This book came to me via an ARC program, and I chose it because I was in the mood for a clean, wholesome romance.

The Premise

Lucy returns to her small-town home of Angel Lake, jilted by a bad work experience and in need of a change. She’s been a “hot-foot” girl for over a decade, bitten by the wanderlust bug that has taken her around the world and back as a renowned photographer. Once home, she quickly gets swept up into a romance with boy-next-door Alex, who is now the town sheriff. Meanwhile, her family doesn’t expect her to stick around, and Alex claims he doesn’t need her to — but he’s clearly lying to himself, because he’s been in love with her since they were twelve. As Lucy tries to “fix” everyone in her family around her, she soon realises that who she really needs to fix is herself — she needs to deal with her past demons, if she wants a chance to fit into her family and to be with the man she loves.

The Pros

This was a sweet, wholesome romance that is easy to love, with a hero and heroine that you immediately hope will get their act together because they’re clearly perfect for each other despite the naysayers on both ends among their respective families. I appreciated that the story included a lot of challenges that the family on the whole faces — marriage difficulties, behavioural disorders, mental health issues, parent abandonment, and much more. There was enough here to keep the reader’s interest beyond just the main relationship, and the interactions with their families also gave a better idea of who each main character was. There was also an ongoing mystery to be uncovered concerning the town vandal, so this added an extra element of suspense.

The Cons

While I enjoyed the story and it is well written, I really kept hoping for more conflict between the two main characters. They get together quickly, neither of them seem to have any real character flaws, and the “big event” that breaks them up was a misunderstanding that was easily resolved. I felt as though the tension and drama were humming along merrily, but I kept expecting more of an explosion of emotion at some point, which in the end I didn’t feel. The story was all-around a good one, but it was missing some oomph in the romance area for me.

Conclusion

While it didn’t rock my world personally as I was expecting something shocking, I still really appreciated this sweet, small-town romance, and would recommend it to anyone who’s looking to fall in love with an entire family with their own respective dramas. I can see this kind of story easily translated to a TV series, as it has so many elements from all the family members — but as a book, it just had so much other things going on that it impinged on the main romance. At its heart, it is an emotional journey of healing from the past damage families do to each other. There is a lot to love here, and despite the variety of heavy topics, it is a light read that will leave you with a warm, fuzzy feeling. I would love to read more by this talented author, and I just hope that the next one wows me a bit more.

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