I love this small town setting to bits and I'm going to continue reading the series for this alone The romance on the other hand while sweet, dragged for me, and all the conflicts-that-really-weren't didn't thrill either. Also the heroine never really choose the Jack. He was willing to bend over backwards no matter how far or for how long, and she never evolved to the point were she could openly accept and return his love. Yup, they end up together... but only out of circumstance; and cheesy lets tie this up in a bow circumstance at that.

My three other gripes are:

1) The POV of a young male character (and I mean YOUNG, he's 16). I get that this is to build interest for when they ( he and his FOURTEEN yr old gf) get their own story down the road. But Jack's passing notice would've have by far done the trick. I could care less about their kiddie drama, and was seriously squicked out by their sex scene = / (Yes that's right a 14 and 16 yr old had a graphic sex scene. Say it with me now...Ewwww!).

2) The outdated or out of character slang. Jack often refers to Mel's 'fanny' mentally. WTH, who over 5 and under 80 refers to a butt that way. And Mel (a fashionista from L.A.) after a mere few months, all of a sudden starts casually saying 'Boy Howdy!'...repeatedly? Puh lease, gimme a break. lol

3) Also for a book about a nurse that specializes in womens' health; Mel's personal logic about safe sex is down right retarded.