My Review:

I really loved this book. It has all the little things that I really enjoy in a contemporary romance...

**small town ambiance and eccentricities. The book takes place in a small North Carolina town where everyone knows everyone else's business. Alicia's husband, Ty, grew up there and now that she's his widow and moved there to be close to his family, they all have an opinion about her and her actions. It's a hard reality for someone in the midst of grief and who's never been subjected to it before.

**secrets between friends. There were a trio of friends who grew up in this small town...Ty, Liam, and Penny. Now Alicia is good friends with both Liam and Penny, but she doesn't know all their secrets...whoa, the twists in this story line were fantastic!! I really loved this aspect of the story!

**bookstore. Alicia is a bibliophile and has come home to take over her father in law's bookstore since he's had a stroke and can't run it anymore. She collects rare editions and the parts of the story that revolved around her love of books was FABULOUS!!

**University professor. Liam is a physics prof at UNC. He's constantly doing little physics tricks. It made me want to start doing science experiments. Just a fun little detail to the story.

**Ty was a war hero who died in Afghanistan. It's no secret that I love military guys, but as a spouse, it's so hard to be the one at home handling everything when they're gone. The author showed this in a beautiful way with Alicia while still showing a great respect for Ty's sacrifice too. Military families have it really hard and this book showed that beautifully.

I really adored both Liam and Alicia. They're in a difficult position with the rumor mill in this small town and their undeniable chemistry. Not only are things tough in a small town, but with their individual ties to Ty, it makes their relationship virtually impossible. I liked the way that the author wrote the intricacies of their relationship and how she worked it all out. Really a brilliant stroke of amazing and entertaining story telling. This book is definitely going into my reread pile! It was fabulous!

I received a complementary copy of this book in return for an honest review.