Heather Webber has done it again! In the Middle of Hickory Lane is both heartwarming and heartbreaking. The story is told from both Emme and Cora Bee's points of view and the author did an incredible job of taking two storylines and weaving them in the perfect mix of individual journeys as well as the complete story overall.

Both women are healing from their own versions of trauma - closed off and not interested in opening up at all. Through the love of family and community, both gals walk through their individual healing together. The magical realism elements of this story were perfectly incorporated and I very much enjoyed the storyline. I can't wait for other people to fall in love with these incredible characters like I have!

IN THE MIDDLE OF HICKORY LANE is another winner from Heather Webber. Emme and Cora Bee are delightful characters each struggling with their past and wondering how to build a future. Sweetgrass, Alabama is a charming, southern town and the neighborhood itself is almost like another character, especially when it comes to the magical garden. A decades-old disappearance adds a layer of mystery. Readers will love the strong storytelling voice.

Needed some fluff so I started reading this ARC from NetGalley.

It’s a cute story with interlocking chapters, flashbacks, gardening tips, and two people trying to heal, with some magic thrown in.

I didn’t realize this was part of a series when I requested it, happens in the same town a few of her other books do.

This is a very engaging story of two young women, each of whom have pasts they don’t want others to know the full truth about. The come together in a sleepy little town in the south as they are cousins seeking to connect with their elderly grandmother. As they each work to realize their true selves as well as their strengths, they find that and much more. It’s a community garden and a sixty year old disappearance that reveals the dark truths about many of the story’s characters.

Thank you to Netgalley, Forge Books and Heather Webber for this ARC in exchange for an honest review of the book. Each year I look forward to July and a new Heather Webber book coming out. Sadly, this book fell flat for me this year. This sadden me because The Lights of Sugarberry Cove was at the top of my best reads last year.

I will come back and type more.

Hickory Lane is a quiet street in Sweetgrass Alabama with a beautiful garden in the middle of it. Emme Wynn arrives on Hickory Lane just as the local police find a body buried in that garden. Emme has come to stay with her Grandmother Glory Wynn and to try to put down roots, find her family and become part of the community. She meets the neighbors including her cousin Cora Bee who lives next door. They become fast friends although they are both harboring secrets.
I loved this book. It's filled with magical realism, a charming southern town and a a mystery in the past to unfold. This book makes you want to move into a house on Hickory Lane and visit the gazing pool in the garden.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book for review.

In the middle of Hickory Lane is a magical flower garden, a long-lost family secret or two, some shimmery bees and love, lots of love!

I so enjoy Heather Webber's magical stories and this is another incredibly well-written book! It's about family, and love, and working together, and finding your way when you're lost....with some bees hovering about. The characters are so well developed and enjoyable, you'll just feel the love when you read this one.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for a temporary, digital ARC in return for my review.

Heather Webber is back with another charming small town story with complicated family relationships and bits of whimsy.

The story follows Emme, a girl on the run who is contacted by her estranged grandmother with an offer of employment. Emme’s relative Cora Bee is a colour designer and crosses paths with Emme when a long dead and buried family secret is unearthed, forcing the family and neighbourhood to come together and solve the whodunnit once and for all. A magical garden, mysterious bees, and a prophetic gazing pool help the family and community to plant new seeds of hope and forgiveness so that love can finally burst forth from the soil of secrets and pain from the past.

I have mixed feelings about this story. The beginning and end were the most interesting and suspenseful, while the majority of the story was slow paced and tad boring. The whimsy was the most subtle thus far out of all of Heather Webber’s books. I wish the magical realism had more presence because it wasn’t incorporated into the story enough. Cora’s special ability felt quite random and didn’t tie into the rest of the story. The hint of garden magic didn’t have a loud enough voice or purpose and the whimsy of Hickory Lane was overwrought by nosey neighbours. I also didn’t like the romance in the story because I found the male characters very unlikable and manipulative.

I am a little disappointed by this one, mostly because the magic and charm didn’t quite work--they were too subtle and disconnected from the overall story. The family mystery and the magical realism needed to be more inter-connected. It felt as though the mystery was trying to drive the magical realism instead of the magic driving the mystery which did not work for me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a free arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

In the Middle of Hickory Lane is a refreshing escape and a hopeful promise of lives reinvented, hearts healed and communities restored. The characters are lovely, and the setting is comforting. The mystery that runs throughout the book is not too hard to figure out, although the author offers us a few surprises. The romances are predictable and sweet.
I'm always drawn to the subtle magic in Heather Webber's books. It is a nice way to take us out of our world and into a fictional place where we enjoy the peace of connectiveness and reconciliation.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC of In the Middle of Hickory Lane. A delight!

This was so charming, I love Heathers writing so much, it always takes you to a magical place! Thank you so much for the advanced copy, I sure hope she continues with the series!

Another fabulous book. This isn’t the same kind of magic I felt reading Midnight at Blackbird cafe, but it carried the same kind of feel good story. Sometimes I struggle with reading ebooks and feel like I would have loved the story even more if I had the physical book or an audiobook. Definitely loved the twist at the end.

Emme Wynn has led a tough life. So when her grandmother tracks her down and invites her to stay with her, Emme takes her up on it. Emme has secrets of her own but so do many of her family members. Full of friendship, family, heart and a little bit of magic, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Sarah Addison Allen.

Heather Webber does it again! She writes such wonderful relatable characters, in such a way that you feel like you know them. The story itself is heartwarming and beautiful. She is quickly becoming a favorite author!

I received this book for free for an honest review from netgalley #netgalley

This good was so good. The main character was very relatable.

If there has ever been even the smallest part of you that felt as though you didn't belong, were unworthy or didn't fit in, you must read this book. The writing flows so smoothly it's almost mesmerizing and keeps you wanting to read page after page. I like the way this author has given the story a slight mystical element. Not so much that you would consider it a fantasy, but just enough that it could maybe be possible. Beginning with Midnight at the Blackbird Cafe, this is the 4th book I've read and I think it might be the best one yet.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan - Tor/Forge for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I adore Heather Webber's magical novels. I read this one in one sitting and was sad when it ended. It's lovely. Fifty bee zillion gold stars!

Heather Webber has done it again! I am always so please to go new places and meet new people in her stories. Emme, Glory and Cora Bee are all good souls, each a little broken and every one of them absolutely lovely. It was a pleasure getting to know them in the Middle of Hickory Lane.

The description of this book sounded right up my alley and very fun and cozy, but unfortunately I didn't click with the book itself. I think it was the writing, which is very much a me issue.