Romo ve Farris aileleri yıllardır birbirine düşman olan iki aile (Kitap boyunca bu düşmanlığa neyin yol açtığını da öğreniyoruz). Ancak Farris ailesinin bireyleri zaman içinde Destiny Kasabasını terk etmişler ve sadece büyükanne Edna kalmış. Edna’nın elma bahçeleri var ve geçimini bu yolla sağlıyor. Aile bireyleri zaman zaman gelip ona yardım ediyorlar ve bu sefer yardım sırası Edna’nın Chicago’da yaşayan ve bir reklam şirketinde çalışan Rachel’da. Rachel şehir hayatını ve işini çok seviyor. Tam kasabaya gelmek üzereyken hız sınırını aştığı için bir polis tarafından durduruluyor ve bu polis de yakışıklı ama huysuz Mike Romo. Mike o daha çok küçükken kız kardeşinin ortadan kaybolmasından sonra hayatı darmadağın olan ve hayatını Destiny halkını korumaya adamış bir polis memuru. Rachel ile daha ilk anda çekişmeli bir ilişki başlıyor aralarında. Her ne kadar birbirlerine son derece sinir olsalar da aralarındaki çekim o kadar güçlü ki birbirlerinden uzaklaşamıyorlar ve birbirlerini yumuşatmaya başlıyorlar.Ayrıca serinin ilerleyen kitaplarında Lucky ve Anna’yı da okuyacağız. Çok heyecanlıyım onlar için.Çok severek, çok eğlenerek okudum. Toni Blake’in bundan önce okuduğum kitabı Deli Dolu Bir Yaz da çok hoşuma gitmişti bu da çok hoşuma gitti. Susan Elizabeth Phillips ve Rachel Gibson severlerin Toni Blake’i de seveceklerini düşünüyorum. Yazarın hem duygusal hem de eğlenceli bir tarafı var. Ayrıca karakterleri de oldukça güçlü. Bu kitaptaki Mike ve Rachel da inatçı ve güçlü iki karakterdi. Aynı zamanda karakterlerin neden o özelliklere sahip olduğunu da Blake açıklıyor kitap boyunca ki bu da karakterleri tanımak ve sevmek için oldukça iyi oluyor. Sıcak bir kasaba hikâyesi okumak isteyenlere Destiny Serisini şiddetle öneriyorum.----Romo Family and Farris Family are two enemy families (You will learn the reasons of the hostility during the book). Almost all of Farisses have left the town, except the grandma Edna. She has apple gardens and she lives off the apples. The members of the family sometimes go to Destiny to help Edna. This time, Rachel who lives in Chicago and works at an advertisement firm goes to Destiny for the apple harvest. Rachel loves the city life and her job. When she was about to arrive in Destiny, a handsome but grumpy police, Mike Romo, stopped her because she exceeded the speed limit. When Mike was a little boy, her sister, Anna, vanished and she was never found. After her sister’s loss, Mike’s life became terrible and he devotes his life to the security of Destiny. At the beginning, he and Rachel hated each other. However, they had also a strong chemistry and they could not resist it. They started softening each other. Also, Blake wrote the Lucky’s and Anna’s stories for the next books. I am so excited.It was a perfect book. Before this one, I read the first book, One Reckless Summer and this was amazing, too. If you like Susan Elizabeth Phillips or Rachel Gibson, I think that you will also like Toni Blake. Her stories are both emotional and funny. Also, her characters are so strong. In this book, Mike and Rachel are strong and stubborn. Blake explains that why they have such characteristics. If you want to read a perfect cozy small town stories, read Destiny Series! Good book. Rachel has come back to Destiny to help her grandmother with this year's apple harvest. When she arrives she finds out that Mike Romo wants to buy the orchard from her grandmother. The same Mike Romo whose family claims that the Farrises stole the orchard from them years ago. Also the same Mike Romo who gave Rachel a ticket for speeding on her way into town. There is a lot of antagonism between the two of them, but not all the sparks are angry. I really enjoyed both Rachel and Mike. Rachel has taken a leave of absence from her job to go help Edna, even though her job is in jeopardy from downsizing. She loves her job and living in Chicago, but she feels it's her turn to pitch in. She's not really looking forward to spending a couple weeks in Destiny as she'd been only too happy to get out of the small town years before. Getting pulled over for speeding on the way into town did not make it any better, even worse when she found out he was a member of the Romo family. It didn't stop her from noticing how hot he was, but she sure wasn't going to do anything about it.Mike is known as something of a hard ass around town because he is intent on upholding the law. He really hates speeders and pulling Rachel over for doing considerably more than the speed limit felt good. Finding out she was a member of the family that had stolen his family's land was just icing on the cake. He didn't like the fact that his body didn't seem to care about that.I loved the interactions between these two. They started out completely antagonistic, seeming to delight in giving each other a hard time, though never in a hateful way. It isn't too long before they admit to themselves that while they may not like each other, there is something going on. When they get stuck working together at a community event, those sparks suddenly burst into flame, surprising both of them. The next thing they know they're spending time together and discovering that maybe they don't dislike each other as much as they'd thought. But Rachel has no plans to stay in Destiny and Mike doesn't do any kind of emotional commitment, so they decide that perhaps just enjoying some strings free sex would be fine.Rachel has some issues stemming from her family's fiscal irresponsibility, causing her to be pretty intent on making sure that she has a good job that pays well. She does this partly to make sure that she can be there for family members who may need her help. But the more time she spends in Destiny, the more she starts to enjoy herself. It surprises her when the occasional thought of staying crosses her mind, but her fears won't let her consider it for long, not even when she starts to develop feelings for Mike. I really enjoyed seeing her start to relax and get into her time on the farm. I also loved the way that her relationships with her friends get stronger and she realizes how much she'll miss them when she leaves. But the biggest thing is how much she comes to care for Mike. I loved seeing the way that she doesn't let him get away with grumpiness around her, but she is also sensitive to the reasons he is the way he is. Mike's issues with getting people to obey the law stem from a tragedy in his past that changed his entire life. That same tragedy has caused him to be completely resistant to letting anyone get emotionally close to him. Staying in complete control of his emotions means he doesn't put his heart at risk. It frustrates him that he can't seem to retain that control around Rachel. He is surprised when he finds himself opening up to her about what had happened to change him, because he doesn't talk about it with anyone. It also scares him because he can see that he's starting to care far more than he is comfortable with. He would like her stay in Destiny, but since she has made it clear that she's leaving he doesn't want to open himself up to the pain of being rejected.There was a lot of humor throughout the book that made it fun to read. Rachel's grandmother Edna was a whole lot of fun. She doesn't pull any punches when she talks to Rachel and some of the things she says are hysterical. I love some of her comments about Mike's physical attributes and the advice she gives to Rachel. I also enjoyed the story of her relationship with Mike's grandfather and the cause of the feud between the two families.
What do You think about A L'ombre Des Pommiers (2013)?
Toni Blake equals guilty pleasure/fun reading. I popped this one out in a day.
—bubbles
