"Another entertaining book from this talented author."

Kate Harmon and her 17-year-old son, Ryan, return to Cedar Dell, Texas, after her father is in a major car accident. Kate thought she'd never return home. When she became pregnant and wasn't married, she moved away and had only come back for her mother's funeral, which didn't end well.

While tending her father, she finds out that Max Cooper (Ryan's father) and his 5-year-old daughter, Shannon, have moved into the same neighborhood. Kate has kept secret the identity of Ryan's father. The small town gossips have been trying for years to get that information. Kate isn't happy about Max being so close, but she's glad that Ryan and Max are settling some old issues. Max and Kate start talking and kissing.

This story was entertaining and really kept my interest. As Ryan is trying to decide what he wants in life, Kate is wondering if she should get involved with Max again, and Max is working to become a good father to Ryan. I liked Shannon, who kept everyone on their toes.

Reviewed by Delia Larkins
Courtesy Old Book Barn Gazette
Posted July 14, 2003

Summary

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

How did life become so complicated? One minute I'm dating the hottest man in Dallas and the next I'm back in Cedar Dell, Texas, surrounded by grannies, gossip and green bean casserole—and helping my dad recuperate from a car accident. Did I happen to mention that I caused a scandal in town when I got pregnant at seventeen? No one has ever forgiven me—not my hard-hearted father, my brother Mr. Perfect, or my pregnant-for-the-first-time-at-forty sister who's gone totally hormonal.

As if this weren't enough, who should also be back in town but Max Cooper, the former high school football star, who is my teenage son's father. And now he wants to date me?!

Who ever thought that so many new horizons and second chances would open for me during one long, hot Texas summer?

Kate