Featured presentation: Hummingbird Sanctuary by Erin Zak

Ladies, retreat to the mountains in Colorado and surrender to the serenity of the Hummingbird Sanctuary.

Cast: Olive Zyntarski. Eleanor Fitzwallace. Harriet Marshall. Friends and co-owners of the Hummingbird Sanctuary. Three unique women.

The Plot: Olive, Eleanor and Harriet (Hattie for short) started the Hummingbird Sanctuary to cater to the relaxation needs of women. Their combined strengths have catapulted their resort into the spotlight. Things start to unravel when three women arrive to do a feature on the Hummingbird Sanctuary. Will their friendship be strong enough to overcome their individual weaknesses and secrets?

The blazing: The story is told from a first person perspective that switches between the three main characters. At first this had my head spinning, but Ms Zak created each character with such finesse that the differences quickly became obvious. We really get to know these ladies’ secrets, hopes and fears, but it doesn’t come easily. Olive and Eleanor are slightly older (50 and 47) than Harriet in her mid-thirties and they all have a lot of baggage which cannot simply be dumped on the reader. Each character is slowly revealed to us through their interactions with others as well as their thoughts.

The bright: The pacing of the story fluctuates – sometimes everything seems to happen too fast or too many things at once, whereas other times the story seems to drag a bit. This gave a realistic feel to the events at the Hummingbird Sanctuary. It also heightened the sense of the women’s fears and their resulting actions or indecisiveness, especially Olive’s.

The three women that arrive to do a feature for On the verge magazine are gorgeous characters in their own right. They perfectly add to the drama and character development of the three MCs. Sunny especially shines – exactly like her name suggests…

The bleak: Hattie and Judy (one of the On the verge trio) immediately hits it off. Their relationship evolves way too fast for it to be truly believable when you take Hattie’s one-night-stand/never-been-in-love type of past into consideration.

The burned-to-ashes: Nothing.

And then The Plot Thickens into an emotional revelation of friendship, unrequited love and the unparalleled strength of the human spirit if nourished and allowed to prosper – all surrounded by the spectacular Colorado Mountains.

Studio: Bold Strokes Books.

Closing credits: I willingly leave this review based on an eARC copy graciously granted to me by Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley.

An engaging three person perspective. Erin Zak seamlessly flows from one perspective to the next as she builds each character. Three friends, Olive, Eleanor and Harriet, make the Hummingbird Sanctuary come to life. Zak takes us on a journey of friendship, secrets, loss and love that draws you in and keeps you from putting down the book. Witnessing each character heal and blossom is balm for the soul.

“Escape to the Hummingbird Sanctuary, where you’re not only part of the family, you’re part of the charm.”

Firstly, this book had me at the mere mention of hummingbirds. They are one of my favourite birds. The cover is just exquisite.

The story follows three women in their late 40s who own and run a high-end retreat. Olive, a widow, is still grieving her husband. Eleanor has been in love with Olive for years, she's also divorced and trying to get over the betrayal of her wife cheating on her. Harriet, the executive chef, has been relying on short-term (mainly one night stand) liasons.

There's this weird dynamic going on between Olive and Eleanor throughout, that flits between attraction and loathing. I probably identified more with the latter. Because, grief aside, Olive is a bit of a dick, a lot of the time. Eleanor is having to act as go-between in an often toxic workplace. 

The biggest issue I had was just how much was going on. Three romances are introduced plus several issues with the retreat are explored, which meant that it was ultimately a bit too busy for me, and I struggled to focus at times. We also get all three POV's, and I think it would have been much better as a three part series, so that we could have had the space and time to really focus on each main character, their interactions, and their respective romantic connections, because there was potential there. I also think that might have allowed us to warm more to Olive, because she was a particularly difficult person for me to like. I did appreciate the overall idea of friendship and entrepreneurship, but, while there was potential for a lot more, I think the romances suffered as a result.

*Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to leave an honest review*

Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️ 1/2
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥
Emotional Rating: 💓😢😑

**I will publish the same review on Amazon UK on publication day**

Make sure to hone your emotional vulnerability skills before turning a single page of this book. The cover maybe eye catching in its simplicity, but the story within is as multifaceted as they come. Erin Zak knows how to tell a story and boy is this a good one.

Zak is fast becoming an author i look out for. Despite not being an avid romance reader, there is something in the way that Zak creates her stories that draws me in. They are often beautifully layered, featuring strong and yet simultaneously vulnerable women. Her characters are always on a personal journey; journeys that Zak knows exactly how to make a reader feel, truly and deeply.

The Hummingbird Sanctuary is no different. At times turning the pages of this book, felt like slowly peeling an onion right down to its naked core.

Those layers enclose the individual stories of the protagonists; Olive, Eleanor and Harriet. Told in the first person but from three different view points, readers are introduced to the three best friends, each of which are owner/operators of The Hummingbird Sanctuary. A creation through which to honour their mothers and women everywhere.

As a new resort in Colorado and with the grand opening of a new events arena looming , Olive, Eleanor and Harriet are resigned to hosting a journalist from On the Verge, namely the successful Mabel Sommers and her two friends, Judy and Sunny. The trio’s arrival heralds an avalanche of secrets and self discovery, old wounds are forced open (as if they were ever truly closed) and for one unsuspecting individual true love beckons. Friendships and relationships may never be the same again, but there’s no turning back now.

The complexity and depth of The Hummingbird Sanctuary can’t be convincingly conveyed in a review, it is a story that needs to be read in order to experience the emotional journey that Zak expertly crafts for each of her protagonists. The inner turmoil that pours from Olive, Eleanor and Harriet as they each struggle with their own pain and vulnerability is at times chaotic and yet unquestionably true to real life. After all human emotions are anything but straight forward an aspect that Zak showcases perfectly throughout.

Aside from my love of the very realness of this story, credit is always due to authors who work to include a diverse range of characters in their stories. In this book Zak celebrates diversity with characters who are bisexual, asexual, people of colour and/or curvaceous. In doing so readers are presented with an opportunity to further their own learning and understanding, if they so wish.

My one and only niggle, was the inclusion of a plot point in relation to the death of Olive’s husband Paul, which from a readers perspective seemed to have been crafted to induce a moment of conflict between Olive and Eleanor. However as Olive and Eleanor were already individually creating their own internal conflict regarding their feelings for each other, i felt that this could have been used as the point of conflict just as effectively. As such the plot point regarding the aftermath of Paul’s death seemed surplus to requirements from my perspective.

The Hummingbird Sanctuary is the perfect vacation destination resort to indulge/relax in a calm and serene environment with your partners—of course, women.

The resort is run by three friends: Olive the founder, Eleanor the manager, and Harriet the master chef. Their ages range from mid-30s to early-50s. They are mature adults who have seen ups and downs in their life. There is one thing common about all the three are that they have lost their mothers. And they love their mothers.

The setup is on the occasion of Mother’s Day, the resort has planned to open its new Amphitheater for its locales and vacationers to rejoice the beauty of the Colorado culture and arts and music. And they will be interviewed by journalists from the newest and hippiest magazine On the Verge.

As the three journalists arrive—Mabel, Judy, and Sunny—for a four-day stay and an interview visit, sparks fly between three couples.

Mabel’s (journalist) long-lost love interest with her school buddy Eleanor and their breakup comes to haunt them, as well as reunites them back to their true friendship come love. Sunny’s breath of fresh air, an upcoming actress, instantly admires Olive to explore her more of her queerness side, and also the guilt-trip she undergoes losing her longtime husband Paul. Harriet, the true dyke who is never for relationships and is well known for her one-night stands, falls head over heels with Judy the TV producer as their attraction turns heat and passion and moves the story along for an interesting and exhilarating ride.

The Hummingbird Sanctuary is a wonderful concoction of good story-telling with great character formation and evolvement within the queer literature that lacks these days. I was reminded of L-Word episodes while reading some of the chapters, which made me smile.

The author is a pro in bringing out the sexual tension between old flames and between friends turning lovers in a seamless and effortless way that makes the readers like me who was craving for an LGBTQI+ novel that is original and sticks to its genre without cliches.

I highly recommend this novel for its genre-defying story and wonderful narration of friendship, sisterhood, queer love, mature adult stuff, and what not.

I bet you won’t regret reading this novel if you are looking for a good and HEA lesbian romance novel.

After Olive Zyntarski’s husband passed, she roped in her two friends, Eleanor Fitzwallace and Harriet Marshall and the trio opened up a resort named Hummingbird Sanctuary, primarily catered for female clienteles.

While Olive is the Director of Operations, Eleanor is their Marketing guru and Harriet is in charge of the restaurant. The trio of friends have been portrayed to have a love but sometimes hate relationship but are generally for each other and the resort. With the opening of the Amphitheatre, a journalist and her two friends arrived at the resort and things took a change.

Told from point of views of the 3 friends, it’s a different approach to storytelling. Among and between the 3 friends, there are baggages, untold truths and impending change. With the arrival of the new guests, drama ensued, complexity of feelings are revealed and friendships tested. The characters are real and flawed, and readers can expect twists and surprises in the book.

I just reviewed The Hummingbird Sanctuary by Erin Zak. Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC.

This was such a beautiful story, I feel quite bereft that I have finished it. I want nothing more than the hummingbird sanctuary to be a real place. This is lesfic at its finest, the perfect blend of romance, captivating plots and steamy sexual encounters. It’s also always a treat to see bisexual representation in the novel too - I’m really passionate about bi-erasure and love it when authors provide clear representation. That said, I enjoyed that 99% of the characters were women and women in powerful and diverse career roles - love to see that. 100% recommend!

This isn’t my first Zak book but it definitely fell flat compared to the other books I’ve read by her. The book follows 3 best friends, Olive, Eleanor and Harriet. They have all lost their mothers and own a retreat in the mountains together.

Olive… yikes. She’s a mess. She’s a widow and seems to be the main kind behind the resort. She comes off as controlling, chaotic and sometimes just downright a shitty friend.

Eleanor… sigh. She was by far my favorite of the three. Classy, elegant, and the mediator of the group. She often got stuck in arguments between Olive and Harriet at the expense of her own well-being. As my favorite character, her ending was my least favorite. She deserved a lot more than what she got.

Harriet… where to start. She starts off as the player of the group; one night stands galore. Her and Olive are always butting heads and sticking Eleanor in the middle. Harriet is the head chef at the restaurant on the resort but Olive consistently trying to tell her what to do and how to do it. I can’t say much without spoiling it but this is the extreme uhaul alert.

I assumed that two out of the three women would end up paired together while the other found love outside of the group. Which is kind of what happened but not really.

The main issue I had was that it was three different story lines all crammed into one book which made it really hard for me to buy into any of the relationships or even follow what was going on. I think it would’ve been better if each character had gotten her own book and really gave readers time to get to know each women and connect with their story.

If I had to categorize this book, I’d call it second chance romance (?) with a side of extreme unhauling, love bombing and a toxic friendship turned romantic?

All in all, the book is well written and I think most people will like the romances but for me it was just too much, too fast and didn’t really give me time to get sucked into or attached to the relationships; friendship or romantic.

If you want to try another one of Zak’s books, The Road Home and Beautiful Accidents are two of my favorites.

I received a copy via NetGalley from Bold Stroke Books in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve read a few other books by Erin Zak but this was my favorite. Eleanor, Harriet and Olive are best friends and co owners of the Hummingbird Sanctuary. Their Colorado resort is unique in that they market exclusively to women. The idea came about after they each lose their mothers and find themselves looking for comfort and their next step in life. They each have their own quirks but have learned to deal with each other over long years of friendship. When a journalist comes to town with friends in tow and throws a wrench in their plans they find they don’t know each other as well as they thought. They also find that life may just give you what you need, even if it isn’t what you thought you wanted. These three are adorable and I love seeing these lasting friendships portrayed among a group of women. They are each so human in their actions and feelings, unlike most books where characters are usually just a bit too perfect. These three made me alternate through happiness, anger, understanding, confusion and back again throughout and I loved every minute of it!

This one was interesting enough to keep me engaged enough to read in one sitting. But, I didn't love this. It just felt...unnecessary? Like the story that it started out with is not really the same story the took place in the middle or even that it ended with.

I love Erin Zak, I don't need to know anything about a book, just slap the name on and I'll read it. That's how I started reading this one as well. Oh and don't forget the cover, it's fabulous!

Of course, when you start reading a book without any information, like reading a blurb upfront, you might get surprised. You can be surprised as well even if you read the blurb of a book. So I was surprised by this book. Why? Because it's about three women, maybe even six, but 3 main characters - Olive, Eleanor (Ellie) and Harriet (Hattie). They are best friends a run a resort for women, by women, female empowerment is a big theme in this book. The three friends are a bit off-kilter by the arrival of a group of 3 friends from LA and the imminent opening of their newest venue. The ladies from LA - Mabel, Judy and Sunny - are invited VIP guests, Mabel is a journalist and it just so happens to be she knows Ellie from way back. Mabel broke Ellie's heart and had a hand in the horrible outing of her in high school. Zak writes the pain and trauma of that so well, she has a talent of writing these big emotions so you experience them as well. It's a little disturbing to be honest, a good disturbing if that even makes sense. Mabel and Ellie work through the past experience while Ellie is also fighting her love for Olive. She's been in love with her forever. To say the friendships shared in this book are messy is a bit of an understatement, but it feels authentic.
Hattie is matched up with Judy. This is such an instalove story. It had me rolling my eyes but I loved it at the same time? I feel so confused about it. I mean proposing after 5(!!) days? Sure why not... Normally that would just turn me off the entire story but somehow it was sorta fine.
Sunny seems like the light-hearted vehicle that is there to brighten Olive up and open her eyes. I think Olive is intended to be displayed as demisexual although this term is never used, asexual is. I think in the end Zak intended it to be all cute and sweet but the HFN/ HEA felt a little forced and too much.

Erin Zak delivered some excellent character work in this character-driven story, especially the pains and struggles are superbly written. At times the story moves a little to fast and other times it just falls a little flat, it's a bit of a strange rollercoaster. Maybe it's because of the switching POV, each chapter is written in first person from one of our three leading ladies. These characters are so different that it might give you whiplash, I liked it. I liked how messy and real it feels. I think this is a book you need to read to understand all the feelings and really experience it, a review can't do it justice. To me, this is another Zak masterpiece.

The Hummingbird Sanctuary is a queer romance that follows the journey and POV’s of three middle-aged best friends and fellow entrepreneurs as they embark on an important weekend for their resort and for their love lives.

I loved the stories shared by each of these women and the touch points that the author created. She truly expressed how love can be messy and feelings can be difficult to understand, not to mention complicated. But these women were resilient and pushed through their anxieties and fears to follow their hearts and minds. It was such a great read and I’m excited to explore other books by this author.

Hummingbird Sanctuary, a novel by Erin Zak, is a unique and enchanting love story times three. This book came along at exactly the right time and was just what I wanted and needed to read.

The novel is a character-driven story about three ladies who open a women-centered resort in a remote, but gorgeous area in Colorado. Besides being best friends for years, Olive Zyntarski, Eleanor Fitzwallace, and Harriet Marshall have something else in common…they’ve all lost their mothers. That is why they dedicated the resort to their moms and made the place for women to come, relax, and rejuvenate. Olive, Eleanor, and Harriet do have secrets they’ve kept for years. Those secrets could be revealed when a journalist and her two friends come to write a piece about the place and its owners in a major magazine.

This tale is told in first person through the eyes of the three main characters. That can sometimes be confusing if the POV is switched often as it is in this book. The author did a good job of keeping the reader informed about who they were seeing the story through. The setting is really important to the story, and it is well described. I want to find a real life resort like the Hummingbird Sanctuary. I could really use a vacation like that. The characters are what make this novel so special though. They are very true to life. The story is heartwarming with a fair amount of angst.

I’m very glad I got the chance to read Hummingbird Sanctuary. I recommend it to anyone who loves a good romance.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

The Hummingbird Sanctuary is about 3 women - Olive, Eleanor and Hattie - who are best friends and co-owners of a luxury women-focused resort, and how their lives are collectively shaken up by the arrival of three guests - a journalist and her two friends, a producer and an actress.

This was a great cast of characters - both loveable and flawed, very human, and at times exasperating, and this story does a brilliant job of exploring both the highs and lows of human interaction and connection.

Olive, Eleanor and Hattie's friendship and love for each other is messy and imperfect but real. The one downside to this is that at times it was perhaps a little too real, making it frustrating to read, as they seemed to spend a lot of the book arguing or at odds with each other.

The journalist, Mabel, turns out to be an old school friend/lover of Eleanor's, who then contributed to her being outed, and Zak does a great job of capturing how raw and painful those memories were even year later, as well as Eleanor's complicated feelings towards Mabel and her lack of closure. I actually much preferred the relationship between Eleanor and Mabel to the one between her and Olive (though I didn't necessarily think they should have ended up together either.) Eleanor's love for Olive felt a little like we were being told she was in love with her but not really shown.

I really loved Hattie as a character and her relationship with Judy, the producer, was probably my favourite in the book. It was perhaps a little insta-lovey but it worked, as the two have great chemistry throughout.

I have mixed feelings on Olive as a character. I symphasised with her greatly throughout the book, however, I have some issues with how her potential asexuality was depicted. I wasn't expecting ace rep going in, so it was a pleasant surprise to begin with (and I am all for more ace characters in books!) but how it was presented here didn't quite sit right with me. I appreciate that the book tried to explore the complexities of the ace spectrum, how some aces experience sexual attraction in some form, and are sex-favourable, and discover their asexuality later in life, and Olive's questioning her asexuality really rescinded with me.

However, to me it felt like Olive getting to experience some sexual attraction towards Eleanor at the end was written as though that experience was a part of her getting a happy ending, and it's presented like it would have been a little less of a happy ending if she hadn't wanted to sleep with her. It had a 'you'll find the right person eventually, and when you do you'll want to have sex with them' ring to it. I don't think this was the author’s intention, I think she was trying to depict demiseuxality/greysexuality (neither word is used, so I can't say for certain) but having it presented in such a way, so tied up with their HEA/HFN, made me a little uncomfortable.

On a related note, the other ace character, Sunny, was probably the least developed of the 6 main characters. It felt like she was just there to be matched up with Olive and be the sound piece for the advice Olive needed to hear.

Overall, this was a book with some great moments and some excellent character work, but some of it feel flat or left me uncomfortable. If you're a fan of WLW romances you might still enjoy it, but it didn't quite work entirely for me.

I received a free copy on Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one isn't how I usually like my stories so I'm pleasantly surprised to find that I enjoyed it. The story revolves around three women - Olive, Eleanor and Harriet - who are best friends and also co-owners of a resort that's designed to be a sanctuary for women. There are three POVs and multiple romance storylines involving the journalistic team that arrives to interview them, most of which feel unrealistically insta. But I didn't mind that because those romances are key to the characters discovering more about themselves and especially since the character arc is pretty well written.

This is my first book by Erin Zak. I like it. And I'm looking forward to exploring some of her other books

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Three best friends Olive, Harriet and Eleanor who are totally different are owners of The Hummingbird Sanctuary for women. After the death of husband Olive has put everything into the resort which causes conflict with her friends because of her spending but she carrying something that tearing her apart. Eleanor heart has been broken but it doesn’t stop her for trying find happiness Hattie is a force to be reckon with but her life is about to shift inform of Judy. I love that we got three pov with each characters and how they grown this was a good read,

Three old friends built a holiday resort - a sanctuary - together, and now it’s all on the line because they’ve overspent on new event facilities and the opening of their Amphitheatre absolutely has to be a success. Part of that success is going to be their press coverage, but “there’s a fine line between being successful and being in way over our heads,” and their VIP guests bring their own troubles.
Olive is an anxious micromanager and has hang-ups after the death of her because their marriage wasn’t great. Harriet, who prefers ‘Hattie,’ is an incredible chef who’s tired of casual sex. And Eleanor has been pining after Olive for fifteen years, but she’s ready to move on. They each meet their match in Sunny, an actress, Judy, a television producer, and Mabel, journalist and Eleanor’s high school best friend. But some connections last a weekend and others have lasted years.
At times, juggling the three romances gets to be a bit much. And for one couple the lust veers straight into instalove, which isn’t my thing, but I enjoyed the storyline around asexuality.
It is lovely and refreshing to read about women in their forties and fifties finding love and enjoying sex, but it’s soured a little by all the times another woman is admired for not looking her age. They also have the odd tendency to refer to people as ‘chicks,’ although perhaps that's perfectly common in Colorado.

Olive, Harriet and Eleanor are best friends. They are also the owners of The Hummingbird Sanctuary, an idyllic resort in Colorado for women. The women love each other but Olive's control freak tendencies and overspending are causing issues. The arrival of a reporter who is doing a story on the sanctuary and her two friends turns the women's lives even more upside down.

I love every last thing about this book. The story is told from three points of view, which I really enjoyed. I love to get into the mind of the characters I'm reading about. Harriet or Hattie, as she prefers to be called, is a force of nature and my favorite character in the book. She has been a player for a long time, but things have begun to shift, and Judy arrives at the perfect time. After Olive's husband's death, opening the Hummingbird Sanctuary becomes her primary focus. She is a self-described pain in the ass and a complete control freak. She has a secret that's tearing her apart. And then there's Eleanor. She's the resorts marketing director, she's classically beautiful. After having her heart broken years ago, she wants nothing more than to find happiness.

These three women are more than best friends, They're family. It doesn't matter how much they argue or how much they may disagree, the love they feel for each other is a constant. The arrival of the reporter and her friends threatens to tear them apart. Olive, Eleanor and Hattie are all well- crafted characters. Erin Zak does a wonderful job of developing these characters and they all evolve so beautifully throughout the story. The secondary characters of Mabel, Judy and Sunny are fabulous.  I would happily read a story featuring any of these as a main character.

This is my favorite Erin Zak book. I love how she featured lesbian, bisexual and ace characters. It's so refreshing to see a book with so much representation. I really want to be friends with these women. I want Hattie to cook for me, I want to do some meditating with Olive to calm her down and, frankly, I just want to swoon over Eleanor. I recommend you book a stay at The Hummingbird Sanctuary as soon as possible.

An ARC was received from Bold Strokes via NetGalley for an honest review.

I’m not a big fan of first person POV novels. I accept that many readers love this format so I’m the outlier. Three main characters, Olive, Eleanor and Harriet give us three first person points of view in alternating chapters. My biggest challenge in this read was keeping straight whose viewpoint I was reading. I would figure it out but it kept pulling me out of the story which was unfortunate because I did end up enjoying this book. The author takes her time fleshing out her three main characters allowing us to feel like we really know them before throwing three secondary characters into the mix. The ensuing drama, great sex scenes, foodie bliss and general upheaval of friendships made for a fascinating read.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars thanks to Erin Zak’s writing talent showing us it’s possible to discover new facets to our personalities when we let go of guilt and remorse.

A copy of this book was given to me by Bold Strokes Books via NetGalley for review.

Would have been better as a 3 book series. Written well, but too missing from each m/c. I want to know them bettrr.