The slow pace and slice-of-life aspects cause this series to teeter back and forth for me. This volume rushes through a year of little happening to get us back to Valentine's day again only to zip past that also.

The cuteness of the characters couldn't overcome my frustration with their stalled will-they-or-won't-they romances. And I'm not liking the direction the storyline about the crush the small teenage boy has on the twentysomething woman is starting to take.

Here's hoping next volume gets things back on track, but I"m worried it's just going to let things hang in the current limbo longer than my patience can endure. ( )