"I felt as if I had come home!"

Running away from her ex-fiancé, Suzanne Lewis finds her way to Walton, Georgia. She hadn't meant to stop there but the heart necklace she wears says, "A life without rain is like the sun without shade." On the back it says "R. Michael, Jewelers. Walton." Could this be the same Walton? She thinks surely not because that would be too much of a coincidence. The necklace and a torn and tattered picture of the Eiffel Tower in Paris are the only things she has left to remember her mother by.

Riding on the same bus is Lucinda Madison who also gets off at Madison. She has taken care of Joe Warner and his six children since his wife Harriet died three years before. She's a kindly soul and tells Suzanne that they will take her into town and find her a place to stay. Suzanne knows it's the wrong thing to do but she has no place else to go so she reluctantly agrees. She also tells them her name is Suzanne Paris.

Much as she tries not to, Suzanne finds that she's drawn into every facet of life in the small town of Walton, Georgia. There's nothing sacred and the gossip runs rampant in the town. When someone new shows up, of course, they are the topic of the day. Suzanne can't afford to be the topic of gossip but the people of Walton won't take no for an answer. Suzanne finds that Joe Warner and his brood of kids seem to be the worst at drawing her like a magnet. How in the world will she ever leave this town and these people?

Karen White plays on your emotions like a Stradivarius! I ran the gamut from laughing uproariously to grabbing multitudes of tissue to stem the flow of tears. I felt as if I had come home while reading this book. I flew through the pages and then wished the book didn't have to end. While this book is the sequel to FALLING HOME, it completely stands alone! I know I will be the first one standing in line for Karen White's next book.

Reviewed by Kathy Boswell
Posted April 8, 2003