Unlike some of the other reviewers, I knew not to approach a NS novel as a romance. Our library system categorizes his books as "fiction" not "romance". And as the first book of his I was exposed to was Message in a Bottle, I expect tragedy along with any romance in the story line.

Also, unlike some other reviewers, I did not find Denise's devotion to her special needs child over done, abusive, or out of the normal realm of self-sacrificing. I have many friends who have special needs children, and almost all struggle with choices of balancing the needs of their children with their own needs. Denise could have walked off the pages of their life stories with little difficulty.

I don't know how this would actually read as a book, because I listened to it digitally. It was read by Johnny Heller, who is not Barbara Rosenblat, but did a credible job.

Having said that, I did find the story somewhat predictable within my expectations. There wasn't anything very surprising. But it was well told. Some gripping moments. Some tender moments. Some wrenching moments.