Katherine Allred

I loved this book. Even though this story had a romance at the core of it, it was more in the manner that all of life is basically about our relationships with others. The story is told in first person POV but has more of a memoir feel than the more immediate action packed, 'inside the story' feel of popular genre fiction that we are used to nowadays. There isn't a lot of description of places and things but rather the southern feel of the town where Alix grows up is painted through the actions of the people in the story.

The story starts when Alix is 8 and Nick is 10. She tells vignettes of their lives as they grow up. At first they're friends and as they become teenagers they fall in love. The scenes that the author chooses to tell are carefully chosen to reveal important leaps or milestones in Alix and Nick's relationship or that somehow pertain to how Alix and others are going to react later. That takes up the first half of the book. They are driven apart by events and meet again 15 years later when Nick returns to town. There is a lot of anger that Alix has to work through in order to accept a relationship with Nick again.

One of the strengths of the book is that Alix tells such a clear and analytical story of her mental state throughout their lives especially what her reactions are during the time when Nick leaves her and during their reunion. She doesn't apologize for her reactions and self deceptions, just tells you what they are and what self protective instincts drove her to them. I think they are honest actions and feelings. The way the characters act and react are a human mix of love, nobility and self interest. No one is all good or all bad.

As to the actual mechanics of the book, it was well written and moved very fast. There were parts that were very sad and parts where that were sweet and charming. The love scenes were not explicit. The big misunderstanding was easy enough for the reader to figure out almost from the first page but it was also easy to see where a couple of teenagers with the personal histories that these two had, would not necessarily make the best choices and so cause themselves problems.

I highly recommend it. I think that both romance readers and readers of general fiction would like this book.
… (more)