Queen Bee: A Novel Paperback – April 28, 2020

I loved Queen Bee! I love all of Dorothea Benton Frank books. I have family in Mount Pleasant. I love it there. My youngest son married a beautiful girl from Sullivan's Island and we all love SC! It is beautiful and everyone is so friendly. I love reading books about SC. I give the book 5 stars*****.

"Queen Bee" by Dorothea Benton Frank to me was a fun read and pure delight. A nice break from heavier or more complicated stories. But, as I look now, I see the book got many poor reviews which surprised me. I guess if one has read every single book by an author, it is possible then, to judge the latest book by all of those before it.Holly is a 30 year old, never married, nor even in a relationship, is a bee keeper. The honey they produce is raved about and she find joy in talking to them, just as pet owners might talk to their cat or dog. She lives with her mother - The Queen Bee, or QB as she became known, and the mother is relentless in picking on Holly to the point of driving her insane. It seems that Holly's sister, Leslie, was the favored child and since she married Charlie, and moved away, the mom just became a big lump, rarely getting out of bed and stuff like that.Archie is a widower with two young boys who lost his wife barely a year ago. He is a professor of religions and Holly tends to his kids after school until Archie gets home, or when he has unexpected meetings etc. Holly absolutely adores these two boys and they love her. She makes their life wonderful and helps with homework etc. Since Holly thinks she could love Archie, she invited them for dinner one evening and then often made meals for them that compensated for the pizza Arrchie would call for every night.Leslie comes crying home to momma and Holly because after her 6 yr. marriage to Charlie she has no clue what is going on with him. He decides he likes dressing like a woman. Leslie loves her hubby but is having a very hard time dealing with his choices. Charlie goes to las Vegas because he truly believes he can make it big time as a woman impersonator.At first momma was disgusted but as she grew into the idea decides to go to las Vegas with Charlie and Leslie and thinks he is so good, she designs and sews costumes for him. He begins to really get hot in clubs - Leslie gets more disgusted and in the mantime mom meets Suzanne (who is retired Marine named Buster something or other. Buster (Suz) falls in love with momma and when mom has to go back home and ends up in hospital Suz flies out, uninvited and swears to stay with momma until her demise - which is not close at all.In the meantime, Archie marries this woman, Sharon, who is a nightmare to the boys and a total bitch.I found this story amusing and enjoyed the info about bees and some of the bee antics in the story add a laugh-out-loud or two throughout.Save the rest just in case you read this very quick read yourself. I love this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the characters created. Made me laugh out loud, that doesn’t happen very often with a book. Great job DBF!

What a truly delightful novel, filled with more interesting and novel characters thanI can remember in one small book! A joy to read and lots of good facts about those bees!

Dorothea Benton Frank is an author I never tire of. I love her wholesome stories based on the Lowcountry! A really great book with the ending that was perfect.

I enjoyed this book and it was an easy book to read. I hoped it would be more of a Pat Conroy type book but it wasn't. Still worth the time it took to read it.

For anyone who has ever lived under a domineering mother's keen eye or in the shade of a sister's perfect life, have I got a story for you.Dorothea Benton Frank, the Queen of Women's Fiction set in South Carolina's Lowcountry, is back with a new book, QUEEN BEE.It's delicious. Mostly.Holly McNee Jensen is a thirty-year-old beekeeper who longs for a job as a teacher at Sullivan's Island Elementary School almost as much as she longs for Archie, the widowed professor of religion who lives next door with his two adorable sons, Hunter and Tyler.Problem is, Archie may be Harvard educated, but he's about as smart about women as a decaying dog turd. So Holly keeps bringing him three-course dinners and her heart on a silver platter. He snarfs down the food but keeps her at arm's length.Holly knows she's not getting any younger, but she's stuck on the hamster wheel of caring for her demanding, overweight, hypochondriac mother while dreaming of a life she's too afraid to grab by the balls.Meanwhile, older sister Leslie has the perfect life. She's married to a rich man named Charlie, drives a Mercedes, and lives a far different life than demure Holly.And then all hell breaks loose. Archie starts seeing an oversexed tramp of a dentist despite his little boys' complaints about her. Plus, Leslie's marriage appears to be over, as she rolls back home to her childhood bed, and starts sleeping her way through the single men on the island. But when Mama, the Queen Bee, is diagnosed with a life-threatening illness--she wasn't faking after all--something's got to give.What's a thirty-year-old virgin to do?This book is a fun romp through difficult family dynamics and affairs of the heart. I love Frank's voice as an author--she is an engaging storyteller who really understands women and the messes we make of our lives and relationships. Plus, there's some fascinating information here about bees and beekeeping.Holly's relationship with the little boys next door warmed my heart. The small town atmosphere of Sullivan's Island makes me want to live in a magical seaside town such as this. The dynamic between Holly and her sister and both sisters with their mother makes me want to give this book to my sister to read.I didn't even mind the introduction of a couple cross-dressing male characters, although I felt the author was way too heavy-handed in preaching the political correct gender-agenda that has become pervasive today. I much preferred the chapters told from Sullivan's Island and Holly's point-of-view rather than those set in the glitzy Gomorrah of Las Vegas as told by Leslie.I love happy endings and this book did not disappoint. I could have done without the lectures though. The main characters are practicing Catholics, but they seemed a whole lot more like moral relativists.

Read this book after reading Reunion Beach. Reunion Beach was a book written by Dorothy’s friends so I thought I would read something of hers.

Well written with interesting facts about honey bees sprinkled throughout the story. Loved it!

I'm a huge fan of Dottie Frank but I must say that this book is not what I'm used to. I have read Sullivan's Island, Return to Sullivan's Island, Porch Lights, The Last Original Wife, Same Beach Next Year and 1 more. The reason I adore her books is because they're so witty and cozy. Full of warmth, fun and character with a tiny bit of southern sass.But this book, Queen Bee, is nothing like it. I'm on page 131 right now and getting a bit annoyed frankly. It is like an ordinary story, nothing charming nor witty. I still have to read more than half a book but already I am rather disappointed.I still will buy all of her books -I'm THAT hooked!- but I hope Queen Bee will be the last and only disappointment.

I ljust finished this book. I loved it! I laughed. I teared up. I cheered! What a great group of characters! Hope this is the beginning of a series of books about them!