"Welcome to Evening Shade" by samekraemer

Posted by Anonymous

It was just meant to be a short visit - two or three days at the most. In fact, all Bella Swan-Decklan had in mind when driving all the while to the middle of nowhere, a.k.a. Evening Shade, Nebraska, was to meet her estranged father, pay back everything he invested in her college education, bond a little, and then set off towards her new life in Los Angeles. Yet just after arriving in this teeny tiny town where her father was living and working as a sheriff, she is pulled over by the police - apparently she was a bit too fast. Now, unfortunately for the officer and Bella, the latter is filled to the brink with anger and frustration (due to her divorce which was just finalized) and not only starts screaming at the poor policeman like a banshee but also kicks him in the knee when he pulls out a(n unloaded) gun. Before she knows it, Bella is taken into custody and put into jail. There, she comes face to face with her father Charlie, the peacemaker and lawyer Emmett McCarthy, as well as the hot as hell major Edward Cullen.

Instead of getting his poor daughter out of jail asap, Charlie Swan explains to her that she would definitely have to attend a proper hearing before getting anywhere. Shocked and angry Bella spends the night behind bars before meeting with Emmett, Edward and her father in the morning and getting sentenced to dozens of hours of community work...

Meanwhile, Edward tries desperately to get the stunning and witty brunette out of his mind. After the death of his wife Sam six years ago, Edward has lived a pretty reclusive life, surrounded only by his parents Esme and Carlisle, his sister Alice and her husband Jasper, as well as his cousin Emmett and his wife Rosalie. Apart from having taken over the duties of town major the 36-year old also owns a small yet wonderfully decorated bookstore. It is over their shared passion for books and writing that Bella and Edward get closer and closer. Though at 24 she is a lot younger than Edward, Bella is like a fresh breeze of air and quickly manages to find a way into his heart. But while he knows he never felt anything like this before and is determined to make her his (forever), she desperately tries to ignore the overwhelmingly feelings she harbors for him and plans to leave Nebraska as soon as her work is done...

When I read the story I couldn't help but imagine Evening Shade to be something like Stars Hollow from Gilmore Girls: a small and sleepy town where everyone knows everyone else and where the biggest event of the year is probably the update of the welcome sign from 1,104 inhabitants to 1,105. All of the quirky characters that Bella meets during her time there have their own story to tell and never disappoint to make you smile. Welcome to Evening Shade is written from both Edward and Bella's POV and consists of 21 lovely chapters filled with humor and romance. All the things Edward does to make Bella stay (e.g. not repairing her shower so that she would hopefully run into him when she has to use his) are wonderful to read, despite the fact that the reader feels always clouded by the fear Bella might eventually leave Evening Shade and throw away the best thing that ever happened to her.

Welcome to Evening Shade consists of 21 chapters and a total of 96,018 words. The story is rated M for lemons, foul language, and the mention of rape.

COMPLETE