Love at the Apple Blossom Inn (A Rose Arbor Novella) by Kristy Tate

A small town girl.
A rock star living a lie.
Their paths cross and lead them down a road neither of them expected to find: love at the Apple Blossom Inn.
Janey knows that life doesn’t come with a happy-ending guarantee. She needs to keep her feet securely on the ground working two jobs, going to school, and caring for her little brother. She has no time or room for romance.
After an accident leaves his charmed life in ruins, Derrick abandons his Hollywood lifestyle and checks into rehab. The world believes that Derrick Cordell the rock star is dead. And despite his beating heart and breathing lungs, that’s exactly how he feels until, disguised and living incognito in the tiny town of Rose Arbor, Washington, he meets Janey, who loves him as plain old Eric Roudell, the wanna-be music teacher.
But secrets have a way of unraveling. When Janey discovers the truth about Eric/Derrick, how can she love someone she doesn’t even know? Especially since love is not on her to-do list?

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First off, the cover of this book is so cute, I think.  I like it.  :)

This is a novella, over way too fast in my opinion.  This is a story that could easily be stretched out a bit and made into a full length novel with more depth and time for growth.  I really enjoyed the characters and the setting.  Both were believable and real.  I could picture the scenes playing out in my head like a movie which is always a great thing.  The relationship between Janey and Derrick just happened so fast.  It went from a couple interactions, to an afternoon together with her brother to declarations of love after a separation.  It was hard to believe in the love there.  The other thing that I felt lacked some depth was Janey's relationship with her mother and Derrick's road to recovery.  The foundations of this book just weren't there for me.

But, having said that, here are some things that I did love.  I loved the sense of community in this story.  A town that rallies together when tragedy hits always makes for warm fuzzy feelings.  As I said before, I loved the B & B setting and the characters.  I felt like I had a good handle on personalities by the end of this book.

I haven't read the other books in this series but I see that they are full length novels- much longer than this one.  It looks like each book can stand alone but perhaps I am missing some valuable background on Laney by not reading the other books first.  I am going to check out the other books in this series because I enjoyed the author's writing style and I'm curious!  :)

As of today, this novella is FREE on Amazon!  If you haven't read anything by Kristy Tate, this is a good opportunity to check out a new author.  Pick it up and let me know how you liked it.

Content:  Some references to alcohol abuse and a wild lifestyle.  Some mild innuendo.