Making Faces

First of all - I highly recommend this book. This book is about: love, healing, pain, friendship, nurturing, kindness, strength and so much more. Without giving too much of the plot away (since there are a few curves in the road of the storyline); basically this is the plot. Fern Taylor is a girl who's 'awkward' period extends all the way through her senior year in high school. Fern is tiny, doesn't have any curves, has crazy hair, crooked teeth, thick glasses, etc. The only thing that she didn't have was severe acne. Fern's BFF and cousin is Bailey Sheen. They have been friends and soul mates since they were born. Bailey has severe muscular dystrophy. Bailey is the heart and soul of this book. He doesn't feel sorry for himself. He inspires people, he makes people laugh in spite of themselves. His internal strength is overwhelmingly amazing. Bailey is the hero that we'd all hope we could be. Ambrose Young is the opposite of Fern in physical appearance. He is tall, sexy, and good looking. He is a leader to his classmates. He is the star of the wrestling team and the whole town follows his matches. Fern has been in love in Ambrose since they were little kids. Ambrose barely acknowledges her existence. The plot continues where Ambrose and Fern cross paths again, where Fern has now blossomed into a beautiful young lady. Without revealing any of the storyline - they become good friends, fall in love and help to heal each other. This book had me smiling in many places, crying in a few and feeling happiness and hope at the end. Even with this roller coaster of emotions, this wasn't a drawn out painful angst-y type of book. It was definitely emotional, but not in a bad way. It was definitely sad in some parts, but not dark. So many things to love about this book. The character development was fantastic. You really got to know the characters and could even see the sad side of Bailey even though he always tried to keep levity in conversations to steer people away from feeling sorry for him. Fern was a rock. She had her own insecurities, but she always stayed honest and true to herself. I loved that about her. Even though she felt that she was not beautiful enough for Ambrose, she never felt sorry for herself and didn't try to make Ambrose throw false flattery her way. Ambrose changes a lot in this book as well. He is so quiet in the beginning, but is able to speak more freely about his feelings because Fern gives him the security of being about to do that. There is another storyline with Fern's friend Rita that is heartbreaking as well, but has a peaceful and happy ending. But it shakes up your heart. Nothing in this book felt contrived nor forced. This book was so well written. Conversations felt real, events felt real, emotions felt real. Dancing in the grocery store with the geeky Fern and Bailey - you can really see them dancing and laughing. They don't care what people think. They are just enjoying life in a positive manner. This book does not have steamy sex scenes and it would not really fit in this book. Am glad that the author focused on the chemistry between Fern and Ambrose and left the rest alone. There is not contrived misunderstandings, nor over reaction with anger, emotions, self-doubt, etc. This is a straightforward book that will make you laugh, cry and find peace at the end. Am guessing that Amy Harmon is a religious person? There is quite a few discussions about God, etc. Quotes from scriptures. It didn't bother me. It didn't try to convert the reader at all. But if you are a devout atheist - it may bother you a bit. The book has a nice sweet, not over the top epilogue - and does end with a happy ending for Fern and Ambrose. There is no cliffhanger. After I finished this book, I raced to my laptop to write my 5-star review to recommend this book. And also to see what other books Amy Harmon has written. Enjoy.

Ambrose Young was beautiful. He was tall and muscular, with hair that touched his shoulders and eyes that burned right through you. The kind of beautiful that graced the covers of romance novels, and Fern Taylor would know. She'd been reading them since she was thirteen. But maybe because he was so beautiful he was never someone Fern thought she could have...until he wasn't beautiful anymore. Making Faces is the story of a small town where five young men go off to war, and only one comes back. It is the story of loss. Collective loss, individual loss, loss of beauty, loss of life, loss of identity. It is the tale of one girl's love for a broken boy, and a wounded warrior's love for an unremarkable girl. This is a story of friendship that overcomes heartache, heroism that defies the common definitions, and a modern tale of Beauty and the Beast, where we discover that there is a little beauty and a little beast in all of us. ***** Once I started reading Making Faces I couldn't put it down. It captured and pulled me in and there was no stopping it. Amy's writing and story telling is beautiful and heart wrenching. I knew going in that I would be crying but oh my word, I didn't know it would gut me and have me crying so hard that I started laughing. *When I cry hard, like really really hard, I start to laugh not because I find humor in what made me cry it's just that my emotions get that strong.* Ambrose is the star wrestler at his school and home town. When 9/11 happens and Flight 93 goes down not that far from where he lives, he makes the decision to join the military. One night Ambrose and his group of friends goes to see the impact zone. He reveals to them that he is signing up and soon his friends are following him. One day while out on a normal patrol with his friends from back home, something goes terribly wrong and only Ambrose is left alive. *Reading this part of the book is very hard to read because the parents reactions and emotions are so strong and real.* When Ambrose returns back home he keeps to himself. Not allowing visitors and always making sure that when he does venture out, it is during the night so that nobody can see what he has become. One night Fern bumps into Ambrose and from there things change. Fern has had a crush on Ambrose for years. She is not the type to care about looks (even though she does notice how handsome Ambrose is) but one who cares how what is on the inside. She sees and knows the good that is in him. She helps Ambrose to be the person that he use to be by being herself. She first starts by leaving messages on a board and waits for his answer. One day when he writes something that hurts her, she decides to leave him alone and let him be but as always he comes to her rescue and things are good between them. *The messages that they write together are beautiful and witty. One of the best things I loved about this book* Bailey, Ferns cousin and best friend also helps Ambrose come out of his shell. His dream as a child was to become the greatest wrestler that ever lived but that dream was cut short when he was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. Bailey has to be one of my all time favorite characters out of the hundreds of books that I have read so far. He is young but so wise, caring, loving, loyal and so damn hilarious. He doesn't let Ambrose get away with a pity party just because he was injured in a war. Bailey's life is restricted in a wheel chair. He can longer run, walk, reach or grab things like he use to before he was diagnosed but he doesn't let that stop him from living life and enjoying all that it has to offer. For me, Bailey was the story. Yes, what happened to Ambrose was devastating and the relationship between Ambrose and Fern was beautiful to watch but it was Bailey who took the spotlight. Making Faces is so much more than a love story. It's about survival, loyalty and most importantly...friendship. My favorites qoutes are: **“Ambrose Young! I have waited my whole life for you to want me. If you don’t hold me tight I won’t believe you mean it, and that’s worse than never being held at all. You’d better make me believe you mean it, Ambrose, or you will most definitely break me.” “I don’t want to hurt you, Fern” he whispered hoarsely. “Then don’t,” she whispered back, trusting him. ** “True beauty, the kind that doesn't fade or wash off, takes time. It takes incredible endurance. It is the slow drip that creates the stalactite, the shaking of the Earth that creates mountains, the constant pounding of the waves that breaks up the rocks and smooths the rough edges. And from the violence, the furor, the raging of the winds, the roaring of the waters, something better emerges, something that would have otherwise never existed. And so we endure. We have faith that there is purpose. We hope for things we can't see. We believe there are lessons in loss, power in love, and that we have within us the potential for a beauty so magnificent, our bodies can't contain it.” **“Everybody is a main character to someone” **“I wrote your name across my heart So I would not forget. The way I felt when you were born Before we'd even met I wrote your name across my heart So your heart beats with mine And when I miss you most I trace Each loop and every line I wrote your name across my heart, So we could be together So I could hold you close to me And keep you there forever.” **“There are times when you just need to acknowledge the sh*t … You just need to acknowledge it. Face the sh*t … Accept the truth in it. Own it, wallow in it, become one with the sh*t.” **“Nobody or Nowhere? Fern: I'd rather be nobody at home than somebody somewhere else. Ambrose: I'd rather be nowhere. Being nobody when you're expected to be somebody gets old. Fern: How would you know? Have you been nobody? Ambrose: Everybody who is somebody becomes nobody the moment they fail.” **“I would rather be lost with you than alone without you.” **“I keep thinking that maybe you and I could take a road trip and tell all the girls we meet along the way that we’re both vets. You’ve got a messed up face and my war wounds have put me in this chair. You think they’d believe it? Maybe then I could get some action. Problem is, how am I going to get a handful of tit if I can’t lift my arms?” **“You can’t have an animal in here, Sheen.” “I’m in a wheelchair, man. You gonna tell me I can’t have my seeing-eye cat with me? Actually, it can be your seeing-eye cat, since you’re blind and all. One of the perks to being a pathetic figure is that I tend to get what I want.” **“Because terrible things happen to everyone, Brosey. We're all just so caught up in our own crap that we don't see the sh*t everyone else is wading through” Ooookkkaayyyyy.....so I might have gone a little bit overboard with my favorite quotes but I couldn't just choose two or three. Amy Harmon, you have a fan for life. I will be starting A Different Blue shortly and I am hoping that you don't make me cry my own tears again but I think you just might. It's okay. Still fan for life right here.

Review first published on my blog: (...) Making Faces by Amy Harmon Contemporary Romance/New Adult Overall Rating: 4.5 (xoxo) Quick & Dirty summary: Ambrose Young is beautiful, strong, and smart. Fern Taylor knows because she’s loved Ambrose since she was a girl. Fern knows that Ambrose could never love her because she’s too plain with her bright red hair and crooked teeth. Ambrose is Hercules, Superman and the Tin Man all rolled into one, but mostly Ambrose is confused. When he enlists after September 11, he travels to Iraq with his four closest friends, never thinking that he’d be the only one to return. Neither Ambrose nor Fern know how to overcome their insecurities as they try to discover who they are as young adults. I knew going into this book that young men were going to die. They always do in a story about war and it kills me every single time. This time was no different and I openly sobbed with this book. I also enjoyed this book so much that I read it straight through in one day. And I say this as a mother of two with a job outside of the home. Still I spent my late evening into middle of the night reading this book. It’s amazing! What I wasn’t expecting was the tight-knit community the story is set in that deepens the emotion. The way Harmon describes each of Ambrose’s friends make them complex secondary characters. I liked some of them and I disliked some of them, and that’s how 18-20 year old boys are—sometimes they are loveable and sometimes they are jerks. And because they are such vivid characters, their families become alive as extensions of them, and their families are extensions of the community so there is a depth to the sorrow of lost life. Added to that is Fern’s cousin Bailey. Oh my goodness he is such a beautiful character. He really adds so much to this storyline about death and God and justice. After all, how is it fair to take the lives of such beautiful young men? And how can God exist if a great person like Bailey is destined to die in his 20s from a degenerative disease? The parallels of the struggle are illustrative of the major theme that the novel addresses. So why not a 5 star review? This story was so emotional for me that I’m not sure I can read it again. I think I said this about Amy Harmon’s other book I’ve reviewed, The Law of Moses. Additionally, this novel more overtly addresses this larger issue of God and justice in a way that was, perhaps, overly ambitious. While I appreciate her willingness to face this issue, I’m not sure it was completely resolved for me. I was still hoping for more in the end, despite the sweet epilogue. That being said, Harmon deals with such difficult issues with a sweetness that is inclusive rather than dogmatic or preachy. Is it worth buying? (Kindle $4.95) Absolutely yes. It’s a beautiful book and one I actually bought myself. Something else you might enjoy: I’m not happy with this recommendation, but I’m going with it for right now. I enjoyed this book a lot, it’s just that I’m not sure it’s the best recommendation following this book. But I’m going with it for now, as it has a similar beauty and the best theme. It’s Amanda Quick’s With this Ring, a historical romance with an overlay of mystery and suspense. Try it out

Originally posted on my blog: Tangled Up In Books I hadn't even heard about this book until this past weekend when I stopped by my friend Jessica's STS post. She had a very short one with only two books, one of them being Making Faces and I liked the cover so I looked it up. I don't think I even got through the entire summary and my heart was going crazy and I needed to buy this book. There's no other way to put it. It was need. I quickly rushed to Amazon, purchased and started it immediately. I seem to be having this major burst of good luck when it comes to the books I'm reading lately. Which makes me feel like I'm being repetitive when I say once again, I. Loved. This. Book. I don't think I've ever felt anything so deeply, I also don't think I've ever really cried as much as I did with Making Faces. Truly in a good cry sort of way. In the best way possible, this book left me completely shattered. I did end up having to stop once, at around 85% for an entire day because I just couldn't deal with all of the emotions. And the constant tears. We basically have two stories going on within this book. There's the story from the summary, but running parallel to that and equally as important to the book as a whole, is another storyline that is filled with just as much humor, warmth, grief and tragedy. You really get hit with the feels from all sides here. Both of the storylines were written absolutely beautifully. ** She had floated through childhood without drama and with little fanfare, grounded in a perfect awareness of her own mediocrity. I feel like, at this point, Fern is probably one of my all time favorite FMCs. What she lacks in self confidence, she seems to make up for in this never ending well of optimism. She was just so sweet and genuine. She had me under her spell from the very beginning and that's so very rare for me. She was the type of person to see the beauty in just about everything. And also to see that sometimes a beautiful package can contain something so very ugly and slippery inside. ** "I'll add you to my list," Ambrose promised suddenly, his eyes holding Bailey's in the mirror. "When the time comes, I'll write your name across my heart with the others." Ambrose has everything going for him, yet he's still this really humble guy. Even before being changed physically and emotionally by war. Star of the wrestling team, the pressures on him by the entire town were really starting to weigh him down. Enlisting was a way to escape the pressures for him. He wasn't ready to go off to college and be the town golden boy. He got swept up in the moment and I don't think the possibility really comes to mind that you could be the only one of your friends to make it home from that. If you even come home at all. ** "He left us sooner than we wanted him to, but that's how life is. We don't get to choose when we go or how we go. None of us do." The thing about Making Faces is it's not just this incredibly moving love story. It has that and it's sweet and innocent. A refreshing change. I mean, don't get me wrong. I do enjoy my steamy and sometimes smutty reads. Though this book, and Fern and Ambrose, still did make me swoon, it was more of a YA type of swoon. It was perfect.. But it goes so much deeper than the love story. It's also about friendship and strength. Dealing with tragedy and loss. Embracing the imperfections that life deals you. Whether it's being born with a crippling disease, overcoming loss and disfigurement, or even growing up feeling quite unremarkable and plain. And a great lesson on the fact that what's inside of a person and who they truly are, is what makes them beautiful. ** "Maybe everyone represents a piece of the puzzle. We all fit together to create this experience we call life. None of us can see the part we play or the way it all turns out. Maybe the miracles we see are just the tip of the iceberg. And maybe we just don't recognize the blessings that come as a result of the terrible things." I think I should just leave it at this. It's been very hard to express what I'm feeling after reading this. And short of opening myself up so you could see inside all the beautiful emotions that this book stirred up in me, I don't think I'm going to find it any easier to articulate my feelings than what I've put down so far. I keep using this phrase but this book truly is beautiful and I feel like everyone should read it at some point. It's going to take a really incredible book to even come close to how this one made me feel and it deserves far more than 5 stars in my opinion.

This book made me cry my heart out. If I had to write a one sentence review, that’s what it would be. This book hurt my heart in sometimes good ways, and in sometimes devastating ways. So devastating I wondered if I’d ever recover from it. This author weaved words together that haunted me, pained me, hurt me, and then healed me. Amy Harmon is a truly gifted, talented, wonderful writer and I’m so thankful she wrote Making Faces. “Death is easy. Living is the hard part.” Making Faces tells the heartwrenchingly tragic but ultimately uplifting story of Ambrose Young, Fern Taylor, and Bailey Taylor. Fern Taylor has the kindest soul and I wish I knew her in real life. She is such a great friend that loves unconditionally and selflessly. If her loved ones are hurting, she hurts with them. When they are smiling, she’s most likely the one who made them smile. She is just so full of love and has a beautiful spirit that you can’t help but love her. But Fern is also the “ugly duckling” in her life. She has wildly frizzy red hair, glasses, and teeth that could use some fixing. There’s a particular memory that Fern has of her childhood that has stuck with her throughout her life and that memory made me tear up in empathy for Fern. "But Fern was rooted to the spot. She didn’t hear the word blessing. She didn’t stop to ponder what it meant to be one of God’s tender mercies. She’s not pretty. The words clanged around in her head like pots and pans being jostled and banged. She’s not pretty. Little, funny Fernie. She’s not pretty. Poor Fernie." All of us, in some way or another, can relate to this. Who cares if someone calls us funny? Or tells us our personality is sparkling? When you hear the words, “you’re not pretty” those are the words that count. Those are the words, for some painful reason, that mean something to us. That hurt us. That stay with us, like the way they stay with Fern. Fern hears those words at a young age and those words force her to deal with things that she shouldn’t have to deal with at such a young age. What does it mean to be pretty? To not be pretty? What does a pretty person have that I don’t? Fern also gets her first crush early on. A crush that grows as she grows, a crush that no longer is a crush but becomes something more. A quiet kind of love that builds and builds, and unfortunately for Fern, a love that has nowhere to go. "Fern Taylor loved Ambrose Young, had loved him since she was ten years old…" Ambrose Young is the popular guy in high school. The school’s top athlete. He has it all, good looks, charm, and what matters most to Fern, a gentle personality. Despite being the top guy in high school, Ambrose is kind. And it’s that kind personality that draws Fern in and keeps her there. Not his looks, not his charm, but his gentleness. However, Ambrose hates his popularity. He hates having people build him up into some star athlete that sometimes, he doesn’t even feel human. He wants to do something with his life, something good and impactful. "Everybody who is somebody becomes nobody the moment they fail." Bailey Taylor is Fern’s cousin who has Duchenne muscular dystrophy which has him facing a short life filled with uphill battles. "But for Bailey, real life was now, this instant, because every day was a downhill slide. He didn’t get stronger, he got weaker, he didn’t get closer to adulthood, he got closer to the end, so he didn’t look at life the way everyone else did. He had become very good at living in the moment…" Bailey teaches Fern to stop thinking about what she can’t control. To stop letting insecurities get in her way. To Bailey, his cousin Fern is beautiful just the way she is, and he doesn’t let her forget it. “Do you think there’s any way someone like Ambrose could fall in love with someone like me?” Fern caught Bailey’s gaze in the mirror again, knowing he would understand. “Only if he’s lucky.” “Oh Bailey.” Fern shook her head, but loved him for saying it…and even more for meaning it." Bailey understands that life is short, and because of that, he knows what’s important and what isn’t. Something as fading as looks are not important, but the ability to love unconditionally and to have a genuine heart, those are the things that count. Tragedy strikes Bailey, Fern, and Ambrose’s life more than once. The three go through things that tear your heart out and make you cry unrelenting tears for them. Bailey’s funny charm has you praying for his life to never end and for his disease to fade. Fern finds out what it truly means not to be pretty, but to be beautiful. Ambrose learns what being a hero really means.And through it all, they have each other. A friendship, a love, so heartfelt and true that it sits deep with any reader following their story. “But that’s the cool thing about friendship. It’s not about being perfect, or even being deserving. We love you, you love us, so we’ll be there for you.” I recommend Making Faces by Amy Harmon to everyone. There’s a reason this is the first book I’ve ever truly reviewed. This is a story that will stay with you forever. A story that will hurt you, but ultimately heal you. “You loved ferris wheels more than roller coasters because life shouldn’t be lived at full speed, but in anticipation and appreciation.”

For some time now I've been told I needed to read this, that I would love this book so much and guess what? I needed to read this and I absolutely loved it. This is my first Amy Hamon book and I seriously hope it won't be my last, I'll make sure it won't :) Making Faces starts off with the usual story of a typical girl in love with the most popular guy in school. She's loved him all her life but he hasn't noticed her in years. He knows of her existence, but he doesn't see her. You would expect this to have kind of the same story line most of YA books have, but it doesn't, not really. Yes, it has the typical girl who wishes for nothing more than to be seen by the boy she likes and loves. It has the typical athlete who has it all. He's gorgeous, smart, sensitive, nice, a good friend and even though he has it all, sometimes he feels lost. But want to know what's different about this story? Bailey. Beautiful Bailey Sheen. Let me explain: Fern Taylor has been in love with Ambrose Young since forever. She can't think of a time when she wasn't in love with Ambrose Young. She has the biggest heart. One of the biggest I've read. She's smart, intuitive, honest, protective. She loves to read and write romance novels. She's a dreamer. But she's also a realist. She's not pretty, or that's what she thinks. "Maybe there is a bigger purpose, a bigger picture that we only contribute a very small piece to." Ambrose Young is a dream. He gives you the butterflies, he makes you smile, he makes you swoon. I fell in love the moment he stepped on the spider to protect a boy and a girl who seemed paralyzed looking at it. I love his strength and his confidence. I love his vulnerability and his doubts. He's always been and done what's been expected from him, he would never let down anyone who cared for him and I admired that. But I also admired his desire to be something else, to do something else. I loved his willingness to fight, to do what he felt right, for his country and for himself. Bailey. Beautiful Bailey Sheen. He's not the typical teen or young man we're used to read in YA books or any other, I think. Let me tell you a little bit of him. He may not have been a Super Star or a Super Hero, but he sure was a Hercules. He had courage to say the things that needed to be said. He was a good friend, the best of friends, to Fern and to Ambrose and Rita and Jesse and Paulie and Grant and Beans. He took down the biggest bully. He wrestle through life but not only survived life, he lived it. He took care of Fern and Ambrose when they needed it the most. He was grateful for all the things he had in life, and even though he didn't have a lot of things, he had what really mattered. And he was so, so much more than that. "Victory is in the battle." At first I thought it was going to be all about Fern and Ambrose, their love story. But you have to be really careful to see who's story is really behind all of it. Making Faces shows you a side of life that many have experience and some may have not. This is a story about friendship and sadness and happiness and true beauty and love. Love between a girl and a boy. Love between cousins. Love between friends. Love between team mates. It is also about loss and what it means to feel truly alone. But you know what? This also gave the characters (and lets face it, me, too) hope. Hope to dream again, to love again and to smile again. Even the darkest moments have a little bit of light at some point and what's wrong about holding on to that? We all need a second chance in life, a second chance to be happy. I loved every word and every page of this book. It was unexpectedly beautiful.

To start off, I love the story of Beauty and the Beast. I was excited to read this book, and, after reading it, I can't say it was a bad book. In fact, it is a book I would read again. But there were parts that I found cliche, hard to relate to, or simply unsatisfying. First off, Fern writing love notes to Ambrose but felt too ugly, so she gave them to him through pretty girl Rita? Cyrano De Bergerac anyone? And the Author shamelessly mentioned that literary connection later on too. You don't do that! Allusions to literary works need to be subtle or they are just cliche! And even without that, it was obviously a rip off of the story that I found it bland. And Ambrose as Hercules? Yet another Allusion that was overly romanticized that it just tasted bitter in my mouth. It wasn't warranted, it didn't fit, and it felt odd. And finally, the connection to Beauty and the Beast fell flat because Making Faces is nothing like Beauty in the Beast. Yes, Ambrose is not literally a monster, but he never once was ugly on the inside, which led to him being ugly on the outside. The book would have been about Ambrose being a horrible human being who had to learn to love in order to get through the 'bomb to the face' event in Iraq. But no. We just got a broken human being who felt guilty of leading his friends to recruiting for the army, only to see them die right in front of him. That's not Beauty and the Beast, or even Pride and Prejudice. It's misleading, for sure! Also....Small Town Syndrome. I hate it!! More people live in cities, so it's hard for the majority of the population to relate to the whole "everyone knows you and your entire family" thing. All the people I've ever met who grew up in small towns all tell me they hated the lack of privacy and have everyone know who you are. They got out as soon as they legally could! Books that try to romanticize small towns are laughable. And DON'T get me started on the wrestling! I can get behind the author's belief that wrestling "makes good men", but the book was so centered on the sport that it was instantly boring to me. It, as a sport, is as interesting as curling or ping pong (which is boring as heck). It's just grown, sweaty men on mats trying to pin each other down. How is that interesting? Baseball is the superior sport (haha). I do have other things to say about it, but I won't say it here. I did find the ending sweet, so it made the book better. And the religious tone of the book sold it for me. There is no healing without Christ. Love bears all things (1 Corinthians 13). Definitely a book worth checking out, but if you're a literature nerd like me, then maybe find something else.

This ended up being like a 3.5 for me. It probably would have been a 1 or a 2 if the end of the book had been like the beginning. Because in the beginning it was a Very Serious Book about Very Serious Things. Like an after-school special that takes itself way too seriously. It was dreary and sad and while it had a lot of interesting metaphors (which I was impressed with on a technical level), this book had a lot of editorial issues. Like the fact that there was a ridiculous amount of head-hopping (in a single scene you would be in the history teacher's head, then the heroine's, then her cousin's, then the hero's, then one of his friends, etc.) It also flashed back and forth between several different time periods, sometimes making it difficult to keep track of what year it was and what location the characters were in, and what was happening. There were also incidents that beggared belief - such as the hero going off to war after 9/11, every single one of his best friends all agreeing to go with him, and then somehow magically they're all assigned to the exact same unit and are fighting in the exact same place. In my high school a ton of my classmates signed up for the military after graduation, and not a single one of them ever served together, despite being in the same branch of the military and being from the same hometown. This story probably should have started after Ambrose came home from war. Because that's where it actually started to get interesting. That's where the pace picked up and the romance starts and I finally wanted to keep reading. I had picked this book up because an author (whom I admire and enjoy) said that she wanted to be Amy Harmon when she grew up. So I guess I expected this to be like the best book ever written (especially after the kinds of reviews it has here on Amazon). This is not the best book ever. It's a good book. It's enjoyable. If you're a Nicholas Sparks fan, you're probably going to eat this thing up. But it wasn't the best, most emotional, most incredible book I've ever read (although the comments here suggest otherwise). To be honest, I'm not even sure why the reviews are so effusive and completely over the top. It was good, but not give away your firstborn child good. For those expecting a clean read because of the author, you're not going to find that here. There's a lot (A LOT) of swearing, some groping, but no sex. For those put off by "Christian" stories - this isn't that. The characters aren't struggling with their faith or their belief in God. The heroine's father is a pastor, her mother a pastor's wife, and they're the ones quoting scriptures and talking about Jesus and God, which makes sense given their lifestyles and professions. The heroine, Fern, also says a few religious things from time to time (and I have to admit I had a difficult time with both the hero's and heroine's name - Ambrose and Fern were sort of terrible. Not Reneesme bad, but I found it off-putting), which again is believable given her upbringing. This doesn't read like a religious book, so I'm not sure why the critics here are trying to paint it as one.