Can love really heal all things? If Sam Carroll hadn’t shown up, she might have been able to get to her mother in time. Instead, Allie Everly finds herself at a funeral, mourning the loss of her beloved mother. She is dealt another blow when, a few hours later, she is sent from Tennessee to Maine to become the daughter of Miss Beatrice Lovell, a prim woman with a faith Allie cannot accept. Poetry and letters written to her mother become the only things keeping Allie’s heart from hardening completely. But then Sam arrives for the summer, and with him comes many confusing emotions, both toward him and the people around her. As World War II looms, Allie will be forced to decide whether hanging on to the past is worth losing her chance to be loved.
I’m personally kind of over historical fiction so I wasn’t all that excited about reading this, but it was worth it. It turned out to be my favorite kind of historical fiction, the kind that’s about the characters, not the time period they live in. It was very natural. I also appreciated the take on foster care/adoption from that era. I thought Allie was a great character, but I kept reading for Sam. I felt for Allie, being uprooted from her life and all of that, but Sam is pretty swoon-worthy, not gonna lie. Allie’s struggle to stay loyal to her mother while adjusting to her new life and her own changing perceptions was the strongest part of this sweet story.
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ADDLibrarian 
Nice review!! Allie had some stuff to work thru and made some choices that weren’t as endearing as Sam’s fun-lovin’ self, so I gotta agree with you.
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I felt for Allie, too. In fact, the vivid emotions that came with her loss and struggle to believe in love was my all-time favorite part of Coker’s writing. 🙂
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I loved Sam from the start, so I was always looking for more Sam. Great review. I can’t wait to read Rachel’s next book. It’s also a historical fiction story. I like how she writes.
Jill
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