Fear of a vengeful abusive boyfriend sends Hope Wright scuttling to get to the only place she has left to go—The Orchard House.  Her mother never had anything good to say about her ancestral home, but Hope is praying she and her traumatized 10-year-old daughter, Tink, can find refuge there.  At least for a night or two until she can find them a better hiding place.  She only hopes her estranged aunt Peg, caretaker of the house and surrounding orchards, will be receptive to unexpected visitors.

Although Peg initially meets her surprise guests with the business end of a shotgun, she softens when she realizes just who is quivering on her doorstep.  It's obvious Hope doesn't remember being at The Orchard House, doesn't remember Peg or any of what happened there.  Vowing to leave the past where it belongs, Peg guards her secrets while doing her best to care for the skittish mother and daughter.

With cherry season in full swing, it's not long before the Wright women are laboring side-by-side, forming a tight bond.  Even as Hope and Tink find healing in the comfort of family, newly-formed friendships, and the satisfaction of working the land, the threat of Hope's murderous ex looms.  Tink's dug up some intriguing clues to the past in Peg's off-limits bedroom and Peg is wracked with guilt over the secrets she's keeping.  What will happen when things come to a head, exposing the truth about the past?  Can Peg keep Hope safe, not just from a physical threat but also from the emotional bomb that's about to go off?  Or will Hope and Peg both end up losing everything that's most important to them?

You all know by now what a sucker I am for homecoming stories.  If they feature juicy secrets, all the better!  Not surprisingly, then, I was drawn to the premise of The Bitter and Sweet of Cherry Season by Molly Fader.  It stars a sympathetic trio of females, who are all wounded but fierce in their own ways.  Rooting for them is a no-brainer.  Plotwise, the novel moves along at a steady pace.  It's obvious from the get-go what's going to happen in the story, all the way down to the role of the surprise item Tink finds in Peg's hidden box, but the tale is still compelling—even if there weren't any plot "twists" I didn't see coming.  On the whole, then, I very much enjoyed The Bitter and Sweet of Cherry Season.  It's a tender story about family, forgiveness, love, and the power of coming home.  Although it deals with some difficult themes, overall it's an uplifting, empowering novel that made me smile.

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other homecoming novels, although no specific titles are coming to mind.  You?)

Grade:

I don't even know what to say about the state of the world anymore. I'm just going to post the following picture of my family and say that I hope and pray and—to the best of my ability—work toward, a future that is safe and peaceful for all my children regardless of their skin color:


On a lighter note, it's Top Ten Tuesday time.  Yay!  This is my favorite bookish meme.  If you haven't joined in before, you really should—it's a great way to spread the love around our great book blogging community.  All you have to do is click on over to That Artsy Reader Girl to get started.  Easy peasy.

Today's topic is a fun one:  Top Ten Books That Give Off Summer Vibes.  Summer is my least favorite season (ironic, given that I live in the Land of Eternal Sunshine) and I actually seem to avoid it in my reading as much as I do in my real life.  So, I'm going to change up the topic a little bit today.  Jana, our TTT host, just announced a summer reading challenge she and Reading With Jessica are hosting from June 1 - August 31.  It has a Bingo format, where you cross off different prompts when you read books that fit the categories.  The kicker?  Each book has to be written by an author you've never tried before.  Sounds fun, right?  I haven't come up with a coordinated attack for tackling the challenge yet, but here are the Top Ten Books I'm Planning to Read for the New-to-Me Author Summer Bingo Event.  Want to Bingo with me?  You can find all the info here. 




1.  Where Dreams Descend by Janella Angeles—I just started this magical YA fantasy, a genre I don't usually read.  It's about a powerful show magician who's determined to break out of the gilded cage in which her mentor is keeping her.  When she escapes, she finds herself in a complex world that she doesn't understand.  So far, I'm enjoying the writing, the imaginative world, and the strong, willful heroine.  (Challenge categories:  Summer 2020 Release, Author With a "J" in Their Name, First in a Series)


2.  The Other People by C.J. Tudor—I don't usually like books centered around a revenge plot, but this one sounds intriguing.  It's about a father who wants justice after his daughter is abducted and killed.  (Challenge categories:  Author With a "J" in Their Name, Standalone)


3.  Stranger in the Lake by Kimberly Belle (available June 9, 2020)—This thriller revolves around Charlotte, a newlywed who's trying to ignore the small-town whispers about the real cause of her husband's first wife's death.  When the body of a young woman is found in the same place where his first wife died, Charlotte is forced to take a closer look at the husband she isn't sure she really knows.  (Challenge categories:  Summer 2020 Release, Your Favorite Genre, Contemporary)


4.  The Bitter and Sweet of Cherry Season by Molly Fader—A mother and her daughter seek asylum at the Orchard House, their family estate in Michigan.  As she works in the orchards and gets to know their caretaker, she begins to discover the way to a new start.  (Challenge categories:  Summer 2020 Release, Summery Book Cover, Contemporary, Standalone)


5.  That Summer in Maine by Brianna Wolfson (available June 23, 2020)—During one summer in Maine, two women who don't know each other have an affair with the same man.  Sixteen years later, their daughters find each other and decide to spend a summer in Maine getting to know their biological father.  (Challenge categories:  Summer 2020 Release, Contemporary, Summery Book Cover, Your Favorite Color on the Cover, Beach on the Cover, Standalone)


6.  The Woman in the Green Dress by Tea Cooper—I'll be reviewing this one for a blog tour later in the summer.  It centers on a young widow who receives a large sum when her husband dies in the Great War.  Knowing his family in Australia needs the money more than she does, Fleur travels Down Under and finds herself in a strange country living a life she never expected as the owner of a remote farm and a crumbling curio shop.  Sounds like a fun read!  (Challenge categories:  Summer 2020 Release, Your Favorite Color on the Cover, Standalone, Set in a Country Other Than Your Own)


7.  A Deadly Inside Scoop by Abby Collette—Bronwyn Crewse has returned to her small Ohio town to renovate and reopen her family's ice cream shop.  A delayed opening means her first day in business coincides with the first snowfall of the year—and the murder of a drifter who harbored an old grief against Bronwyn's family.  I'm enjoying cozy mysteries lately and this series opener is getting good reviews.  (Challenge categories:  Contemporary, Cool Off With a Wintry or Snowy Setting, First in a Series)


8.  The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue (available July 21,2020)—This one is set in a Dublin hospital during World War I and the deadly flu pandemic.  The women at its center change each other's lives in meaningful ways over the course of the novel.  I've never read anything by Donoghue, but I find pandemic novels fascinating, so this one appeals.  (Challenge categories:  Set in a Country Other Than Your Own, Standalone, Hyped)


9.  The Lost Family:  How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are by Libby Copeland—As a budding genealogist, I find genetics and family relationships endlessly intriguing.  I can't wait to read this one, which I have on hold at the library.  (Challenge categories:  Recommended By a Friend, Reader's Choice, Lesser-Known)


10.  Mind Games by Nancy Mehl—This series opener features FBI behavioral analyst Kaely Quinn, whose career is ruined when she's ousted as the daughter of a serial killer.  Starting over in a new city with a demotion to field agent, she gets caught up in a puzzling murder case.  Mehl writes "faith-filled" mystery and suspense, so I'm hoping this one will be clean and uplifting, but also compelling.  We'll see.  (Challenge categories:  First in a Series, Contemporary, Your Favorite Color on the Cover, Lesser-Known) 

There you go.  What do you think of my choices?  Have you read any of them?  Any suggestions for other books that might fit the challenge's prompts?  What summery books are on your list today?  I'd truly love to know.  Leave me a comment on this post and I'll return the favor on yours.

Happy TTT!