Overall Grade: 4.5 ⭐️
In a perfect world, Staci Hart’s Bennet Family would have a massive soiree with her Blum Family, and the literary world would be “right as rain” (a saying I’d imagine one of the Blum sisters saying). In her newest offering and the last of her Blum’s Bees series, Run for Your Honey, Staci Hart brings an emotionally wrought, replete conclusion to a series that has stolen my heart. Rounding out this series is Jo’s story, a second chance, enemies-to-lovers romance. Duke, her former paramour, returns home to run against Jo for the town’s mayor position. Their chemistry is evident from the moment of their meeting, and their feelings from the past are undeniable. From its very first chapter, I fell in love with Duke and Jo’s journey, and Staci Hart made my heart hurt, butterflies swirl in my stomach at their trouble, and satiated my hunger for the conclusion of this beautiful series of strong women who stand against the injustices of their town.
If I have any criticism of Run for Your Honey, it would be its end. Staci Hart deftly writes the torture of Duke and Jo’s enemies-to-lovers journey. The push and pull of their attraction to each other requires time, and Hart ensures her readers’ emotional interest in their coupling by carefully taking us through their past and present complications. However, at the resolution of the falling action of their journey, the ending feels rushed, excised together like Frankenstein’s monster to present their happy ending. While Run for Your Honey satiates your hunger for the series, its ending was remiss in developing the fullness of Duke and Jo’s HEA. Does it hit wrong? No, it simply needed a bit more development. Even more, I’d love to see a bonus epilogue for the sisters because a curse has threatened their love lives, and we leave this book without knowing if it was finally set right. Even more, a novella for their mama would be a lovely little nibble. Asking these of any writer is obviously ridiculous, but these are the tethers of questions still left behind at the end of this heartfelt story.
Now is the time if you haven’t launched yourself into a Staci Hart romance, into the Blum’s Bees stories. Hart is a talented writer who continues to write deeper into the world of romance. Her ability to write intriguing characters who showcase the troubles of their worlds firmly makes her books feel like necessary reads in the world of romance.
In love and romance,
Professor A
Professor Romance 