Don't let how long it took me to read this book lead you to think I didn't enjoy it because I did. I just have a bad habit of getting sidetracked by work, life, motherhood, and other books, usually about this time of the year. It's something I working on though.

That being said this book had a rough start for me and that is likely why it took so long to dive into. It wasn't that it was second in the series but more that I felt that starting from the wedding and then moving back to set up the opening before moving on the 'present' was awkward. I don't feel it came across well and ended starting the story off on a disjointed foot. However once we got to the present and the friendship and eventually romance between Adrian and Camilla, it picked back up.

I agree that that inclusive characters, such as the biracial hero and bisexual heroine were a nice tough but I don't think it was in any way too much. It's actually something that has always been in most romance as I distinctly remember reading an Amanda Quick novel at a young age only to re-read it later and realize what 'companion' meant. Actually I felt that there was just the right amount of commentary on Adrian's race because that is something that happens now with biracial people let alone back in the 1860's when it really wasn't the cultural norm it is now. Having to have that thick skin from the constant comments of "people like you" or not getting acknowledged because of it is likely something that was harsher than anything we saw Adrian experience and for me if anything there could have been more of that. And honestly the fact that Adrian wasn't more jaded was surprising. Same with Camilla. I know other reviews mentioned not liking the consistent internal monologue she had about not being worthy of love and felt it got old but honestly if someone is passed off like Camilla was from the age of twelve that is how someone is treated their whole life, passed on from one person to another from the time they were they would feel that way especially if they had someone like the decidedly un-Christian like Rector Miles berating them regularly.

The fact that both of them were so hopeful about anything was inspiring in a way. That and the guilt they carried around from their older siblings, whether it was from angry words shouted in the heat of the moment or self-imposed guilt is what helped to bond them. It wasn't just their forced marriage but that they were optimistic and they they helped each other to recognize the things they deserved in life from the people who professed to care about them and just for being human beings. And their moments with their older siblings were very emotional; the one between Grayson and Adrian actually made me tear up when I was reading it.

Overall I enjoyed this book and would re-read it. Now that I know that the (what I still feel) awkward and rocky start didn't set the pace for the entire novel. I've never really been disappointed with a Courtney Milan novel and this helped to keep that trend up.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the only thing that kept me from picking up the sequel was the stack of books already on my TBR list. Although I'm sure even won't stop me from picking it up soon because I do want to see what happens next. I found it quirky, humorous, and mixed with the right band of misfits to make it stand out in the genre. Was it completely without fault? No, but then again no book really is. The plot was a bit far fetched and I didn't really know until half way through it was the direction that it was going for, but still I enjoyed it. And I laughed at a lot of parts.

While Digby was annoying in many places, his back story did give a reason for it. And there were some very small parts (mostly towards the end) where he got a little endearing . What drew me to this book was the comparison to Veronica Mars and there is that in some ways. And quite frankly even though I am still a fan of the show and the movie (have yet to read the books), Veronica isn't exactly endearing all the time herself. Again for reasons but it's still there. Zoey took almost as long to get warmed up to but again I can see how someone in her position would let herself be taken a bit for granted because it sucks to be outcast at that young age. And I remember putting up with a lot of stuff as a teenager who wanted to fit in and have friends than 'adult me' would.

Overall it's entertaining which is what books are suppose to be. The plot plausibility is a bit much but again it is one of those it was suppose to be that way. I wasn't expecting to discover the secrets of the universe from this book. I was expecting to be entertained and I was, and at a very chaotic time in my life. So this was a welcomed break from reality.

I didn't hate this book but it wasn't as stellar as I thought it would be. It was just okay. Nothing great nothing terrible. Sadly, nothing much to expand on either.

While this book had been on my radar for a bit I ultimately picked it up to have a book for the Book Riot Challenge in 2018. Ultimately I was underwhelmed by a majority of the book. Don't get me wrong the talent was there and had the author lived she would have had more time and opportunity to fully develop it. But the stories read like everything else I read in the creative writing classes and even wrote myself; nothing there made her, for me at least, stand out as the voice of her generation. In fact, upon reflection, I only really enjoyed "Winter Break", and "Hail, Full of Grace" since I found those to be the better written ones. "Reading Aloud" and "Challenger Deep" were okay as well but for me not as memorable as the first two. The only non-fiction that I enjoyed (including the titular essay) was, funnily enough, "I Kill for Money" which was the only one that wasn't directly about her because I feel it takes more talent to humanize someone else in a non-fiction setting.

Overall, it was okay just, hence the two stars. I am not as cynical as others who say she wouldn't be published had she not had her 'connections' (which I guess I glossed over) or had passed because again the talent is there even in these rough copies of her story (as the introduction mentioned there was no editing done for these at all). So chances are she would have gotten published more even if not forever. I will say I don't think she'd be as well known though because there was nothing in any of the stories in this collection to make her stand out from every other student who may have taken classes with her or others who have been in, are in, or will be in creative writing courses in the entire world. However due to her early passing we will never what could have been for her and if she would have stayed in the literary world or if she would have moved on to other fields. We just don't know, and maybe that's one of the reasons that this book causes such division because there is no way of getting an answer to that.

I saw a recent PBS production of this which is what inspired me to pick it for my Book Riot Challenge 2018 of a classic children's book published before 1980 and this fit the bill for that by quite a margin!!
I can see how this has stood the test of time and remained a constant favorite withe endless movie re-makes and republishing. My only qualm is that there was no direction for this story. It read very much like it was issued as a monthly serial in a newspaper, which it very well could have been, so there was no overall moral or story arch . Still it was cute and Anne was adorably charming and witty. I am not sure what took me so long to read this but it was a good pick for that challenge. Alternatively I am not feeling particularly driven to read the rest of the series because, again, it's a fairly long book with no real sense of direction and that does tend to get tedious very quickly. But I am glad that I did read it and I would recommend it for any young child to read if for nothing else as a staple of children's literature.

I don't know if it had been too long since Harris wrote in this series, too long since I read one, or a combination of both, but I didn't love this one as much as I did others in the series. Truthfully I prefer this series over Sookie and I was happy to hear that it had been revived with the Hallmark movies started coming out. But I just wasn't as invested with this one as I thought I would be.

The story was just meh for me and the plot seemed a little too unbelievable even for a cozy series. I found Philip's parents to be completely and utterly one sided without any development because my goodness if that is how they are no wonder the kid hitchhiked halfway across the country. And it wrapped up too quickly and too neatly. Despite the last lines of the novel it wasn't an all wells that ends well for me. I plan on reading the next one in the series at some point but I will be taking a break because after waiting so long for this series to pick up this one was a bit of a letdown. I still enjoyed but not as much as I did others in the series and again a good portion of that could be for me being away from the series and the characters for a good bit of time.