The arrival of a mysterious young woman in possession of a dark secret has a profound impact on the lives of the inhabitants of Ballinacroagh, including the three Aminpour sisters, each of whom is going through her own transformation. ( )

I was initially going to give this book a meager two stars. I didn’t really like it and I felt like I didn’t understand a lot of it. The author didn’t seem to explain anything – who these characters were and what in the world they were doing in the middle of Ireland. I was confused, a little lost, and just didn’t enjoy the experience of reading the book. I was even more puzzled after I got on Amazon.com and saw that the average rating for the book was 4 stars – were other readers getting something that I wasn’t? I admit, by about ¼ of the way through the book, I was skimming. Heavily. Through that process, I might have missed some key explanatory details. But no, all became clear when the word “sequel” caught my eye in an Amazon.com review. Then I understood all and bumped up my rating a star, just to be fair.

Rosewater and Soda Bread is actually a sequel to Mehran’s earlier book, Pomegranate Soup. I obviously wasn’t aware of this when I put Rosewater and Soda Bread on my TBR list, but I really wish I had been. I feel like read the books in order would have explained so much, and I actually might have enjoyed Rosewater and Soda Bread.

However, I still had issues, despite the lack of understanding. The characters seem to be extremely flighty, especially the 16-year-old Layla, who is insisting on having sex with her long-term boyfriend. The thing is, even the boyfriend seems ambivalent about having sex at such a young age. And not once did either of her sisters say “At least wait until you are eighteen.” Not once did her sisters ask her why she was in such a hurry to become sexually active. I’m not trying to start a debate on sexually active teens, but if it were my little sister, I would be concerned. I would be realistic – there would be nothing I could do to stop her, but I would still raise it as an issue. Granted, there was a lot going on in the book, and the Layla issue did get pushed to the side for quite awhile. But that still bothered me.

There were also a lot of loose ends that weren’t tied up. I’m guessing that is because the author is planning on writing another sequel, but unfortunately, I won’t be reading it, or the prequel either. I feel like if I had read them in order, my experience would have been much more positive, but as it is, I think I’ll just stay away from this series. ( )

I didn't enjoy this one was much as Pomegranate Soup. The 'mermaid' story seemed a bit strange and didn't really fit in with the rest of the book to me. ( )

A sweet story continuing the one started in Pomegranate Soup. Three sisters have fled Iran and have made their way to a small town in western Ireland. There they own a restaurant, offering the townsfolk a taste of foreign foods and aromas. They are mostly accepted into the community but there are a few who would like to see them gone. Romance is in the air for the oldest and youngest sisters but the middle one has started taking mysterious "breaks" from her duties. Nice but read Pomegranate Soup first. ( )