The Rock Orchard by Paula Wall

I was really enjoying this book. The character development was such that I could identify with several citizens in the town of Leaper’s Fork and their fascination with the Belle women. I had several good chuckles, just like the reviews had promised. I was totally there in the town watching the characters interact, into the gossip, and wondering how the main characters would solve their dilemmas when wham, bam it ended. What a train wreck of an ending.

I hate it when it seems as if an author just got tired of writing a book and wraps everything up in just a few pages. This book is 244 pages long. I would have gladly read another 100-200 pages just to have walked the path with these characters as they fulfilled their destiny. Instead, I am meandering through the town watching everyone start to find their place in life when whoosh, Paula Wall sends in a tornado and seven pages (some of those only half pages) later the books is over. Everything is wrapped up nice and neat, but I didn’t get to take the journey with the characters. So dissatisfying, so many lost laughs and tears. Sigh.

I’m glad I read it. I just wish I had stopped seven pages before the end.