I want to start by saying that I was really looking forward to this book. I think that I'm in the minority that didn't love it. It was just so-so for me.

Over the years, I've loved many of her books. She's got some absolutely emotional, amazing books that you cannot forget. One of them, my all time favorite book (Winter Garden). I feel like that makes my expectations really high. Unfortunately, this book just did not do it for me. I just kept hoping and hoping for it to just grab me and not let go.

One of my biggest issues with this book is the way it flows. So, the beginning of the book starts off really slow and has a lot of content BUT the last 1/3 of the book is really rushed and there's so many things going on, it feels a bit all over the place.

We get a great background of the Allbright family and their time in Alaska. They almost made the appeal of a simple life, quite compelling. Don't worry, that didn't last long. There's no way this city girl could make it in that life. Anyways, I'm not sure what I had more issue with. How things went down or how a ton of huge events happened in the end and I couldn't quite keep up. Some of the things just seemed really out there and the court stuff at the end was really just stupid. I'm sorry, what was the point.

Now, this book wasn't all bad. I did love Leni and how she grew as a person. Her love for Matthew is inspiring. I loved how Cora and Leni reconnected with the grandparents. It goes to show, it's never too late. I also liked that Hannah shed a light on Vets. It's something that's not really talked about and I think it should be. Being in war and coming home and trying to just pick up where they left off, is not real.

Overall, this book is just okay. I'm still a huge fan, this just wasn't one of my favorite by her.