Review: Angst for the holidays....
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 23, 2011
My Review:This was another sweet little holiday read. This story was about high school sweethearts that had a horrible heartbreaking breakup after a betrayal, which sent Riley running off to Nashville and Ethan running into another girl's arms. On the surface, things have worked out for both of them. Riley is a huge country star and Ethan has a beautiful little girl in Zoey that he adores, but neither one of these two have forgotten or gotten over their passion and love for each other, although it's been 10 years since they saw each other.I loved the premise of this story and the angst and emotion that is at the base of it. I felt the pain all the way to the core of Ethan's character, but had a harder time connecting with Riley. I think that was probably more of a personal thing with me though, rather than  any kind of writing flaw in the book. She just wasn't a character that I connected with. I loved the Kent aspect of it, especially at Christmastime. Ethan is a part of this big, loving family.Riley, on the other hand, grew up without any family. When she ran away from it all ten years ago, she not only lost the love of her life, but she also lost the stability from the Kent family. So why did I feel more empathy for Ethan than I did for Riley while reading this book?? I am telling you, it makes no sense. Part of it may be because she is so mature about it and the fact that she just wants to be past it, whereas Ethan still has regrets.Despite my VERY confused emotions about this book, the one thing that I am sure of is that I definitely enjoyed it. I loved getting to know these characters and giggled about the precocious little Zoey...a lot. It's a sweet book and I am very glad that I read it.