Peach [Paperback]

Elizabeth Adler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1989

Peach de Courmont -- Wild child, teenage temptress, exquisite woman.  The adored granddaughter of Leonie and heiress to the de Courmont dynasty, she grew up in luxury, used to having life -- and love -- on her own terms.

Noel Maddox -- Raised in an Iowa orphanage, used to the mean streets of Detroit, he fought his way from the assembly line the pinnacle of power.  Peach --and the automobile empire she commanded -- were part of the dream he meant to have... at any price.

From wartime Paris to the dazzling Cote d'Azue... from the frenetic boardrooms of Detroit and the palatial homes of Grosse Pointe to the stately English countryside, their indomitable wills collide in a saga of consuming passion and raw power played out against the backdrop of a rich and reckless world.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Two disparate story lines are skillfully braided into a solid, entertaining, if sometimes relentlessly melodramatic, novel by the author of Leonie. Young Peach de Courmont is visiting her redoubtable grandmother Leonie on the French Riviera when the Nazis invade France and requisition their elegant, family-owned hotel. Her beautiful half-sister Lais, mistress of a high-ranking German, secretly collects information for the Resistance, and Peach follows suit, carrying vital messages in her schoolbag. In America, Noel Maddox is abandoned to an uncaring orphanage and must scramble for the necessities and comforts that Peach takes for granted. Their paths crossonce happily, once disastrously and, years later, romantically, when Noel is a successful auto industry executive and Peach, who has left a loveless marriage, runs the de Courmont auto plants. Unusual settings and suspenseful wartime scenes give otherwise predictable plotting a real boost.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Wonderful! ... A story about a fascinating and unpredictable chain of events." --The Charlotte Observer

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Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Dell (May 1, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044020111X
• ISBN-13: 978-0440201113
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.4 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #519,980 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Elizabeth Adler is a self-confessed romantic, a travel addict and a foodie, all of which she brings to the reader in her novels, along with a tough thrust of suspense and an unfolding mystery that keeps you on your toes. Elizabeth has lived in many countries and when she's not writing spends time discovering even more places to bring to you, with her husband, Richard - still in love after all these years - as are the characters featured in her past three novels, Mac Reilly the Malibu PI and Sunny Alvarez, his lover and side kick. You have to read about them to know them! Elizabeth lives in California and has the ability to take you to all those romantic places she knows so well, Capri, Venice, Tuscany, St. Tropez, Monte Carlo, and of course, Malibu. You will feel you are there, with her, sitting on that Italian terrace, sipping that coffee, smelling the delicious food, savoring the heat and the sunshine and the mystery unfolding for you. Elizabeth is five-three and wishes she were taller, blind as a bat without her glasses that anyway she is too vain to wear, and at 128 lbs till thinking about that diet. She has one daughter, Anabelle who is married to rock musician Eric Avery and two kitties, the Siamese, Sweet Pea who rules the household, and an adorable black cat Sunny.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre..., June 10, 2000

By 

Audrey - See all my reviews

This review is from: Peach (Paperback)

Peach is the follow-up to Leonie, and while both could be termed "trashy" Peach is even more so by the certain lack of grace and a hurriedness that ruins some parts of the book. While I liked Leonie, both the book and the woman, I didn't like Peach, or many of the other people in this book. We could break it down: Peach is spoiled, from the beginning to the end; her actions are rushed and brainless. Her older sisters are useless and one-faceted; her parents, supposed to be loving, are forever in the background and also rather useless. Noel Maddox, the hero, while earning a few applauses by his sheer will and success of improving himself, is ruthless, cold, and never changes. There's also some loose ends that carries over from Leonie: what's Leonie's mysterious Egyptian background? As Monsieur was a monumental part of Leonie, did anyone ever figure what happened to him? (I'm trying not to give away the first book, therefore the ambiguity.)Whatever happened to Peach's child, Henry, or Augusta? As a sequel to Leonie, which I rather liked, this book rates a 2; standing by itself alone, I'm not sure even if I would have picked it up.

5.0 out of 5 stars LOVED THIS BOOK!, May 8, 2010

By 

JOJO "irishjojo" (, MD USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Peach (Paperback)

Elizabeth Adler is one of my favorite authors. I have yet to read one of her books that I didn't thoroughly enjoy! PEACH was wonderful! Kept the interest!

4.0 out of 5 stars A family's saga, January 17, 2010

By 

M. Shahar "bookworm" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Peach (Paperback)

The history of a family through the years. Before purchasing the book, I hadn't realized that part of the story would cover events taking part during WWII and some of the chapters were hard for me to read. But eventually the family survived and the feeling, by the end of the book, was a good one.