"Strong relationship drama"
Psychologist Dr. Abby MacKenzie never takes time off from
her job at the Los Angeles Mental Health Associates. She
helps
police, firefighters, and medical personnel cope with the
negative side of their heroic work. Greeting her at her
office today is blood, as patient police officer Tom Conroy
committed suicide there. Over the next week, Abby goes
over the case with every breath she takes trying to find
where she went wrong, until her boss places her on three
month paid sabbatical to regain her equilibrium. Abby goes to her aunt in order to perform physical labor at
Templeton Orchard in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. At the
apple farm, Abby meets cardiologist Jake Templeton who
spends his workweek in Boston's Massachusetts General and
weekends at the orchard with his troubled little girl
Stace. Jake informs Abby he does not want her mumbo jumbo
near his child, but he fails to count on Stace's needs as
the traumatized visitor and the unhappy child fall in love
like mother and daughter. Jake also falls in love with the
Californian, but denies the sunshine Abby has brought into
the lives of the two Templetons. Fans of relationship dramas will enjoy Linda Barrett's
contemporary romance, THE APPLE ORCHARD. The story line
focuses on three agonized souls who cannot easily reach out
to other people. The lead couple is a delectable "pear".
The other New England characters and readers feel
Stace's unhappiness, though she seems too intelligent for
even a precocious fourth grader whose plans include
dropping out to run the orchard. The audience will want a
bite of this delightful tale. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted June 23, 2002
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