I just finished The Apple Orchard by Susan Wiggs. Like Wiggs’s other books it chockfull of great story and characters and heartfelt emotion.

Tess is an adrenaline junkie. She lives, works, drinks, and smokes in San Francisco. She’s a treasure hunter. Not the kind who scavenge shipwrecks, but the kind who sort through papers searching for provenance of antiques and fine art and collectables. She’s about to be offered a dream job when a different kind of dream knocks on her door.

Dominic Rossi changes Tess’s life with his news. She has family. Besides her absentee mother, that is. Tess travels to Sonoma County with Dominic and almost against her will she learns what she’s been missing. When she has to choose between Dominic and love and saving her family, the decision tears her apart.

Without giving too much away, I loved the way Wiggs layered the plots in this story. Tess really changes and grows up during the story arc. The plot is complex without being convoluted. I followed it and was often half a step ahead of Tess, but that didn’t dampen my enjoyment.

I’ve read several of Wiggs’s standalone books as well as some of the Willow Lake series. The Apple Orchard is set in California which only added to my regard. Wiggs captured the northern California apple and wine region perfectly. She promises that The Apple Orchard is the first in a series and I will definitely read the next one. I hope it’s Isabel’s story!