Ms. Ashley writes compelling stories that need a heavy hand with an editor. Some of her writing quirks are just too much. The cutsey nicknames. The use of "babe" and "sorry" as a complete sentences. Jumping around the timeline and, bizarrely enough, jumping around points of view for only the last chapter are unique to this story and unwelcome. Where Ms. Ashley shines is in fleshing out her secondary characters and in building a believable small town atmosphere. Her stories are interesting and her talent is undeniable. What Ms. Ashley would benefit from is an editor to rein in her unnecessary tangents that go on for pages, her penchant for describing every single outfit the characters wear, and her chapter long rhapsodies on food. All of that could be excised from the book and still be a great story with great characters without all the extraneous blabber. Her books could easily be several hundred pages shorter and not lose anything essential to the story. I am always torn by Ms. Ashley's books. On one hand I appreciate the stories she tells and their appeal, on the other I am frustrated by the need for tighter writing and better adherence to grammatical rules. I give the story 3 stars and the editing 1 and ended up with 2.
