As soon as I laid eyes on that cover with that adorable hummingbird, I was hooked.

So, we're following three women in their late 40s who co-own and manage a luxurious retreat. You've got Olive, still dealing with the loss of her husband, caught up in this messy emotional tango with Eleanor, who's having a massive crush on her. Then there's Harriet, the top-notch chef, juggling her love life filled with one-night stands.

One of the book's drawbacks, however, is how there's a lot of things going on. I couldn't help but feel that the story would have benefited from a more focused approach, perhaps as a series allowing for deeper exploration of each character.

Despite that, I really liked the themes of friendship and entrepreneurship woven throughout the narrative. While the potential for more profound romantic connections existed, the cluttered plot somewhat diluted their impact.

Overall, The Hummingbird Sanctuary has its highs and lows, why not give it a shot?

Thanks to Netgalley & The Publisher for providing me with an E-Arc in exchange for an honest review!!

CW: Sexual Content, Alcohol, Drug Use, Mentions of Past Suicide, Mentions of Death/The Passing of loved ones

3 / 5 Stars

I didn't hate this one per se, but if given the choice to re-read this or literally anything else, I'd probably pick the second option. The reason for that is hard to pinpoint exactly, but it's probably a combination of a lot of things.

With 3 POV's and 3 Mc's, we don't really get to dive too deep into intersting things, instead deciding to scratch the surface or change course all together. This is especially true when it comes to Olive.

She starts the book in a place that reminds me of, but isn't quite, a depressive episode. She's stressed cause the Sanctuary could be in a bad place - more on that in a second - & struggling with Mental Health stuff she's not sharing with her two friends. The Sanctuary is a place of healing, - we've been told that so so many times - so it would have been ironic if it did the opposite of what it was supposed to do to the "leading founder" Olive. She's got the baggage, but it's never brought up in a meaningfull way. More in a telling, shock factor-y way, so that we can focus on the love story part. Which I have also a lot of oppinions on.

The story plays with the idea that "Oh no, Olive overspend way too much money and, Oh no, we could actually loose it all". In which I mean, we mention it when we think it sounds cool, but truly, there isn't a single moment, not one, were you ever question how good the Sanctuary is doing. Honestly, this book could take place literally anywhere else and nothing would change, cause it's made it very clear that, the second the love intersts enter the picutre, the place is all but forgotten. And so are any cool ideas or set-ups, that we could have explored. At least when it comes to Olive.

Hattie doesn't really have super huge baggage. Her bagagge is that she likes sex. And now she's trying to have less sex aka one-night stands. Oh no, how hard. If this sounds mean, I'm sorry, but by god, should you take that Sexual Content Warning seriously. Those three are almost unable to talk about anything else that is not sex, alcohol or drugs, while also consuming and doing those three things basically everytime two of them are on page togehter. Their friendship feels therefor kind of shallow and empty. Because you see, just saying how much you care for 300 pages without actually showing that you care isn't really doing it for me. But back to Hattie and her insta lust/love story. Which was ... something. I've seen people compare it to Love-Bombing and it certainly gives off those vibes at times, especially since they talk about getting married NOT EVEN 48 HOURS after they first meet. It's also were most of the sex is happening. They talk on occasion, but honestly, the most of the time they're on page togehter they spend it doing nsfw things. Good for them I guess, but not really selling me on them as a couple.

Eleanor is the most interesting out of the three. With her story arc feeling the most complete and sensical ... if it weren't for the Olive thing. They have less chemistry than a slice of bread. Less than untoasted toast even, and yet *sigh*. Poor Sunny. Deserved better. Was my favourite character honestly. Maybe even Mabel too. I think if the book had been about just Eleanor's POV and her reationship to Maybe (and Olive) this book would have been way better. Cause in the case of Eleanor, all the bagagge she brings to the table, ends up actually mattering in a meaningful way. Makes her POV the most fun and exciting to read, if you ask me.

Something that also bothered me was the ace stuff. But before I go ahead, I'd just like to let you know, that I do not mind sex-favourable aces. Them having sex is not the issue. It's everything else they say and the words they use when the light isn't pointed at the ace stuff, that I feel icky about. Even when Olive is the POV we're following.

I'll share two of my most hated quotes:

"And speaking of dumb, how did two grown women, boh half naked, not sleep together?"

"I'm sorry, I can't be the reason you merely survive."


The first one gets better with context, the second one ...oh boy.
So let's talk about the second one. It's about Olive & Eleanor, where Olive is implying that because she's asexual, there might be times when she's too repulsed or just not in the mood for sex, so it's okay if El went and got it somewhere else. To which El replies that no, it's fine, she's survived not having sex for two months already, she'll survive more. So Olive - the asexual - throws that line at her. And I'm like "Bro. Shut the fuck up". She spend 80% of the book being kinda jealous at the Mabel & El thing, having huge self-doubts, even going so far as to imply - only a few sentences before that dreaded convo - that of course she'd understand if El were to find someone else, cause she's too much to deal with, too ugly, too fat and too asexual to be a good partner to El anyways. And honestly. Just wow. Being scared as an ace, that what you can give is not enough is fine, but the book isn't really painting it that way. Especially since they have sex RIGHT AFTER THAT SCENE. Not once. Not twice, but more than three times. On page, before it fades to black implying that they're still going at it. All chapter long. But do not worry, they have even moe sex later on :D Not for a single second do they talk about her aceness, what it means to her, what it means for them and what it means going forward. We are TOLD - again, like the book just loves to do - that apparently they talked off page, but honestly, that's not enough. Not when you do a horrible set-up, with a pay-off that implies not so nice things.
See and that's why she should have ended up with Sunny instead. They were cute, unproblematic & didn't make the ace-rep feel meh.


Final Thoughts
If you liked Sex & The City, you'll adore this one.

Its Good….
I thought this was a sweet book, I liked the characters, they were a wonderful circle of friends and had a lot going on. However, I didnt get emotionally invested in the book. The novel was a bit slow and sluggish at times but overall it was good. I liked how the author gave us deep insite to what the women were feeling and going through. That part was really good. It was a good book but not one I will read again but that’s just my opinion, you might love it!

I first fell in love with the cover of this book before knowing anything about the plot. Once I heard the plot, I was intrigued enough to want to read it and see what it held. I've never read anything by this author before so I wasn't sure what to expect.
This book was written from the perspective of three different women. Personally, I would have preferred for each woman to have their own story so they had more room for growth, but it worked well enough so I won't complain. My problem is that I didn't connect with any of these characters. I didn't dislike them, but it's hard to read a book in the first person when you're not connected to the characters.
I liked the plot but I wasn't overly invested in it. I just found it to exist. Things happened, that was all.
I do think I'll likely give this book another shot. When I can't connect to anything in a book, I find that I'm always curious if it's the book or if it's me. So who knows? Maybe my review will change one day.

The Hummingbird Sanctuary by Erin Zak is the story of three women- Olive, Harriet and Eleanor, who are firm friends and run a Colorado based resort established in memory of their mothers. As the book opens the friends are preparing for the grand opening of the latest addition to the resort and tensions are reaching boiling point as concerns about budgets and menus cast a shadow over the upcoming celebration. To add fuel to the fire, one of the reporters sent to cover the opening is a figure from Eleanor's past and it seems like the secrets of her past are back to haunt her.
In theory this sounded like a charming book and I loved that the author was focussing on women who were older than is often the case in popular fiction. Where I struggled was distinguishing between the characters as the story unfolded. I often found myself checking back to see which perspective I was reading as I didn't find their individual voices distinctive enough. I did finish the book, but it was more from a sense of duty than enjoyment, unfortunately this one just wasn't for me.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Bold Strokes Books Inc., and the author, for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book follows the story of 3 best friends Harriet, Ellie and Olive who started a resort/ pleasure centre to honour their mothers and how their lives have changes over the years. The book is charted out as 3 different POVs of our 3 MC's. As the opening day of their new event venue approaches, their life is flipped upside down with the arrival of 3 new guests, one an ex-bestfriend/ girlfriend, one a celebrity and one who seems like the answer to everything. Will our three MC's come out of this strong and resilient?

When compared to typical Sapphic novels, I was highly surprised to see diversity in not only character profiles, but needs, and backgrounds. The story is the definition of age does not matter to try, achieve and accomplish the life and goals you have always dreamt. I was so glad to see a potential ACE ARO character, but I feel, like much of the plot in the book, it was dangled in front of the reader as possibility and snatched away without it seeing any end and no explanation or backstory. All the 3 romance plots were too rushed and just too unbelievable. Being someone who keeps an eye out for Sapphic plots wherever it pops up, I do appreciate the existense of this book even though it felt quite forced.

Zak always writes decent stories. Quality is fine. I just rarely click with any of them.

Several friends open up a sanctuary. I didn't care for any of the characters, which made it hard for me to get invested in the book.

I’m sorry to say I did not enjoy this book as much as I had expected. It was well written but I could not connect with the characters and found them quite confused as to what they wanted out of life, despite them being in their 40s or 50s. I found Olive a particularly unlikeable character. I was glad to see a potentially asexual character but how it ended up being portrayed further down the book was not the best representation of asexuality in my view. The depictions of the POC characters (Hattie in particular) were cringey at times, and quite cliched. Well done to the author for doing something different but unfortunately it was not my cup of tea.

Erin is one of my favorite authors and I love so many of her books. This one, unfortunately, didn’t do anything for me. It kind of was ho hum. The characters didn’t grab me and the story was just ok. Like I said, I love Erin’s writing, so I will continue to keep on grabbing anything that she puts out.

This book gave me an escape, and great characters! I really enjoyed this one. Different from typical lesfic books, a refreshing read. I've read other Erin Zak books and enjoyed them, too, so definitely recommend you checking these books out if you haven't read one. Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book!

I unfortunately only found this book to be okay. It didn't not give me the warm and fuzzies, I couldn't connect with the characters, especially Olive who felt to me like Eeyore come to life.

I had high expectations for the book and was really looking forward to digging into a story about an inn in Colorado, but this book was just not that book for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Erin Zac and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I wanted to like this book. The premise sounded amazing with 3 women running a sanctuary designed for other women and wlw representation, but I found there was too much happening in the book for me to keep track of. It ended up a bit confusing.

I really wanted to like this more. Stories primarily for and about women? Set in the gorgeous mountains of Colorado? Sign me up!

On the positive side, the message that age shouldn’t get in the way of ‘finding yourself’ is a great one and something that’s important to see reflected in modern queer lit. The storylines are well thought-out and interesting, and Erin Zak is clearly a great writer.

That being said, some of the characterisation could be improved - there are a few characters who just need a touch more detail to keep them separate in the reader’s mind.

The book would benefit from a sensitivity reading - particularly concerning some slightly caricaturish and eyebrow-raising use of AAVE and Spanglish, utilised in the dialogue of Hattie (who happens to be one of the MC and POVs) and Juan respectively.

First person narratives are unfortunately also not something I generally enjoy, and this title uses three. I appreciate this is a personal preference, but sadly it did somewhat take away from my enjoyment.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked reading this book about a resort or a sanctuary in Colorado. I like visiting far away places through books, and this book didn’t disappoint. I loved the location of the book, reading about the resort and restaurant, main characters’ friendship and later relationships.
I liked the strength of the main characters. It’s so nice to read about strong feminine characters in novels. The three main characters make great role models, and are all hugely successful business women. I like reading their story in this book. This feel-good novel is a first I’ve read by the author but I’m certain it won’t be my last. I cannot wait to read more in the future.

The novel is written from the perspective of three main characters in first person point of view, which is not something I would usually enjoy, but it worked here and I enjoyed the storyline. I also found the diversity represented a nice change from the typical lesbian romance, with a couple of main characters over forty and one on the fuller side. They are each portrayed as strong, beautiful, and ambitious, but flawed.
This is a good angsty read with a nice level of romance, and as the story unfolded I wasn't sure what outcome to root for.
This one is worth a nice rainy day or sleepless night to get swept into the Hummingbird Sanctuary. I would recommend and look forward to reading other works from this author.

Thank you Erin Zak for writing a book that has trully one goal of cellebrating women's love and friendships!

This book tells the story from three different points of views: Harriet's, Ellie's and Olive's, who are owners of a resort in Colorado that's aimed for the female public. They have their life's shaken up when other three women arrive as guests in their resort. I think that's all you should really know about the story before you starting reading it because the feeling of finding out everything about these three women is so precious!

Zak has made me feel all of the feelings! I was in so much angst for Eleanor and so happy and excited for Harriet, while I wanted to smack Olive in the face a couple of times, even though I loved her!

I loved that this book makes you feel like the only purpose of it it's to truly cellebrate women loving other women - be as in lovers and/or friends. I was a feel good read that made my heart really happy. I felt really close to the characters and kinda wished the Hummingbird Sanctuary was a real life thing! Loved it.

*Thank you Bold Stroke Books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The idea of a sanctuary geared toward women was very appealing. Definitely a place I would want to go to and hang out (especially since it is located in colorful Colorado. The three women at the center of the Hummingbird Sanctuary, are Harriet Marshall, chef extraordinaire, Eleanor Fitzwallace, marketing director extraordinaire, and Olive Zyntarski, finance extraordinaire. With their talents how could the venue not be a success. I thought the naming of the sanctuary was sweet and touching.

Each of the owners are dealing with personal challenges that need to be resolved so they can shed the baggage and fully embrace life. At the start, I had to get use to the three perspectives and sometimes got lost with who was speaking and who were they speaking to. I liked that all of the women were older (although Harriet was not quite as old as Eleanor and Olive). Olive had a weight on her that she needed to talk about so she could gain some perspective. Eleanor needed to deal with past love so she could move on. Harriet needed to appreciate the present and not keep reaching for something that is not there. As each women processed and dealt with their challenge whether they wanted to or not, the reader is pulled into the turmoil. Although I was confused at times, I really enjoyed reading about three women dealing with day-to-day life, relationships, and love.

Normally I really enjoy the books by Erin Zak and the description sounded interesting so I was happy to start reading Hummingbird Sanctuary. Unfortunately this wasn't for me.. I generally dislike first person POV and here we have not one, but 3 different voices. The ladies didn't click with me characterwise and the romantic involvements were also not my cup of tea. Maybe it were just too many plotlines, characters and side characters to make it a really rounded, well finished plot within the pages allocated to this book but I also saw a lot of very positive reviews so while I wouldn't recommend this book please look at the other reviews to get a good feel about whether or not it's something for you.

*** Thank you Netgalley and Bold Stroke Books for the chance to read and review this book***

I received a free e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Oh! My! God! I loved this book. I loved it so much, and I wish I could read it again for the first time but I absolutely will be returning to this when my tbr list has drastically shortened. I loved the premise of the book, and the material did not disappoint.

The way all the MC's were nuanced, and well-developed independently of each other, but still loved each other! The romance! The tribulations! I loved it all. Though I was initially put off by the first person pov, because I typically hate first person pov, I'm so glad I was able to look past this and really sink my teeth into the book.

The struggles of Olive, Eleanor and Hattie, as well as their successes all had my heart gripped. I was initially worried there would be a presence of age-old bitchiness within the trio, as is sadly typical for a lot of books featuring all female MC's, however they all loved and celebrated each other to every inch of their abilities. The fact none of them feared to call each other out on their shit, but were always there to catch each other when they fell was truly beautiful.

Each voice was distinct, and each woman had their own distinguishable personality that was evident from chapter to chapter. They're all vastly different, but that is what makes their friendships so beautiful.

I really enjoyed the fleshing out of the romances - I truly did not expect any of the romance arcs to end the way they did, and was pleasantly surprised by all of them. I just absolutely loved this book, and is 100% a five star favourite to me.

The best way to describe this book would be to say it was lovely.

I hadn't read anything by Erin Zak before, so was pleasantly surprised to find another author I enjoy.

I love a book told from more than one POV, the style of The Hummingbird Sanctuary made me feel like I was reading three novellas, as opposed to one stand-alone novel. This gave it a fun twist.

I do wonder however if it would have been better as a series of 3 books so that there wasn't so much crammed in and we would be able to explore their individual stories more.

Regardless, it was a good read