Review of The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I first picked up The Peach Keeper, it appeared to have everything I like in a novel. Romance. Interwoven plotlines. Secrets. Murder. Paranormal activity. Interesting setting. I finished the book because, with all those elements swirling around, I wanted desperately for something dramatic to happen...right up until the final page. The conclusion of the separate plotlines proved to be predictable in true Chick Lit fashion. But I have to give this book four stars for keeping me until the end.

The book is about four young adults on the verge of middle age, trying to leave their high school selves bahind and become someone they aren't...someone others expect them to be rather than who they are in the case of Willa and Paxton...someone other than what they're expected to be in the case of Colin and Sebastian. In the end, they come back to who they really are, who they were trying to be in high school and couldn't quite become.

Family secrets pull Paxton and Willa together, as it pulled their grandmothers together so many years ago. The two women discover the true meaning of friendship when they delve into the past.

Their romantic interests, Colin for Willa and Sebastian for Paxton, provide just enough romance to give romantics a warm mushy feeling. Colin escapes his hometown only to be pulled back home first by his twin Paxton and then by Willa. Sebastian, who reinvented himself in high school in order to fit in, has to embrace who he really is when he finally admits his feelings for Paxton.

This was a great read if all I wanted was a dab of romance and a great tear-jerky, new-best-friends Chick Lit read. But I wanted more. The book promised more. The hint of paranormal activity wasn't enough to satisfy. The author could have dove deeper into this area. The reveal of the family secret that tied Paxton and Willa together didn't offer much drama. These two elements could have combined to make some riveting reading, but Ms. Allen failed to explore them beyond the superficial. I was disappointed.

Would I recomment The Peach Keeper? Yes, if you are interested in Chick Lit with a dash of romance. If you want something that bends genres, you might want to look elsewhere.

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