is a bishop being scapegoated by her church in a highly publicized sexual abuse scandal. What they share is an unwavering moral compass, a belief in decency, truth, honesty and the duty to fight injustice.
This isn’t a light read. It’s deeply emotional. It’s complex. As the women fall in love, their relationship begins to heal their deep scars and make their lives more bearable.
The writing is top-notch. Poetic, even. (None of the amateurish, fanfic-rooted quirking and smirking and huffing I’m always railing against in lesfic. No blue-eyed babes, either.)
There was a bit much religion for my taste, but I’m setting aside that little quibble because, hey, what do you expect in a story about a bishop in the midst of a church scandal?! (The one thing I could not forgive was the bit about finding meaning in Darcy’s tragedy – “it wasn’t pointless [because she] grew from it.” Ugh. I detest such everything-happens-for-a-reason claptrap.)
The more I think about this book, the more it resonates - mainly for the humanism and strength and overall goodness of the main characters. Eugenia is kind and caring and morally strong. Darcy is loyal and honest to a fault. Their mutual friend, Natalie, is compassionate, one of those rare souls who refuses to ever engage in gossip.
I highly recommend this overlooked gem.
May 5, 2023
It was nice to read something in the romance genre that didn't feel so schlocky for once. And not that I mind schlocky but there's a lot of that when you're primarily reading romance novels.
I enjoyed this like one enjoys wine. I sipped slowly without ever devouring. And that's not a knock on this, only to point out that this is a novel to savour. The protagonists are older--both in their 50's. The setting is in the country and near a lake. And the pacing of the narrative really meets these characters at this place at this time of their lives. And I appreciated the philosophical discussions between the two characters, who are getting to know one another in very deep ways while avoiding all the surface details. Those surface details are important and drive a lot of the narrative conflict, but I didn't feel like these characters weren't getting to know each other.
Where this looses some points for me is it became repetitive. While we, the reader, know some details a main character is hiding, we don't know everything. And Spencer really drags out that knowing to the point that I didn't care what skeletons either character had in their closets by the time I actually did find out. Communication is vitally important to me and a lot of the conflict in this comes from the characters' unwillingness to disclose information about themselves. It felt contrived at times.
I'm giving this 3.5 stars but rounding up for being a bit different from a lot of what I read.
I enjoyed this like one enjoys wine. I sipped slowly without ever devouring. And that's not a knock on this, only to point out that this is a novel to savour. The protagonists are older--both in their 50's. The setting is in the country and near a lake. And the pacing of the narrative really meets these characters at this place at this time of their lives. And I appreciated the philosophical discussions between the two characters, who are getting to know one another in very deep ways while avoiding all the surface details. Those surface details are important and drive a lot of the narrative conflict, but I didn't feel like these characters weren't getting to know each other.
Where this looses some points for me is it became repetitive. While we, the reader, know some details a main character is hiding, we don't know everything. And Spencer really drags out that knowing to the point that I didn't care what skeletons either character had in their closets by the time I actually did find out. Communication is vitally important to me and a lot of the conflict in this comes from the characters' unwillingness to disclose information about themselves. It felt contrived at times.
I'm giving this 3.5 stars but rounding up for being a bit different from a lot of what I read.
February 6, 2024
Honestly this just might be the most brilliant book I've read all year! One main character is hiding from something which is revealed slowly throughout the book. She finds refuge with another woman who has been hiding from the past and trying to heal for years. Those events are also revealed slowly. These women begin to share their stories and themselves with each other. But emotionally loaded events do not allow the way to be smooth. The characters were exceptionally well drawn; their conversations were deep. I literally found myself highlighting passages, and I almost never do that with fiction.
#CW//suicide
#CW//suicide
March 30, 2024
An outstanding and important book
While The Hum of Bees is one (if not the) most readable, entertaining and engaging lesbian fiction books I have read (and I have read a lot of them), it is also an important one is that it doesn’t fit the mould so much of other lesbian romance seems lodged in, in important ways.
So much of lesbian romance centralises young and physically beautiful women as the main characters with anyone 50 or older being sidelined and portrayed as less vital or potent in their own lives or in the lives of others in the story.
I get excited about this book on two levels, one in that it’s a brilliantly engaging read (couldn’t put it down), the other is that the central characters are in their 50s and incredibly vital, interesting, sexy, and wonderful.
I love the lesbian romance genre for so many entertaining, feel-good stories with happy endings and didn’t clue onto what was missing for me until I read this book. Aside from portraying 50+ women as vital, interesting, and downright hot it introduces some deeper themes around how the profound struggles of our lives can deepen our capacity to care and love and brings in some spiritual themes as well. And that these struggles can happen over a long timespan and 50+ women can have a deep, profound and soulful inner beauty as an outcome.
This book sits for me in a class of its own and I think will appeal to a wide range of ages. It’s my absolute favourite and I’m so excited Patricia’s next book might come out this year!
While The Hum of Bees is one (if not the) most readable, entertaining and engaging lesbian fiction books I have read (and I have read a lot of them), it is also an important one is that it doesn’t fit the mould so much of other lesbian romance seems lodged in, in important ways.
So much of lesbian romance centralises young and physically beautiful women as the main characters with anyone 50 or older being sidelined and portrayed as less vital or potent in their own lives or in the lives of others in the story.
I get excited about this book on two levels, one in that it’s a brilliantly engaging read (couldn’t put it down), the other is that the central characters are in their 50s and incredibly vital, interesting, sexy, and wonderful.
I love the lesbian romance genre for so many entertaining, feel-good stories with happy endings and didn’t clue onto what was missing for me until I read this book. Aside from portraying 50+ women as vital, interesting, and downright hot it introduces some deeper themes around how the profound struggles of our lives can deepen our capacity to care and love and brings in some spiritual themes as well. And that these struggles can happen over a long timespan and 50+ women can have a deep, profound and soulful inner beauty as an outcome.
This book sits for me in a class of its own and I think will appeal to a wide range of ages. It’s my absolute favourite and I’m so excited Patricia’s next book might come out this year!
August 5, 2024
This is a diamond from my TBR shelves! I knew it was a FAVORITE by the 3rd page! This is the story of two 50+ women, both damaged and fighting the past, and the present finding love together.
I love Eugenia and Darcy. Eugenia is a bishop fighting the church because of discovering the choir director abusing children. Darcy is hiding from her past. When Eugenia has to get away for awhile, a friend reccomends her staying in Darcy's cabin on her property.
The love takes time and is organic. Yes, it's a slow burn. But all so loving. It deserves more than 5 stars!
I love Eugenia and Darcy. Eugenia is a bishop fighting the church because of discovering the choir director abusing children. Darcy is hiding from her past. When Eugenia has to get away for awhile, a friend reccomends her staying in Darcy's cabin on her property.
The love takes time and is organic. Yes, it's a slow burn. But all so loving. It deserves more than 5 stars!
April 15, 2022
what a GREAT story!
What did I like about this story? The characters, their development from unhappy pasts to strong women who were committed to fighting against the real evil they encountered in their lives, both involving vulnerable children. Their love affair was heartwarming, and their forging a life together gave hope for a better world where love is for everyone.
What did I like about this story? The characters, their development from unhappy pasts to strong women who were committed to fighting against the real evil they encountered in their lives, both involving vulnerable children. Their love affair was heartwarming, and their forging a life together gave hope for a better world where love is for everyone.
February 15, 2022
Beautifully written
New writer for me and I am spellbound by this story. Patricia Spencer takes real life issues and frames them with strategies to not just survive, but flourish. The love story is poignant, the characters take up residence in the reader's heart. Bravo!
New writer for me and I am spellbound by this story. Patricia Spencer takes real life issues and frames them with strategies to not just survive, but flourish. The love story is poignant, the characters take up residence in the reader's heart. Bravo!
May 6, 2023
Beautiful story. I regret not jotting down the quotes I liked as I came upon them. I'll be sure to do so on the reread!
January 9, 2024
I highly recommend this book. It is soo good.
April 5, 2024
Patricia Spencer
The Hum of Bees
(The Prince Edward County Series, Book 1)
A review by Ka
*****
Great Start to a Series
I like this series for the fact that its protagonists are women over fifty with a complex history that comes with the experience of having lived one's life for over half a century. At that point, no one will have been left unscarred, which, being an older woman myself, I can entirely relate to.
The storyline is skillfully layed out with a natural element of tension, while it is gradually being revealed what each main character's backstory is about, with the development of a new relationship simultaneously unfolding.
Granted, these books come with the promise of a happily ever after ending, which I have become wary of with the overabundance of formulaic and often shallow romance novels the market is being swamped with. But this author manages to develop relevant and beautifully worded in-depth thoughts, and the conflicts encountered come across as realistic and never artificially blown up.
What I particularly enjoyed about this first book, The Hum of Bees, is the discussion of religious/spiritual insights between the two main characters, one of whom is clergy, and how, together, they eventually overcome the challenges of their individual dilemmas.
I like it a lot that this is a series with a community of supportive female characters that we get to meet again in upcoming installments, as the author promises on her website to devote one book to each of the original four "Gal Pals". I went on to read book two right after finishing book one, and am very much looking forward to books three and four that, as of spring 2024, are not available yet.
The Hum of Bees
(The Prince Edward County Series, Book 1)
A review by Ka
*****
Great Start to a Series
I like this series for the fact that its protagonists are women over fifty with a complex history that comes with the experience of having lived one's life for over half a century. At that point, no one will have been left unscarred, which, being an older woman myself, I can entirely relate to.
The storyline is skillfully layed out with a natural element of tension, while it is gradually being revealed what each main character's backstory is about, with the development of a new relationship simultaneously unfolding.
Granted, these books come with the promise of a happily ever after ending, which I have become wary of with the overabundance of formulaic and often shallow romance novels the market is being swamped with. But this author manages to develop relevant and beautifully worded in-depth thoughts, and the conflicts encountered come across as realistic and never artificially blown up.
What I particularly enjoyed about this first book, The Hum of Bees, is the discussion of religious/spiritual insights between the two main characters, one of whom is clergy, and how, together, they eventually overcome the challenges of their individual dilemmas.
I like it a lot that this is a series with a community of supportive female characters that we get to meet again in upcoming installments, as the author promises on her website to devote one book to each of the original four "Gal Pals". I went on to read book two right after finishing book one, and am very much looking forward to books three and four that, as of spring 2024, are not available yet.
April 7, 2024
The Hum of Bees is a gift to lesbian fiction with 50+ engaging main characters whose individual life experiences and struggles create a past that is the undercurrent of each of their lives as they navigate their way forward. Darcy and Eugenia are rich in personality and depth—richer and deeper for their life experiences. Those life experiences have taken each of them on a journey that has forged two vital, multi-faceted, caring women who must use their maturity to self-reflect and grow in order to try to find a future together as they become closer. With the secrets, frustrations, even blackmail that enriches the plot and will keep you reading, in combination with the exceptional writing and the well-paced emotional and physical trajectory of the developing personal relationship, you’ll walk away caring about these characters and remembering this book. I’ve already downloaded the second in the series.
September 1, 2022
I love Darcy and Eugenia - that they are women!! that they are gifted, fascinating, and mature; and that each brings her own unique, extensive, rich and wounded life experience that makes their entry into relationship full of potential and complexity.
I appreciate the novel tackling - with insight, understanding, sensitivity and respect - relevant issues related to gender identity, bullying, parenting, abuse within the church just to name a few.
When will I get to read the second in the Prince Edward County series? I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!
I appreciate the novel tackling - with insight, understanding, sensitivity and respect - relevant issues related to gender identity, bullying, parenting, abuse within the church just to name a few.
When will I get to read the second in the Prince Edward County series? I can hardly wait!!!!!!!!
August 24, 2023
Disclaimer: I won this book in a facebook draw.
Eugenia, after a scandal, moves into Darcy's cabin to recover. She and Darcy grow close, but both have secrets that endanger a relationship.
Good story, interesting characters, with a vividly written setting and decent plot.
My only pet peeve is that there's a couple of unresolverd plot bits. Could maybe have used a added chapter set MUCH later to wrap stuff up.
Eugenia, after a scandal, moves into Darcy's cabin to recover. She and Darcy grow close, but both have secrets that endanger a relationship.
Good story, interesting characters, with a vividly written setting and decent plot.
My only pet peeve is that there's a couple of unresolverd plot bits. Could maybe have used a added chapter set MUCH later to wrap stuff up.
November 10, 2024
The Hum of Bees is the story of a lesbian, though celibate, bishop (of an unspecified, imaginary denomination) who is fleeing from Victoria to an isolated part of Ontario to cope with troubles she is facing because she discovered and disclosed sex abuse in her church. Her rural landlord is a woman who has been broken by terrible suffering in her past. The story is well crafted and poignant.
Read
December 18, 2022dnf
May 28, 2023
Intelligent, sweet, sexy--but not over the top. I really enjoyed it!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews