Reviewed by Dan
TITLE: Could You Love An Apple?
SERIES: Love Stories Book 2
AUTHOR: Becky Jerams
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 546 Pages
RELEASE DATE: February 20, 2017
BLURB:
Taylor Raven is starting over.
After a few difficult college years, he has decided to finally move away from Havensdale (and away from his father) to take a tennis coaching course in the tiny village of Westerfield.
The peaceful country life is exactly what Taylor needs to get away from it all. However, it is also incredibly lonely living by himself in the middle of nowhere. And no matter how far he runs, Taylor just can’t seem to escape the mistakes of his past.
As he struggles to find any kind of meaningful connection, he comes across a place on the outskirts of the village that will soon change everything. The Apple Inn – a pub run by a curious, slightly eccentric family who welcome Taylor into their world with open arms.
Soon Taylor finds his guard dropping, particularly around the kind and fun-loving son of the family, Benjamin Apple. But the closer Taylor gets, the more he feels compelled to pull away…
Can Taylor ever fall in love again when the one obstacle in his way… is himself?
REVIEW:
I’ll be honest, I was a little hesitant about picking up a 546 page book, but then I remembered book one in this series, Reasons To Love A Nerd Like Me, and how much I enjoyed that one. I jumped on the chance to read and review this current installment, and boy am I glad I did. I really enjoyed it. It didn’t seem like anywhere near 546 pages. It went by so fast!
In Could You Love An Apple? we catch up with the bully from the first book, Taylor Raven, on his continuing journey through life. This current book could easily be read as a standalone, in my opinion, but I highly recommend both, particularly so you know the bullying background.
Taylor has moved on with his life since we met him in the previous book. He has now left home and his domineering and homophobic father behind and is going to school at a college in a very small, out of the way, town to become a tennis coach. His father and mother are still in the picture. His mother is secretly funding his apartment at school for him and providing funds for food and other necessities. When his father finds out… you know what will hit the fan. Taylor’s dad was a big time professional tennis star, and he demanded Taylor follow in his footsteps. But Taylor doesn’t want that life, and certainly doesn’t want the wife and 2.5 children route that his parents are waiting for him to take. His parents are certain he will get over this ‘gay nonsense’. He is a Raven after all, there are expectations.
Taylor hasn’t made any friends yet at school. He still suffers from self-worth issues from the horrible things he did when he was a bully. He has started frequenting an out of the way little run down pub on the outskirts of the town he is now living in. It just might have something to do with the ginger behind the bar, or more accurately in the kitchen of the pub. Benjamin Apple’s family owns the pub, which is struggling to survive.
I really enjoyed this book. Ms. Jerams wrote an interesting and fast moving story, and it kept me reading straight through. Her characters feel very real, as does the story. I wanted to reach in and strangle one of Taylor’s exes when they showed up. I’ll let you figure out which one it was!
If you’ve read the previous book in the series, jump straight into this one. If you haven’t, you can still jump straight in, but you will also want to read book one when you get a chance. I highly recommend them both!
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