Sweet Hush

by Deborah Smith

Smith cooks up a passionate story about a woman whose life is thrown into chaos when her son elopes with the daughter of the President of the United States. Includes an brand-new short story.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Southern, Womens Fiction

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

aka Jackie Leigh
aka Della Stone
aka Leigh Bridger

Bestselling Author
Co-founder, co-publisher
Vice-president, Editor in Chief
BelleBooks, Memphis, TN

Deborah Smith is the New York Times bestselling author of A Place to Call Home, and the No. 1 Kindle Bestseller The Crossroads Cafe, A Gentle Rain and other acclaimed romantic novels portraying life and love in the modern Appalachian South. A native Georgian, Deborah is a former newspaper editor who turned to novel-writing with great success.

With more than 35 romance, women's fiction and fantasy novels to her credit, Deborah's books have sold over 3 million copies worldwide. Among her honors is a Lifetime Achievement Award from Romantic Times Magazine and a nomination for the prestigious Townsend Literary Award. In 2003 Disney optioned Sweet Hush for film. In 2008 A Gentle Rain was a finalist in Romance Writers of America's RITA awards.

For the past fifteen years Deborah has partnered with Debra Dixon to run BelleBooks, a small press originally known for southern fiction, including the Mossy Creek Hometown Series and the Sweet Tea story collections. As editor, she has worked on projects as diverse as the nonfiction Bra Talk book by three-time Oprah Winfrey guest Susan Nethero, and the In My Dreams novella by New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen.

In 2008 BelleBooks launched Bell Bridge Books, an imprint with a focus on fantasy novels and now expanded to include multi-genre fiction--mystery, suspense, thrillers, women's fiction, nonfiction and other. In 2013 BelleBooks acquired the late Linda Kichline's paranormal romance press, ImaJinn Books, and hired legendary editor Brenda Chin, formerly of Harlequin Books, as editorial director. Chin will expand the imprint to cover a diverse mix of all romance types.

Deborah's newest books are the Crossroads Cafe novellas: THE BISCUIT WITCH, THE PICKLE QUEEN, THE YARN SPINNER, and THE KITCHEN CHARMER (2014). She released a mini-short story, SAVING JONQUILS, in March 2014. A sexy romantic novella, A HARD MAN TO FIND, is scheduled for later in the month.

Reviews

[Sonia Cristina · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 estrelas

As picardias entre Hush e Edwina foram de morrer a rir, gostei muito destas 2 mulheres que são diferentes em muitos aspetos mas sentem da mesma maneira que devem proteger as suas famílias.
Também gostei do romance entre Hush e Jakobek, ficam muito bem juntos e são tão perfeitos.

Este livro foi uma leitura fluida e interessante, foi fácil integrar-me no Hollow e nas vidas dos personagens. Descobrir segredos de família e acompanhar romances foi uma delícia. Aquela revelação sobre Puppy ser filha do marido de Hush foi inesperada, não esperava mesmo. Foram bonitos os pequenos parágrafos em que contaram a Puppy a verdade e Logan atuou sempre como pai dela e depois Lucille juntou-se a esta pequena família - foi muito bonito.

[Carla Geraldes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Balançada entre o 3 e o 4, e como não posso dar 3,5, optei pela classificação mais alta, só mesmo pelas personagens fortes que ajudam a que tenha gostado deste livro.
As primeiras paginas foram um pouco "maçudas", mas depois das 100 e pouco, finalmente a estória desenvolve e deu ainda para dar umas belas gargalhadas com 2 das mulheres história.

[Maria João · Rating 5 out of 5]

como não poderia deixar de ser

[Leonor Lopes · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
Gostei, mas estava á espera de mais ...
Um doce romance de leitura muito agradável.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was actually not very good but I didn't DISLIKE it. It was too silly to dislike.
Why did I not believe in the widow of a faithless husband, devoted to covering up the flaws in her dead cheatin' man; who finds that her son has married and impregnated the only child of the president of the U.S., and brought his bride to the home of his apple-growing, bee-charming momma?? They are followed by the secret service, the bride's dangerous but sexy cousin and the national media. Why was this not convincing? WHY?
Also, in this novel, people in the South are all straight-shootin', plain-talkin' good-hearted people. Gotta tell you, it ain't necessarily so. Or at least not on this folksy, homespun level. Anyway, for what it is, a romance novel gussied up a little, it's not bad.

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

O mais fraquinho da autora.

[Adelaide Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Até cerca da pág 100 achei que era um livro sobre maçãs. Por isso e porque desde logo uma parte do enredo se tornou muito previsível não posso dar mais *

[Lynne Spreen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book started out strong and kept me interested. Some really unique, complex main characters who are around age 40 (I like when they're somewhat older), beautiful scenes, nice descriptions, humor, good romance, and a powerful female protag. Also, the premise (a woman's carefully built/managed empire is threatened when her son runs off with the President's daughter) isn't done every day! I think this could be a Netflix or Amazon series, there are scenes that are SO cinematic. I've reread not just the end of this book numerous times, but the beginning. One of my all time faves.

[Cláudia Martins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,4 Os livros desta autora são daqueles que nem preciso de ler a sinopse para comprar. No entanto para mim este é o pior livro da autora, essencialmente aborrecido, não foi motivante, estava à espera de mais acção, de mais conteúdo… Admito que cheguei a um ponto de na realidade não poder olhar para maçãs derivado ao tema da história, só faltou a casa ser em formato de maçã…

[Mariazita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doces silêncios conta a história de uma mulher, que vindo de uma geração de mulheres fortes, que conquistaram o seu lugar no mundo.Hush é a atual lider de um império que ela construiu desde a terra idade e que lidera com muito esforço e dedicação. Esse mundo ira começar a ter algumas dificuldades quando o seu filho traz para a sua casa a sua namorada, neste caso a filha do presidente dos Estados Unidos, a vida de Hush vai tornar-se bem complicada.
Outra mulher forte e resistente é a Primeira Dama dos Estados Unidos.Claro que as duas mulheres não irão conseguir conciliar os seus fortes ideais.
Toda a narrativa fala sobre a familia, os seus segredos, a vida dura e sofrimento para atingir sonhos e manter a dignidade a qualquer custo.
Gostei, interessante e emotivo, como todos os livros de Deborah Smith.

[Carla Faleiro · Rating 1 out of 5]

Deborah amiga, desculpa lá mas não consigo ler as tuas estória! Li metade deste livro e só senti tédio.

[Titinha Scaeiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5 gostei mesmo achado que falaram muito em... maçãs...
Não é dos meus favoritos...

[Rute gonçalves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Na minha opinião esperava muito mais deste livrinho,foi mais um 3.5*.
Apesar da estória ser bonita, falta aqui qualquer coisa ...
Baseado principalmente numa mulher que quer mostrar a todos um casamento feliz a sua determinação em conquistar o seu império mereceu os 3.5*.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the type of book I usually read but I've been breaking out of my comfort zone lately and am glad of it. I'd say this book was about family -- the lies we tell, the secrets we keep, and the love we share. It's got a romance subplot running through it, but I wouldn't classify this as romance.

Basic premise: Hush's grown son comes home from Harvard with a surprise for his mom -- he's secretly married the president's daughter and she's pregnant. She's run away from her controlling mom and they have both decided that they just want to work on the apple farm with Hush.

The tension between the characters was great in this book. Everyone had their own story, their own clear motivations, and even when they disagreed with one another, I could see both sides. Even the controlling mom (the first lady) had her reasons for her over protectiveness. Best of all, the characters undergo real and believable change throughout the course of the book.

The only thing that annoyed me with the use of multiple first person viewpoint to tell this story. It was sometimes difficult to keep track of who "I" was, since "I" was two different people. At times, the viewpoint changed frequently and it was hard to keep track, especially in audiobook format. (It might have been easier with visible page breaks, but I suspect that even then it might have helped for her to label the switches with the viewpoint character's names.) Mostly, though, I didn't see the point in using first person in this way. The two narrators didn't even have distinctive voices, which might have made it more reasonable.

That being my only nit, I'd definitely recommend this if you like sweet, character-driven stories.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book has an iffy premise, but within a few pages, I was drawn in. Deborah Smith's writing does that to you no matter how in the beginning, you think, "Huh? Is that realistic?"

The story's a romance, naturally. Hush builds up an apple orchard based on the Sweet Hush apple her family developed over a century earlier. She marries the wrong man even though she knows it. But when he dies, she's left with a son who idolized his father because she never let him see what his father really was. She lovingly raises him, proudly sends him off to Harvard, and then --

He comes home with a girl friend. Whose parents happen to be the First Couple of the nation. Yep, the President's daughter.

Hush doesn't want her son getting involved with a politician's daughter. The President and First Lady don't want their daughter getting involved with an apple farmer's son.

Turns out it's too late. The kids are married. And expecting. And a clandestine expert, the President's nephew, is brought in to protect the girl. But boy, does he like Hush.

Worse, she likes him.

Hush's Appalachian voice comes through loud and clear. She may be a farmer but by God, she's as good as the Presidential couple and she's not about to be sneered at. And she's going to do whatever it takes to make sure her boy isn't hurt.

Great book.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could give half stars, because I would give this 2.5 stars, but I'll round up to 3. I did enjoy the story, and yes it did make me cry near the end. So why 2.5/3 stars? There were quite a few missing words, the wrong word, etc. Plus there was one entire section that the first paragraph started out from one person's pov, the next paragraph switched to something entirely different and then went to another pov before finishing the section out by going back to the first person's pov. I had to read it about 3 times, and I will admit that I still am not entirely sure what went on in that section. I just can't believe that people read the book before it was published and they didn't say wait that part doesn't make sense.

[Dion Ribeiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*
Não foi o melhor livro de Deborah Smith que li e embora tenha gostado da história, não me seduziu completamente e a dado momento achei que se falava demasidado em maçãs, macãs, maçãs... qualquer situação era bombardeada com maçãs....

[Paula Reis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutamente maravilhoso, a cada livro gosto mais desta autora!

[Nolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hush McGillen is the fifth woman in her family to bear that name. She is a product of Georgia in so many ways, but she is self made, too. Her beloved dad died when she was 12 or so, and her mother worked hard to keep the family farm and come up with the money to send her to college. But Hush was orphaned before she could ever get to college, and she realized that if the land was to stay in her family, she would have to fight for it. Fight she did, single-handedly taking on greedy relatives until, at 17, she had convinced a judge that she should be allowed to at least attempt to keep the land and grow the apples for which the family was locally famous.

Ah, but Hush had a weakness in the form of Davy, a kid who loved fast cars and faster women. While she promised her mother that it would never happen, the night comes when Davy impregnates her, and the hard-fought-for money her mother had saved for Hush’s fancy education goes instead to simply keep her alive and bring up the son.

Hush and Davy marry, but the marriage is rocky on its best day. Still, the two become grand masters at hiding that from their son and the world. In the eyes of the world, there was never a happier couple. But Davy is killed one night on a mountain road coming home, and Hush will raise her son and provide him with the education she never got.

This is a remarkable story of a remarkable fictional woman who, with the help of her husband’s sister and other relatives, built the small local apple farm into a fall mecca for Atlantans and others from throughout the state. All is well until Hush’s son comes home from Harvard and announces that the girl who is with him is the daughter of the president of the United States, and that she has left against the first family’s wishes and without its knowledge.

From that day forward, secrets begin to bubble to the top that Hush would prefer not to see. To further complicate things, into her lie comes Nick, the president’s ex-Green Beret brother. Nick is sworn to protect the daughter at all costs, but he doesn’t count on Hush being part of the program.

The sex scenes are pretty muted in here as I recall, and there’s no profanity to speak of—maybe some, but I don’t remember much. The one blemish for me was the introduction of the president’s daughter to Hush by her son. This is a self-made woman who presumably has studied the financial pages from newspapers everywhere, but who did not recognize the name of the president? That just seems out of character to me. A small thing, yes, I get it. But it caused a bit of whiplash just the same.

[Inês Lucas (Só Mais Uma Página) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um romance leve e rápido, perfeito para ler sem preocupações. Apesar de ser perfeito para esta época do Verão, por tratar de uma quinta de maçãs e se passar maioritariamente no Outono, acho que também seria perfeito para ler nessa estação.
Como já referi, este livro segue a história de uma quinta de maçãs "Sweet Hush", que está na família de Hush já há muitos anos, mas à qual ela deu uma nova vida e transformou num dos negócios mais rentáveis do Estado. Hush encontra-se a recuperar de uma tragédia pessoal e entrega todo o seu foco ao seu negócio, até ao dia em que o filho aparece em casa com a namorada que conheceu em Harvard e que é nada mais nada menos do que a filha do presidente dos Estados Unidos da América. Hush não quer lidar com a atenção das câmaras nem dos jornalistas, e preocupa-se que todo o mediatismo em redor da sua nora possa prejudicar as vendas e a popularidade do negócio que tanto se esforçou para construir do zero e com o qual dá sustento aos seus trabalhadores. Juntamente com a chegada da sua nova nora, chega também um tio dela, ex-militar, que vai criar uma amizade especial com Hush e quebrar a barreira que ela construiu à sua volta. É um romance simples e leve, não é absolutamente extraordinário, mas que entretém durante umas horas e traz leveza consigo.

[Terri McDowell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a good story of family ties and what we do/decisions we make to protect our family. It’s a story of life’s twists and turns. It’s a story that brings both laughter and tears just like real life.

[Ne · Rating 3 out of 5]

hum não foi dos melhores não. tanta maçã credo

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4,5
Adorei o livro! Até queria mais!

[Dulce · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5 *
Foi um livro com muitas misturas, mas o que mais gostei foi das picardias da Hush e da Edwina, fartei-me de rir.
Foi uma história interessante e bonita, com momentos de muita ternura, emotivos, outros com muita magia cinematográfica, que não me iludiram nem me gostaram na verdade, por isso não as 4*.
Gostei bastante do ambiente agrícola, as maças são uma das minhas frutas favoritas, exceto as podres.

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this years ago and I still remember the story. There is something about Ms. Smith's writing which is so good. I liked this story yet I probably won't read it again. What I loved about this story was how realistic it was for me to read. To lovers who have mothers that are so similar yet in different occupations who seem to have issues with each other. I found it amusing.

What I enjoy about Ms. Smith's books is that I also learn something new. In this one, I learn about running an orchard. I'm not sure if this is all true to a real orchard business, but it sure seemed real to me. This added educations appeals to me. While I enjoy being entertained by a romance story, if I am also taught something new about a field I've her had much information about, all the better.

Now to the characters. I liked Hush. She is a strong woman who wants to carry on a family business with tradition and pride. I felt for her as the First family felt they were better than her. I really disliked the First family. The President and his wife were so damn condescending to me. Do they know, they are NOT royalty? They are fucking public servants. Oh wait, just the President is a fucking public servant. How they let their power go to their head. Aggravating.

What one would think the story is about Hush's Harvard graduate son and the daughter of the President, it's really about Hush and the struggles of her life. Her romance which is what I enjoyed. The nephew of the President(name escapes me) is stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm glad he felt torn and finally came to see the light. Recommended for romance lovers.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every year I try to choose my personal favorite book, the one that, if I were a professional reviewer, I would be dragging out the ticker tape for! In 2013 (and I admit I read a lot so another one could find its way onto this shelf before January 1, 2014) Sweet Hush by Deborah Smith is fulfilling the criteria for Kathy's Book of the Year. At first, I thought it was going to be confusing to keep up with the characters, and maybe a little boring since it is written around the history of a family of Appalachian apple farmers, but it is a million times the other side of boring or confusing! I am so invested in these characters that they seem to just sit on the bed next to me at night and watch me read their stories.

What happens: A young man brings his girlfriend home to Appalachia, to Sweet Hush Farms, to meet his mother, and to give the girl some peace. You see? Peace is very hard for this young woman to come by as she is the First Daughter, and the reader realizes that quickly when realizing Davis and Eddie are trying to outrun 3 SUVs full of Secret Service agents to accomplish it. What a riot ensues! I want to just step right into the scene, smell the apples, taste the wonderful apple products, listen to the sweet Bluegrass music, and fall in love, whether I want to or not.

Sweet Hush. Please read it! Wonderful read for history fans, fans of high drama, fans of comedy, and fans of romance. There is something for everyone. So well-written that I peeked out a window a couple of times to make sure I had not been transported to the mountain hollows, and finding myself disappointed that I had not.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a woman named Hush McGillen, who has pulled herself out of poverty to make her family's apple orchard into a big business. She sends her son to Harvard, but after a couple years he comes speeding back to the family farm with a wife in tow. The wife is the daughter of the President of the United States! Now the heroine's life is upside-down. There are secret service agents everywhere she looks and the media is swarming. And the President has sent his nephew, a retired Lt Colonel from the US Army, to escort his daughter home.

This is the second book I've read by this author and I'm having a hard time with her writing style. The first 50 pages were about the heroine's childhood, her marriage and her love for the family farm. Finally the story moved back to the present and started getting interesting. Around page 80 we are introduced to the hero (President's nephew) and then we have 50-60 pages of his background. SNORE. The book is told in first person point-of-view. Half of it is from Hush's POV and the other half is from the nephews. The actual story in the present is pretty good...if she would just tell that story and limit some of the background information to make it interesting. My rating: 3.5 Stars.

[Jaime Stricklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book. Deborah Smith is an author I discovered while browsing the library. Her books are descriptive, engaging, and deep. She doesn't write with flowery words and silly romantic notions. Her books are stories filled with layers from past to present, emotions that tangle with the readers own, to make it more real.

I have read others of hers and really enjoyed them, but I had skipped over this one several times. The premise of involvement with the President and First Lady somehow didn't grab me. It should have. Let's just say Hush and the First Lady don't hit it off and the sparks that fly will make you double over in laughter. I loved it.

Hush was great to read about....probably one of the strongest, boldest, and bravest female characters I've read and her happy ending was a treat to experience.

[Debbie is on Storygraph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the plot, in concept, and the book was an enjoyable read. Hush wants two things: to grow her apples, and for her son to have better opportunities than she did. Both are endangered when said son suddenly leaves Harvard and returns home with his new wife, whose father is President of the United States. There's not much substance here, and the book was as fluffy as an apple pancake fresh off the griddle. Smith tries to make the plot deeper, more complex, but never quite succeeds more than superficially.

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Kindle formatting issues were a distraction. The author seemed to forget what she had written at times...in one paragraph he is wearing a pair of khaki pants, in the next they are cords. In one paragraph, she takes the battery out of the phone and locks it in a drawer, and in the next paragraph she is talking on her cell phone. Other than those distractions, it was a good story, and I enjoyed it very much.