Merilee had a great life at least that is what she thought. Michael
her soon-to-be-ex had a
different outlook on their experience. Merilee finds out that her
husband Michael has been
having an affair with their daughter's teacher.
So now Merilee and her two children are moving. Merilee has
rented a home from Sugar. Sugar
is a 94-year-old woman who doesn't care for many people.
Sugar likes to keep to herself and
doesn't get involved in the town gossip. On the first day of the
new school for the kids,
Merilee meets another mother, Heather. Heather is your typical
wealthy wife. Heather is very
involved in what is going on in the school system. Heather takes
Merilee under her wing, maybe
a little too much.
Along with everything else that is going on in Merilee life, a
person is writing a blog about what
is going on in Sweet Apple. For some reason, Merilee's life is
front and center. As much as
Sugar doesn't want to get involved in Merilee's drama, they seem
to be becoming friends.
Wade is the handy man that Sugar has recommended to Merilee.
Wade is one of the only
people that Sugar trusts. Wade also years ago was engaged to
Heather. Wade and Merilee are
starting to form a relationship.
The more that Merilee seems to be moving forward, the more
some strange things are starting
to happen. One questionable decision Heather made has thrown
Merilee and Dan, her husband,
together. That is until Dan winds up died and Merilee is the prime
suspect. What is Heather
keeping secret?
I love Karen White's book so much. Not only does it have a
mystery at the center but it also has
some romance. The best part of this book is the way that White
shows the friendship between
Sugar and Merile; a friendship that surprisingly flourishes out of
two people who once hated
each other.
This book really had me going. Right when I thought I had
figured it out, White threw a new
twist in it. I also liked that the blog's author's identity remained a
surprise. Throughout, White
shows how in a small town everyone knows your business and
how people jump to conclusions.
This great story would make a great rainy day read.
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Tradd Street series comes a stunning new novel about a young single mother who discovers that the nature of friendship is never what it seems.... Recently divorced, Merilee Talbot Dunlap moves with her two children to the Atlanta suburb of Sweet Apple, Georgia. It’s not her first time starting over, but her efforts at a new beginning aren’t helped by an anonymous local blog that dishes about the scandalous events that caused her marriage to fail. Merilee finds some measure of peace in the cottage she is renting from town matriarch Sugar Prescott. Though stubborn and irascible, Sugar sees something of herself in Merilee—something that allows her to open up about her own colorful past. Sugar’s stories give Merilee a different perspective on the town and its wealthy school moms in their tennis whites and shiny SUVs, and even on her new friendship with Heather Blackford. Merilee is charmed by the glamorous young mother’s seemingly perfect life and finds herself drawn into Heather's world. In a town like Sweet Apple, where sins and secrets are as likely to be found behind the walls of gated mansions as in the dark woods surrounding Merilee’s house, appearance is everything. But just how dangerous that deception can be will shock all three women....