After reading Jennifer Wixson’s first novel, Hens & Chickens, I was anxious to get started on her second novel, Peas, Beans & Corn. These are two of Wixson’s four novels called The Sovereign Series.
Sovereign is a small Maine town where these engaging stories take place. And I have to say that Wixson is well anchored in rural Maine, and captures it brilliantly in her novels, from the way we speak to the wonderful caring people who live there.
That’s not to say her novels aren’t filled with intrigue, and yes, even some characters who are a bit less than admirable. But you will love her main characters, who I predict, you will never forget. You may even know them! And if you live in central Maine, as I do, you will recognize the locations, businesses, and other things in Wixson’s novel.
If you would like to read my review of Hens and Chickens, you can do that on this website. It was posted here on December 20 in the book review section.
Peas, Beans & Corn’s main characters, 35-year-old Maine Army Guardsman Bruce Gilpin and 21 year-old college student and organic foodie Amber Johnson, are minor characters in Wixson’s first novel who take center stage in her second novel. And boy what a stage that is.
These two actually meet on a bus taking them both to Sovereign, and it is love at first sight. But that love is both complicated and challenging, and their relationship will keep you flying through this novel. And I’m sorry but I can’t tell you how it ends up.
There’s a lot more going on in this novel including the revival of an old corn shop, and honestly, I read the book in two days, always reluctant to put it down to do something else. Fortunately, I guess, one of those days was that Saturday where the snow turned into ice, giving me a very good excuse to stay home and read.
You won’t need an excuse to read Peas, Beans & Corn, and I guarantee the first thing you do after you finish the novel will be to grab a copy of Wixson’s third novel The Songbird of Sovereign. Yup, I’m starting that tonight!