THE APPLE TREE (Sunday Morning 2) by Jewel E Ann-review tour

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date January 23, 2025

He’s a single dad starting over in a new town. She’s a relentless flirt with a penchant for trouble, ten years younger than him, and the babysitter. What could go wrong?

Eve has just graduated from high school, but she doesn’t know what’s next aside from working at the local motel, spying on Kyle, her neighbor, and stealing apples from his orchard. If she doesn’t figure things out soon, she’ll be stuck at home and treated like a child forever.

Kyle is a single dad and the new football coach who needs a babysitter for his adorable son. When he meets Eve, there’s an instant connection because she reminds him of someone—himself. But Eve is the preacher’s daughter, off-limits, and Kyle has already had his heart trampled by his ex.

After earning his son’s affection with her homemade apple sauce and youthful spirit, Eve asks Kyle to teach her things like driving his fishing boat and shooting his hunting bow. Despite his better judgment, he agrees, but swears Eve to secrecy so no one gets the wrong idea about them.

Their playful banter and innocent flirting crosses a line, and Kyle misses the heartbreaking secret Eve’s hidden in plain sight.

When tragedy strikes, can they find their way back to each other?

•••••••

REVIEW: THE APPLE TREE is the second instalment in Jewel E Ann’s ‘historical’ adult SUNDAY MORNING romance series. This is twenty-eight year old single father / high school teacher/ football coach Kyle Collins, and eighteen year old Eve Jacobsen’s story line. THE APPLE TREE, set in 1987, advances the series approximately two years, and can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Eve and Kyle) THE APPLE TREE follows the building but forbidden relationship between is twenty-eight year old single father / high school teacher Kyle Collins, and eighteen year old Eve Jacobsen. Eve Jacobsen is a recent high school graduate with no prospects on the horizon. Working as a motel maid, Eve finds herself at a crossroads, struggling with her own demons, when her mother suggests her babysitting services for the new neighbor next door. Enter Kyle Collins, the man with whom Eve will fall in love. Kyle Collins is a single father, who moved to Devil’s Head for a new beginning but never intended to fall for the preacher’s eighteen year old daughter. Having been burned in the past, Kyle has issues of trust, and Eve is about to push all of Kyle’s buttons.

The world building follows several paths including Eve’s personal battles and her need to break from her parent’s overzealous religious control. Her father is the local preacher, and as such, appearances can make or break the Christian following but Eve is quickly falling for a man who is battling his own attraction to a woman ten years younger, and keeping their relationship a secret is a fight they are about to lose. Each new chapter begins with a song title relating to the couple’s journey. THE APPLE TREE is not as preachy, and does not overwhelm the reader in religious ideation as book one SUNDAY MORNING but some of the doctrines and theology of Christianity are present, none-the-less including the thinly veiled ‘Adam and Eve’ undertone using the apple tree.

The relationship between Kyle and Eve is one of dual attraction but Kyle knows not to cross the invisible line, a line that Eve will continuously break. Having already loved and lost, Kyle has issues of trust, and having been seduced by the preacher’s daughter, Kyle finds himself battling between head and heart knowing the scandal will rip the family and town apart. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

The secondary and supporting characters include the introduction of Kyle’s sweet but energetic five year old son Josh, as well as Eve’s best friend Erin: Kyle’s best friend Adam, and Kyle’s brother Fred who is best friends with Pastor Jacobsen. We are reintroduced to Eve’s long suffering sisters Gabby and Sarah (Sunday Morning), and their parents Pastor Peter and Janet Jacobsen. Gabby’s story line is next.

THE APPLE TREE is another story of secrets and lies, family and friendships, acceptance and love. The premise is sensitive, detailed, impassioned and thought provoking; the age-gap romance is raw and emotional; the characters are spirited and edgy.

Click HERE for Sandy’s review of book one SUNDAY MORNING

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sandy

Jewel is a free-spirited romance junkie with a quirky sense of humor.

With 10 years of flossing lectures under her belt, she took early retirement from her dental hygiene career to stay home with her three awesome boys and manage the family business.

After her best friend of nearly 30 years suggested a few books from the Contemporary Romance genre, Jewel was hooked. Devouring two and three books a week but still craving more, she decided to practice sustainable reading, AKA writing.

When she’s not donning her cape and saving the planet one tree at a time, she enjoys yoga with friends, good food with family, rock climbing with her kids, watching How I Met Your Mother reruns, and of course…heart-wrenching, tear-jerking, panty-scorching novels.

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