"Wonderful character-driven romance."

Luke Boudreau feels responsible for Calvin Abbott's death. Calvin died while under Luke's command and while saving Luke's life. Luke has made the trip to Mississippi to offer his condolences to Calvin's mother in person. Waiting for Olivia, Calvin's mother, in her greenhouse, Luke meets the beautiful and alluring Analise. Imagine his surprise when he discovers that Analise was Calvin's wife, a wife he never mentioned.

Although Luke was determined to convey his regrets and move on with his life, circumstances, and Olivia, urge him to stick around. As he becomes firmly enmeshed in the lives of the Abbott family - helping with the family business, taking Calvin's troubled younger brother in hand and drawing closer to Analise with each passing day, Luke is riddled with guilt. He has no right to happiness with these people, not after what happened to Calvin.

Ms. Crandall weaves a wonderful tale with characters it is easy to care about. The reader can feel Luke's pain and understand his feelings of guilt as he falls in love with Analise, yet at the same time, you can't help but want the two of them together. Olivia is a wonderfully written character, with a dark secret of her own. Cole, the younger brother, is so filled with teenage angst, it is hard to decide whether you want to hit him or hug him. Don't miss this wonderful book!

Reviewed by Tish Glasson
Posted July 10, 2004

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Summary

Army Ranger Luke Boudreau commanded a secret mission that went horribly awry. The physical wounds he takes away from the experience are inconsequential compared to his guilt for the loss of a fellow soldier—a man who will never be recognized for his bravery because of the covert nature of their operation. When Luke is recovered enough, he travels to Grover, Mississippi to pay his respects to a woman who gave her son to the service of his country. He must do so in a way that doesn't reveal the true circumstances of the man's death. He braces himself for a mother's bitter anger, secretly hoping this encounter will begin to deliver him from his torment.

However, what he finds in Grover is far from either recrimination or absolution. He is quickly drawn into a family that desperately needs his help—a younger brother bent on self-destruction and a mother with a secret burden of her own. And most shocking of all, he discovers a beautiful widow he didn't know existed—a woman who tempts him to break his own moral code.