Susan Kay Law

I never really got past the skanky aspects of this. Lucas is the last man left in Maple Falls, Minnesota after the rest of the men head west to the gold fields. He ends up sleeping with a very high percentage of the women in town. Some of them have regular days of the week that they show up to be serviced. That's just nasty. The heroine's family is also icky. Priscilla's sister married Pris' first beau, then tried to hook up w/Lucas. Then Priscilla got another suitor and her mom ended up with him. Robert was no prize & he left Jeanette high & dry at the drop of a hat so Pris got the better of that, and Ruben was a better match for her mother. Still, there was something just wrong about the whole thing. Lucas & Pris' relationship wasn't fully satisfying wither. Once they started to have feelings for each other it seems to take forever for them to work it out.… (meer)

Bought this off the $1 rack at Books-a-million. Read the back, thought it worth a shot for a buck. And lucky for me, it was. I really liked the author's tone. She switched easily between several points of view - really getting into the heads of the characters while keeping an omniscient third narrator. It was an interesting character study. And did not shy away from delving into the myriad ways in which a moment's tragedy can have long-lasting and devastating effects on everything from the most minute details to the overarching themes of life. A really great read. I was pleasantly surprised.… (meer)