Friday, April 22, 2011

The Peach Keeper + GIVEAWAY


I'm going to be honest- peaches kind of freak me out. Peaches have that weird fuzzy fur on it, and in my experience you should just stay away from things covered in fuzzy fur. It's just a life lesson that has served me well.

But with that said- this is a good read. I really liked it. I have seen on a few other blogs or on Good Reads that people are pretty mixed about it, but I don't care. I think it is a good book and you should read it. It's only 288 pages so psh- that's a day of reading for me peeps.











It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots. But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.


For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town. Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living. Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

Ok so that's a rather lengthy description of the book that gives you a good idea of what it's about. Now, I feel like the title makes it sound like fluffy BFF's forever with matching bracelets type of story. And honestly? I didn't feel like it was. I mean, I kind of don't like stories like that? Where the girls end the story holding hands on a porch swing. Call me cynical but BLECH.

Anyways. The story goes quickly, I really liked the characters. Usually, there's a character I can't stand and I feel like slapping them? But I can say I actually liked them all in different ways. I was rooting for Willa and Colin and then Paxton and Sebastian. The mystery behind the bones at the Blue Ridge Madam is really interesting especially if you take in the context of what time period it would have happened it- the very beginning of The Depression. And then the sub plots of the relationships between the two couples kept me reading.

In all, I was satisfied and I would recommend this book as a good summer read.

And if you really, really want it.... COMMENT on this post to be entered to win your very own copy of The Peach Keeper. You must be a follower through GFC, though. Obviously. ;) Good luck!! Drawing will be held on Wednesday, April 27.

12 comments:

E said...

I always like new books to read :)

Karen F said...

I LOVE to read!!!
I am a GFC follower

kkfoster35 at msn dot com

Karen
Mommy's Moments
http://www.avonbykaren.blogspot.com

Radtkecustoms said...

Sounds like a great read. With my kids in tow, it sounds like a week and it'd be done, but a week well spent.

radtkecustoms@gmail.com

Zoƫ said...

sounds really interesting, I have heard good things about SAA and am definitely intrigued to pick up some of her books in the future.

Lynsey said...

I would love to read this book!!!

Anonymous said...

I think this sounds like a good book! And yay for a quick read! I want it! :)

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

You keep telling me all these great books to read I just have to find the time to read them.........

Lately every time I pick up a book to read someone wants something from me it is so annoying.

Unknown said...

That looks exactly like the kind of book I would read at the beach during the summer, but in reality, it's impossible for me to read at the beach.

Helena said...

Well, this is completely off topic, but I LOVE YOUR BLOG LAYOUT. Yes, I've been gone for forever, and so this might be old news. But it's awesome.

And I love reading, so feel free to choose me on this one :)

Steff said...

Yay for free books!

karenk said...

i would love to read this magical novel...thanks for the chance :)

karenk
kmkuka at yahoo dot com

Amy said...

I am a daily follower and really want to be in the book drawing but of course I do not know if I am a GFC follower or not cuz i don't know what the hell that means. Crap!