This book has been in my "to read" box for a very long time, and what a pleasure to dive into a character driven knowledge where I can indulge in thoughts and motivations instead of a runaway plot.

Martha Garver's ex-husband dies in a plane crash and she is horrified to learn that the executor of his estate, and the person who will be handling her son's trust fund is none other than Charlie Leveque, the conservative and insufferable attorney who represented her ex-husband Raymond in their bitter divorce. However, after meeting regarding the business of the will, Martha and Charlie both discover that they have more in common than they ever could have imagined: Martha's husband may be dead, but Charlie has his own insufferable ex-wife to deal with; both have teenage children with all their myriad problems; and bot find themselves, remarkably enjoying the same things.

Sooner rather than later, Martha and Charlie find themselves attracted to each other. However, as in all novels of manners, the course of love cannot run too smoothly How they work out the rocky bumps in their relationship and come to a satisfactory conclusion makes for a most enjoyable read. ( )

i liked this book really quite a lot. beth gutcheon has picked up where laurie colwin left off, with novels that are sweet-fluffy, not the must-hide-book-lest-friend-sees-what-you're-reading-fluffy.


**spoiler alert** while i enjoy a good tragedy as much as the next girl, i'm really a sucker for the happy ending, part of what made this book so satisfying for me. ( )

I gave this the first 75 pages and I just couldn't get into it. The characters were uninteresting, the plot line was dull. It was also a bit dated. From the cover it looked like a fairly new release but had originally came out in 91. The synopsis on the back cover made it sound like a really good read, but unfortunately didn't live up to my expectations. ( )

The most "real" romance I have read in such a long time. Interesting (to me) things about this story. The narrating has a sort of detached feel to it. There are snippets of peoples' lives - sometimes leaving them at what feels like a crisis, only to come back later and find they have carried on. There are major plot happenings that are only told after the fact. And yet, Ms. Gutcheon somehow makes these characters seem real - that they are having feelings and experiences and lives outside the confines of the story line. Apart from that, I enjoyed the story itself. Very satisfying (if not a very frequent experience in real life) to have two characters genuinely fall in love with each other and be made for each other and in the end find themselves together. ( )

Another wonderful book by Beth Gutcheon. You really get to know the people, from the divorced mother of two to the divorced father of an unruly teenager and how their lives intertwine. ( )