A Slice of Summer in The Peach Keeper

I have eagerly awaited Sarah Addison Allen’s latest novel, The Peach Keeper, as Addison Allen typically writes lighter novels that feature female protagonists, friendship and a little magic—a perfect summer book blend.

The premise of The Peach Keeper is that everyone has a past, most likely one they want to forget. And yet that past follows you and is with you as you attempt to move forward in life. Can you ever really go home again?

Willa’s great great grandfather built the Blue Ridge Madam, a long neglected historical house with an ancient peach tree in the front yard. Willa has never been in the house, but Willa’s Grandmother lived in the house as a young lady. In present times, during the manor’s elaborate restorations, the peach tree is removed and a body is unearthed. No one knows who the dead person is, but Willa suspects that her Grandmother Georgie may have once known the answer, sadly Georgie now has dementia.

At age 30, the fiercely independent Willa has moved back to her small hometown and decided to settle into a quiet life as a respectable shopkeeper. Willa is still trying to live down her high school reputation where she was known as a troublemaker. Meanwhile, Paxton is the Southern Momma’s Girl, looking picture perfect and making all the right choices while inwardly cringing in that she is single and still lives at home under her Mother’s thumb. Willa and Paxton would never have associated in high school; however, they must work together now to learn the story behind the body found under the peach tree.

Love, friendship and a sprinkle of mystery hold the easy pace of The Peach Keeper and will keep the reader intrigued to the very end.

JUST FOR FUN: Author Sarah Addison Allen has a lovely interactive website and there she has a great coffee personality guide--be sure to check your coffee persona by selecting the following link and then select the Not Just Fiction link.

http://www.sarahaddisonallen.com/the_...