The Sound of Falling Leaves

 

Fresh from a career ending tragedy, Tessa comes back home after her Aunt Dicy has a fall. She immediately clashes with Ezekiel ("Zeke") Sloane, the caretaker of her aunt's orchard. Their mistrust is heightened by assumptions each has made about the other. While showing outward resentment, each is battling against the attraction they have toward one another.

It is pretty clear from the start that Tessa and Zeke are going to end up together.  Readers will follow the two through their relationship missteps, misunderstandings and petty arguments. Zeke is fighting internally the urge to fall for Tessa, and externally trying to maintain his undercover identity in order to bring a local crime ring to justice. Tessa is struggling with past regrets and lost dreams while she tries to track down information on a little known singer for a college project. 

There were some twists and turns with various threads of the story nicely tied together in the end. Scenes of violence and references to other make this a book for mature audiences only. I felt the book was a bit more grisly than a typical romance reader might enjoy. However, it was free of profanity and promiscuity and the violence described was done without too much graphic detail. Overall, the book would make a good escapist read on a cold winter weekend.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of The Sound of Falling Leaves from Kregel Publications for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.