Cover Image: The Simplicity of Cider

The Simplicity of Cider

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Member Reviews

I honestly did not think I was going to like this book. The first couple of chapters about Sanna, who seemed like an unhappy spinster content only to work with her apples, just wasn’t intriguing.

Until the story broadened with a company who wanted to buy the orchard and turn the land into a waterpark. Then lots of shenanigans begin to occur. Also, Issac and his son Bass come to work at the orchard and it’s clear that Issac and Sanna are made for each other.

I loved how Sanna’s character grew throughout the story. I loved the story, itself and felt really happy for Eva. Eva, the woman from WWW who was in charge of the purchase of the orchard, worked for her father along with her brother. They were unkind to her and always treated her as if she was less than. I loved that Sanna saw her business sense and hired her to market the orchard.

This is a good book. If you don’t like Sanna to start with, you will by the end! 🙂

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I really enjoyed this book, the author spun a story that made you feel like you were running between the apple trees. The simpler life of running a family business that feeds your soul. Sanna hasn't known anything other than apples, and she is determined to make cider from those apple trees. When a man and his young son arrive on their doorstep it shakes up her routine life. She says she hates kids but the little boy gets her to open up.

While the family farm is struggling and her brother wants to sell to a big business Sanna is determined to make it work. Down home family values, a little mischief, and a lot of love and laughs.

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I have to start by giving credit to that cover, it’s gorgeous and something about it speaks to my soul! I also just realized how much I’m adoring books from the imprint of Gallery Books, they publish strong, fresh, unique novels and I’ve especially loved their women’s fiction. If you haven’t checked them out yet I can highly recommend this book and I haven’t read any books by them that I haven’t really enjoyed.

This was my first Reichert book, but it most certainly will not be my last! She combined a modern day, swoon worthy romance with an incredible setting and she totally captured my heart with her lovely writing style. Sanna has a simple, quiet life but she’s content. Her whole life revolves around her families orchard and she especially enjoys making cider. Issac and Bass show up at the farm looking for a place to spend the summer and she’s not exactly pleased when her father hires them.

I loved Sanna’s cantankerous personality because I just knew underneath her prickly exterior there was a heart of gold. Isaac was hot AND an amazing father, this is where I swoon. His son, Bass is one of those kids that wiggle their way into your life whether you want them to or not and the blossoming relationship between him and Sanna was one of my favorite things about this book.

Besides the lovely romance you have an idyllic setting, it was so enchanting. Learning about cider making was surprisingly fascinating and had me wanting to book a trip to an orchard in the fall. There was also just a hint of magic to the plot that added something truly special, who doesn’t like a little magic in their everyday life? I recommend this one to anyone wanting to make an escape from reality and enter a charming, quaint new place.

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The Simplicity of Cider, Amy Reichert, Tall Poppy author

I received an advance copy from Netgalley and the review is my own.

I loved this story and was transported to a scene out of a Lands End catalog! Think apple orchards and flannel and beautiful scenes of rural Wisconsin. Writing good romance is very tricky, but Amy Reichert does it beautifully. I loved all the details she adds to her characters like the fish nicknames for the 10 year old boy, and his endearing and honest outlook, and his fart jokes. The main characters Sanna and Issac were complex and I loved them both. Issac must do what's best for his son and Sanna must learn to move on from her past and allow herself some grace. The secondary characters were so memorable and dear, I will remember Mrs Dibble fondly! I love when characters are redeemed, and this author does that well. Lastly, the cider. I'm not a big drinker but I want to try each and every one that's mentioned! The detailed and complex flavors made my mouth water. And where's the recipe for Caramel Apple Bread Pudding?!

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I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This book tells the story of Sanna Lund, who lives with her father at their family orchard. The orchard has been their family’s land for generations, with their normally large family all living together in the large farm house. It’s narrowed down to just Sanna and her father, Einars, now though and they rattle around the house and the land, trying to keep their orchard afloat. Sanna has a talent for making cider and her father decided to invest in a great renovation of their barn to install more cider machinery. Unfortunately neither of them know how to get the word out though so the orchard is now pretty deep in debt. Despite that, when father and son Isaac and Sebastian roll into town Einars decides to hire them to help out. Isaac feels an immediate attraction to Sanna, but his life is complicated enough with what he’s running from. With all their complications, is there really any chance for them to have a happy ending?
Overall I really just loved this book. There was just a touch of magic in the book and it really made it come alive for me. I loved Sanna’s character, she was strong and proud but also so loving and generous. And the cidery and orchard added such an interesting aspect to the story. The author really did such a wonderful job too of weaving this romantic and touching love story, Sanna and Isaac’s story really reached into my chest and just squeezed my heart tight. And I loved the ending and how creatively the author made a happy ending not only for Sanna but also for so many of the other characters in the story as well. This was such a great read and I would really recommend it!

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Summary:
     Sanna Lund is committed to her simple life on her family orchard.  Though the business end is failing, she knows she has the key to getting it back up.  Her cider will be a hit.  She just has to keep things going for a while longer. 
     Single father Issac Banks is trying his best to give his son Bass one more summer before he has to face a hard truth.  The secret eats at him, but he just isn't ready.  Coming to Door County seems ideal- fresh air, open space for Bass to play, and best of all work to keep them busy.  The Lund's farm needs help, and he needs a place to stay.  Win-win right?
     As time marches forward and Issac and Sanna begin to trust and care for one another, it becomes apparent that someone is trying to sabotage the orchard.  Can everyone band together and save the orchard.  And what happens after vacation when real life in California calls for Issac and Bass?
My Thoughts:
       I was lucky enough to receive an eARC of this book from Netgally and Gallery books.  My thanks. 
    I loved this book.  It was well paced, charming and funny in parts.  I think what I loved best was the play between characters, though.  The relationship between Issac and Bass of warmth and easy comradery really touched my heart.  I also loved how Sanna and her father interacted.  Sanna was a tough character at times, very guarded and unsure of her place with others.  I enjoyed watching her warm to Bass especially.  The book really  showcased different facets of certain characters too.  I liked that.  I didn't feel like any of these were just "throw away" characters, which is always nice to see.
    I liked the little bit of magical realism here as well.  The trees doing better with love at the orchard was a charming touch.  Plus there wasn't so much that it muddied the rest of the story, as I have found in the past.  All in all the book was charming, refreshing, and had the ability to transport me from town into a charming orchard.  I give it five stars. 
      As far as the adult content goes, there is some sexual content, and language but neither are so graphic that I would say this was an adults only book if a teen were interested.  I give it a three.  Oh, there is talk about drug addiction, but it is done well.

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4 Cider Stars

The Simplicity of Cider is a sweet and charming story about family tradition, loving what you do and opening up your heart to the truth. Sanna Lund is passionate about one thing...her simple life on her family's apple orchard and making her cider. Her and her "Pa" have a daily routine on the orchard and it all gets interrupted when Isaac Banks and his son, Bass, come along to work for the family.

Single dad Isaac and his son are on a summer adventure and find themselves in Door County, Wisconsin working at the Lund's apple orchard. Isaac feels like this simple, hard-work life is what they both need to escape reality. for a couple of months. But having these two strangers throws a big loop in Sanna's routine. One, the attraction she has for Isaac is a distraction that she doesn't need. And two, having his child, Bass, help her, has Sanna not happy.

Not only is Sanna learning to work with others, but she's also facing outside drama when it comes to her orchard. The Lund orchard is not financially stable and the best bet is to sell the land to developers, but getting Sanna to agree to sell is not going to be easy. Overall, The Simplicity of Cider is a great read and seriously, I didn't realize how complicated it is to make cider!

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Awesome story!!! 4.5 Stars!

The author really took this new book to new heights. The Simplicity of Cider is extremely well written. Her characters are interesting and unique and she captured them perfectly.

You can just feel the uncomfortableness in Sanna. The strain of family, finances, and not knowing anything about feelings, let alone how to deal with the newcomer, Isaac and his son.

Set in a beautiful countryside, the descriptions and details in this book suck you in and make you feel like you are right there watching everything unfold.

I don't know what it is about this specific book but it is my favorite of hers so far. You can feel the characters passion for the farm and business as well as the developing feelings between the two main characters.

The Simplicity of Cider by Amy E. Reichert is a heartwarming and wholesome book that you will fall in love with. It is Americana at it's best. This story will reach into your soul and remain there for a long time to come.

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A warm, often humorous, story of a father and son on a summer journey heading east from California, and ending up in the Midwest, working on an apple orchard. Wonderful characters and an interesting description of the intricacies of raising apples and cider making.

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Thank you, Netgalley, for this arc!

It's always a delight to return to Amy Reichert's writing and to her characters. (Al and Lou, from her debut The Coincidence of Coconut Cake, make an appearance toward the end!)

The Simplicity of Cider was a cute book to read; I thought the parts about apples and cidermaking were very interesting. It was fun not only enjoying the novel, but also learning about Sanna and Einars' way of life. Sanna is a self-described "hermit" and I thought at first that she was childfree (by my definition) but Isaac and his 10-year-son Sebastian ("Bass") found their way into her stony, lonely heart.

I loved the romance building up and building up between Isaac and Sanna... and when they finally let their feelings flow and stole kisses in the orchard, just like a pair of teenagers. There were definitely some heartfelt and emotional moments in this book, and who knows, maybe it will be a Hallmark movie one day. Sanna's story is one you won't soon forget.

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I've never been to Wisconsin, having grown up in the southeast, but now I kind of want to go. The novel is about Sanna, a woman who lives and works with her father on their family's orchard in Door County, Wisconsin, until her orderly, predictable life is turned upside down by the arrival of a single father and his son. Familial relationships, addiction, love, loss, treachery apples - all are topics covered in the book.

The characters are all well developed, and the various multiple plot lines are woven together very well - as a writer myself, I'm super-impressed with that. I read the book quickly because I was eager to find out how everything turned out.

Overall, I'd give The Simplicity of Cider 4/5 stars. The only reason I'm withholding the last star is because it's just a little too description-heavy for my tastes. I personally prefer more dialogue and character interaction and fewer wordy descriptions. However, it didn't detract from the book too much - it's just my personal preference.

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I rate this book between a 3 and 4 stars only because I didn't really care for the beginning parts of the book. I didn't find any way I could connect as a reader with the heroine as she really didn't make much sense to me. However, later on as the book developed so did her character and her personality. At first I was confused with her actions and her way of thinking. Clearly she was bothered or troubled by something but I just didn't feel any empathy towards her as I'm sure the author was trying to convey.
I did like the hero however and his son but once again, his son seemed a bit immature for a ten year old and I don't know if that was deliberately written that way or the author isn't too sure how 10 year old boys are supposed to act. Also, in the beginning of the story the heroine said the boy was twelve years old - whether that was on purpose or the author forgot about the age of the boy.
The beginning and middle parts of the story were okay but the ending was nice and it tied everything well together.

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This was a beautiful story about what makes a family and what makes a home. Sanna's passion in life is working on her family's apple orchard and coming up with perfect blends of apples for her cider. She lives on the orchard with her father and loves everything about her life, except that she is mad at the mother and brother that abandoned her. She has the uncanny ability to see the final colors of a cider blend and know what it will taste like and which apples to use to get there.

This is a contemporary novel and so there is a love story involved but it is a beautiful one. Sanna learns a lot about herself and about her interactions with others. She grows so much throughout the development of the story.

It was a great read and one that I could not put down and made me cry. I highly recommend picking up this book and reading it with a nice bottle of hard cider!

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The woman is too tall, devoted to her family business and oblivious to the financial straits her single-minded pursuit of cider-making has wrought on her father. Her father is aging and needs to find someone else to help with the orchards and farm. Along comes an equally tall man with a young son, traveling for a mysterious unresolved reason with some surprising farming skills (along with 21st century coding skills.) Combustible reactions will occur when all the parties meet, separate, agree/disagree...the whole gamut of potential interactions. And accompanying all that human drama are the orchards and apples with their own special allure. While there are other characters and dynamics to explore in this tale, our interests are really focused on the four main characters and how they sort out. It turns out cider isn't that simple to make, but the book surely is to enjoy. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

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Reading Amy Reichert's books has been such a great joy. Her depictions of the people and places of Wisconsin are just beautiful and true, and having spent most of my life in this state, I have so enjoyed reading books that are set here and are written about in a loving way. There is a scene in The Simplicity of Cider that describes the farm's store, and the description, down to the ancient cash register that I can picture and even hear very clearly, reminded me of all the orchards I've ever visited.

(OK, the part where I just gush about the author is now over.)

The Simplicity of Cider is a contemporary and a romance of a kind (there is a romance, but it's not the sole focus of this book). It's being touted as having some magical realism, but I'd forgotten that element going in, so it didn't bother me that the magical realism is pretty much blink and you'll miss it. The essence of this book is Sanna's love for the orchard and the cider she's crafting. She's been focused on these things for so long that when Isaac and Bass's arrival disrupts her usual routine, it takes her some time to adjust and open up to the possibility of letting anyone else in. Isaac has ended up in Door County after a road trip he's taken his son Bass on in order to put off dealing with the difficulties of their life back in California. It soon comes out that the orchard is struggling to stay afloat financially, and Sanna must also struggle with the possibility of losing the one home she's ever had.

This story is heartwarming without being trite or cheesy. As I already mentioned, I love the sense of place that this book evokes, and while I'm biased in my love of Wisconsin, I think the setting is well described enough to enjoy to those from far off as well. Those who read for character as well will find interesting, likeable characters here, too.

I might find myself reaching for this one again when apple season rolls around in the fall.

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Title: The Simplicity of Cider
Author: Amy E. Reichert
Publisher: Gallery Books
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Five
Review:

"The Simplicity of Cider" by Amy E. Reichert

My Thoughts....

The readers are in for a good read about cider making, the love of a family and to one who is getting away from CA for the summer with his son then you are in for a good read. This author really works her magic in giving the readers a good read about 'family, dedications, ambition, challenges, struggles, suspense and love that takes place in Door County, Wisconsin. The main characters from Sanna, Einers, Isaac to Bass...all are some very complex but so relatable to any one. Along with all of this the readers will be given a story from "The irritating casserole making neighbor,the brother...only wants to sell the orchard, the villain who wants to turn the orchard into a water park and the irritating ex of Sanna's who is sabotaging the orchard" all make this story such a interesting read. Now add all that is going on with Isaac and his son Bass along with the tremendous food descriptions the readers will get one heck of a good heartwarming read. In the end will Sanna be able to save her beloved orchard that she truly loved and will Sanna and Isaac end up finding each other? To get all the questions answered and so much more the reader will have to pick up this enjoyable read "The Simplicity of Cider" to see how this author will bring it all out to the reader.

Disclosure: I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Do you ever read a book that makes you crave something delicious? This is what Amy E. Reichert's books do to you. I wanted coconut cake for WEEKS after reading her last one. Now she is releasing a book ALL ABOUT CIDER.

Come on, lady. You're killing me. Of course, I don't have any cider in the house. I have beer, and brandy and wine and rum...and literally everything else drinkable. BUT NO CIDER.

The story is as sweet as the golden nectar that flows throughout the book. It was a bit of a slow start--I didn't connect with Sanna right away, and Isaac's narrative is a little off kilter too. But once they start to intertwine, things pick up and the plot forms more of the typical contemporary romance structure.

There's a lot of secrets going on. Some of them are a little problematic--without giving away spoilers, I liked Isaac but what he did just bothered me. And we never do get to the bottom of Anders's character. There's a few things he says that go unanswered.

Bass is completely adorable, though. And for the most part, the book fills that spot in my soul that requires quaint farm romances in the summer. But I'm definitely stopping by the liquor store tonight for some Vandermill Totally Roasted. Make sure you have some craft cider in your house when you read this. You're going to need it.

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I had a really hard time adjusting to the prickliness of the main character of this book, Sanna. She wore anger like her favorite outfit. She was not approachable, and believe me, no one wanted to. That is until Isaac and his son, Bass show up at her family's orchard.

Thankfully Sanna starts to soften and seems to become human again. And lo and behold, she can and is a nice person. I have no idea how Isaac saw this at the beginning when he met her, but he was stricken with her. SMH.

This was a very enjoyable read after I got through these quirky character's different emotions and personalities. It's a story about family, about finding love and there is even a mystery involved. Simply put, you will need tissues in order to finish this book, but it is worth it. An interesting story with an interesting ensemble. Truly entertaining and enjoyable.

Thanks to Gallery, Threshold and Pocket Books for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

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Another amazing read from Amy Reichert. I fell in love with her writing in The Coincidence of Coconut Cake (a must read for sure) and was excited to see another novel from her. This one had depth. It had mystery. It had love. It had magic. And it was centered around food, drink and working the land. Loved every moment in the book.

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I grew up in Wisconsin so I LOVE Reichert's books. She translates the Wisconsin specific details and personalities into such perfect settings and characters. This book was no exception. Fall in Wisconsin is all about Door County and the apples...and for providing the setting for beautiful story about love and family.

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