Definitely the sort of lighter story I needed to read alongside some more dramatic, darker ones. If you love any sort of cheesy Hallmarky type venture then this will be right up your alley. The timeline is a bit wonky, as suddenly months would pass by at the drop of a hat without invoking a good sense of progression. This book relies so much on telling rather than showing, which make a lot of the achievements and character development underwhelming.

We don't see Daisy slowly become more open to Grace, we are told she's behaving better after hard work and meeting new friends. We aren't shown how successful the Apple Festival is, even though that's the main conflict in this book. It's like we're reading a Cliff Notes version of a larger story.

I think Grace's character development was the only thing that felt fairly fleshed out, even though the romance aspect started a bit too late in the story to really become investing. 

It was a cute, charming story. I don't think I would read any others in this series, I think I got my fill with this one, but it'll at least be a comfort in hard times.