The Peach Keeper

A brief synopsis:

Willa Jackson comes from small town Walls of Water, North Carolina. Her family was once wealthy, her great-great-grandfather built the finest home in town, the Blue Ridge Madam. But then the family met financial ruin, and so did the Madam. It has stood in ruin for many years, but “townie” Paxton Osgood is in the process of restoring the Madam to it's former glory, complete with an anniversary gala for opening night. But when a skeleton is found buried under the lone peach tree on the property, the town is thrown into scandal once again and Willa and Paxton's families are forced together to figure out what happened at the Madam so many years ago.

What I enjoyed:

Okay, first you should know that I'm a sucker for a good Southern sweet tea, peach pie, we love nature, small town story. They're characteristically cheesy, but I think I love them because I'm from a small, Southern town in Tennessee and the reality is that it's actually just full of meth heads and racists. I think I always wanted that sweet Southern belle ideal to be real and not problematic. Plus, if you've ever read Sarah Addison Allen before, you know this has some elements of magical realism. Now, I don't love high fantasy or supernatural fiction, but I like a little sprinkling of fantasy. And magical realism fits the bill. So all in all, the setting was perfection for me.

I'm going to put this in the category of what I enjoyed although it may actually be what I'm on the fence about. There's an enemies to lovers trope here. I honestly never know how to feel about those! As an avid reader of young adult contemporaries, you know I've read a lot of them. I don't love them or hate them. I'm somewhere in between. For this particular story, I feel like it worked and the first blossoms of ~falling in love~ described within made me nostalgic for those days with my now husband myself.

What I didn't enjoy:

The writing is a liiiiitle cheesy, as I already mentioned. Typical of sweet Southern story. But the mystery was not really a mystery. I think it was fairly obvious, after the skeleton was found, what happened. But although it's kind of billed as a mystery, I didn't personally think that was the plot. It was more a story about family, friendships, finding out who you are, etc. So I'd say this isn't a mystery, but I didn't mind.

Would I recommend?

This story is cutesy. Do you like cutesy? Then sure, yes. Especially if you like a lighthearted Southern belle story. But listen, if you're only into high-brow, intellectual stories, this is not the one for you.

Favorite quote:

“Happiness is a risk. If you're not a little scared, then you're not doing it right.”