Plot Summary: What happens, When & Where, Central Characters, Major Conflicts
Meet the Baxter family. John and Elizabeth Baxter have five wonderful children--and many concerns about their lives. The main crisis in this book is with their daughter Kari. She discovers her husband Tim has been having an affair and when she confronts him he says he doesn't want to be married any more and moves out. Kari is also struggling with her feelings for Ryan Taylor, her childhood love/best friend who is back in town. But she knows that she must stick with her marriage at all costs--especially since she is pregnant. Meanwhile the Baxter's youngest daughter Ashley has never been the same since she returned from Paris. Jaded and cynical, and with a child born out of wedlock, she wants to reject the Baxter's "establishment" lifestyle. Other hints of future problems for the series lie on the horizon.


Style Characterisics: Pacing, clarity, structure, narrative devices, etc.
Kingsbury does a good job of drawing the characters and creating relationships between them, especially with the sentimental romance scenes. She paints a good picture of a warm loving family. These books are issue driven, which is a bit too obvious and exaggerated at times. The deranged stalker and convient ending seem manufactured. The point of view shifts from character to character, though a consistent voice is maintained. But it seems like a soap opera--one crisis after another strung together to keep the story moving and to help the author explore certain issues.


How Good is it?
The relationship crisises are engaging, especially for fans of romance and issue driven books. ( )