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One step forward. Two steps back. The Tufts scholarship that put Nora Stuart on the path to becoming a Boston medical specialist was a step forward. Being hit by a car and then overhearing her boyfriend hit on another doctor when she thought she was dying? Two major steps back. Injured in more ways than one, Nora feels her carefully built life cracking at the edges. There's only one place to land: home. But the tiny Maine community she left fifteen years ago doesn't necessarily want her. At every turn, someone holds the prodigal daughter of Scupper Island responsible for small-town drama and big-time disappointments. With a tough islander mother who's always been distant and a wild-child sister in jail, unable to raise her daughter--a withdrawn teen as eager to ditch the island as Nora once was--Nora has her work cut out for her if she's going to take what might be her last chance to mend the family. But as some relationships crumble around her, others unexpectedly strengthen. Balancing loss and opportunity, a dark event from her past with hope for the future, Nora will discover that tackling old pain makes room for promise...and the chance to begin again.
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0 0I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump over the past month. Part holiday hoopla, part a total living situation change and adjustment to that change, and part being sick. Most books that would take me a day or two to read have been taking me 4 or 5, or even more, days. I really needed this one in the middle of all of that. I didn’t want to put this book down and was even able to block the rest of the world out while reading. Something I’ve had a hard time doing recently.
Admittedly, I wasn’t sure about my feelings on Nora for the first chapter or so. The more I got to know her, the more I was all in to defend her to the end. Nora is so much stronger than she realizes. Most of those around her, even her hometown that has been pretty crappy to her, see that strength and have respect for all she’s accomplished. Of course, there’s always the squeaky wheel. And the squeaky wheels in Scupper Island are extremely loud and rude. Yet Nora soldiers on with her head held high.
Not only did Nora steal my heart, but so did so many other Scupper Island residents. Even her mom, who is a crusty gal, intrigued me until I finally started to understand her. I fell in love with Sully and his daughter from the start, others took me a bit longer. But by the time I finished this book I feel as though, in some way or another, all of these characters were firmly entrenched in my heart.
Don’t mistake this for a light-hearted tale. There are a lot of heavy issues that are dealt with. In fact, here’s a good place for a trigger warning. There are some very traumatic events that happened in Nora’s past that will slowly come to light. As usual, Kristan Higgins has a perfect balance of emotions…from humor to angst to romantic and familial love to loathing and despair. It’s all there, but none so overwhelming to bog the story down.
One of my favorite relationships in this story is the connection between Nora and her niece. They start on very shaky ground. As the story progresses, and Poe starts to slowly trust Nora, their relationship develops in a beautiful yet delicate way.
I cannot get enough of this author and the heartfelt relationships she writes.
You can find of my reviews at All In Good Time.
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