Synopsis:
Shy bookstore owner Jane Finch grew up hiding in the margins of her own life while her vibrant, adventure-loving sister, Samantha, dominated every plotline. She’s made peace with it, unlike Sam’s business partner, Caleb, who’s always nudging Jane to go after what she really wants. Why should she care what blunt, brash Caleb thinks? They’ve never had much in common, except for Sam.
After tragedy strikes, they don’t even have that.
Caleb can’t quite remember when Sam’s little sister stopped being like a surrogate sibling to him and became just…Jane. She’s the most intriguing woman he’s ever met, and so much sexier and stronger than she thinks. On the emotional journey to honor Sam’s memory, the spark they’ve tried to deny becomes an inferno. This journey was meant to be an ending, but will they discover an unexpected new beginning?
Review:
I was a little worried that this book wouldn’t have enough time to deal with the pretty weighty issues that it promised to contain–the grief of losing a loved one, the guilt associated with often resenting that same loved one, and two people who really do seem to be pretty opposite finding a way to work things out together–because 1) it wasn’t that long and 2) the losing of the loved one doesn’t happen until about 1/3 of the way in. How could everything that needs to be done realistically get done in just a few hours of reading?
The answer is by skipping ahead in time, which the author does a few times. Don’t worry–though it is a bit disconcerting, ultimately actually ends up working fairly well. Unless my extreme fondness for Anne of Green Gables stepped in, blinding me to all other issues (confession here: I have an Anne hat hanging on my wall at home, with attached red braids and all…and yes, I’ve worn it–for crazy hat day at school, but still…)
This is entirely possible, I’ll be the first to admit.
Still, this was a very sweet book that had me tearing up more than once (sad tears a few times, OMG happy ones at the end) with lovable characters from a new-to-me author that I will absolutely be reading more from in the future.
Rating: 4 stars / B
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
