A near mental breakdown at college, followed by an eerie visit from her
longtime idol, Nina Simone, sends Shay running home to her roots for
some much needed rest and relaxation. At home there are Nona, her
mother, and Sunshine, her little sister, and a tidy cottage unlike
anything Shay ever lived in while growing up. Already struggling with
mental health issues and barely holding on, Shay doesn't know what to
make of the new Nona and she isn't willing to let go of the past long
enough to figure it out. The Nona who raised her was always drunk or
passed out. Always running from one man to the next, and never lucid
enough to see to her child. The woman in front of Shay now is none of
those things and Shay wonders how Nona could so easily have forgotten their past, when it's all she can think about in the present.

Carleen Brice's ORANGE MINT AND HONEY, with its heart-tugging warmth and harsh reality, has earned a place on my 'favorite books' shelf. The characters are expertly drawn, the plot fluid and the message clear. There's no place like home, and home really is where the heart is. Nona finally finds a place in Shay's heart right around the time this book found a place in mine.

Reviewed by T. Shelly B.
of The RAWSISTAZ™ Reviewers