When returning home means to fight for it too…

Synopsis

From the USA Today Best-Selling Author Terry Lynn Thomas
An Apple Butter Christmas
A Heartwarming Small-Town Christmas Romance

Coming home for Christmas was supposed to be temporary—until love, legacy, and one unforgettable orchard changed everything.

Welcome to Hartstone, where the snow is deep, the secrets are deeper, and love might just get a second chance under the twinkling lights of the town Christmas tree.

Diana Marchcroft didn’t plan on returning to Hartstone, but when her beloved aunt is injured, Diana leaves the city behind to help save her family’s struggling apple orchard. What she doesn’t expect? The fight of a lifetime and the survival of her family’s heritage. The orchard is at risk of being developed into an exclusive golf course and destination wedding venue.

Alex Kelley thought he’d buried his feelings for Diana after their relationship ended abruptly on the night he planned to propose. When he unexpectedly bumps into her, he realizes that some embers never go out.

With the town busy with visitors for the annual Apple Butter Festival, Diana and Alex discover that sometimes Christmas miracles come wrapped in second chances.

If you love:

• Cozy snow-covered small towns
• Second-chance love stories
• Orchard festivals and secret kisses under the stars
• Family, friendship, and a sprinkle of holiday magic

…then curl up with An Apple Butter Christmas, a feel-good romance that will warm your heart like a mug of hot cider on a winter’s night.

My review

Diana Marchcroft ran away from her home in Hartstone, after being heartbroken by Alex Kelley. She has avoided coming back home many times, but when her aunt is injured, Diana doesn’t hesitate to return to not only help her aunt out, but also to save her family’s legacy. Because their apple orchard is at risk of being bought and turned into a golf course and destination wedding venue. Diana is not ready to give up her home without a fight and tries think of ways to prevent the sale, even if that means to move back home herself. Even if that means she bumps back into Alex… Alex who never understood why Diana left her home, him and broke his heart on the night he wanted to propose. But when two hearts have been broken, is there still something left of their feelings? And with joined forces, can the orchard be saved, just like Diana’s and Alex’s love?

When I started reading this book, I had to look op what apple butter is. Because those first chapters, I found it difficult to comprehend what products were made at the apple orchard. So not only did it enlighten me but it also put a smile on my face when I realized it can be compared to appelstroop, something that is made in Limburg in Belgium, my home 😊.

Another thing I was wondering at the start of the book, is what made Diana run away from Alex? Because reading how close they have always been, and how one night it all ended, I couldn’t link those two things. But of course I also believed that what happened then, truly hurt Diana leaving her no other option than leaving.

Even if Diana ran away from Hartstone, the fact how easy she returned, shows that she is not only a kind and loving person, but also the fact that she has missed her home and her loved ones who are living in this community. And that despite that the man who broke her heart is also in Hartstone.

While her choice for leaving was for herself, the fact that without a doubt Diana returns back home, shows us that she has her priorities straight and that she put others’ need before her own.

I liked reading her fire in this book. While she understands why her beloved aunt wants to retire, just like I could understand it, she also holds on to the family legacy. It’s not because she hasn’t been living in Hartstone or at the orchard, that she doesn’t care about it.

Not only does Diana has fire, but also Kiera won’t go down without a fight. She also cares about the orchard, and not just because it is her job. She truly wants the orchard to flourish, literally and figuratively. I liked reading how many great ideas Kiera has, and how entrepreneurial Kiera is.

While I liked reading those bits, reading how one character is playing dirty, even spreading lies and sabotaging the orchard, made my blood boil. I could comprehend the situation Meredith finds herself in, but is her way the only way? I don’t think so…

And not only the way Meredith acts involving the orchard, but her behaviour in general was just not likeable at all. The sneakiness, the desire to make people get things wrong, especially where Diana and Alex are involved…

Alex… he for sure shows what it means to be a good, righteous man. And what it means to love someone even if they broke your heart…

Alex is the kind of person that wants to help out everyone, who wants to give everyone a second chance. He also believes that someone should not pay for the errors of someone else. And he is the kind of person to rather have someone in his life as just a friend, than not having that person in his life at all.

But he is also the kind of person that enough is enough. He gives everyone a (second) chance, but he won’t let anyone fool him or his loved ones.

Of course with two broken hearts, I was curious to see how things would be resolved. And in a way, I found it sad reading how things were ended in the past without any clear explanation. Because all this could have been easily avoided with just communicating…

And we see in this book how much that is actual key… Not only between Diana and Alex, but with others too. It may be difficult to be open about everything, but when you do, you know exactly where you stand and what the truth is, avoiding miscommunications.

Being human means making mistakes. Perhaps some could be avoided, perhaps not. But it is important that we learn from our mistakes, that we forgive (but not let take advantage of us neither! 😊) and that we can put the past behind us and look forward to a happy future.