3.5

Darcy Jones Harper has always felt like an imposter. With a family known for swindling, stealing, and cheating, Darcy is the sole member who went in the opposite direction by studying to become a lawyer. Now, as the newly appointed judge in Sunshine, she fears people will see through the visage, especially since she was given the position by her deceased husband, whom she also married on a whim when she caught her long-time boyfriend, Jason, in a compromising position with another woman. As Darcy battles with her own self-worth and town rejection, she'll have to decide if she's willing to give Jason another chance as well as giving herself a chance as happiness.

Jason Petrie is a three time bull-riding champion who, after an injury, is starting to re-evaluate his future. A future, until recently, that he thought included Darcy - until she unexpectedly married her mentor George Harper. Now, Jason has a lot to make up for, and possibly just a little bit more growing up to do if he wants to convince Darcy to give him a second chance along with making sure she realizes how much she's worth it all.

I did not read the first two books in this series. I felt like there were definitely some places where I maybe missed a bit of character setup - at least I hope that was the case because I definitely wanted a bit more from the Darcy and Jason relationship. They have supposedly been together since practically childhood - so a long time - yet in a somewhat rash decision Darcy marries someone else after she sees Jason kiss another woman on television after one of his shows.

When the book opens Darcy is a widow and Jason is trying to get her back. So all the conflict that happens between them has passed already. I don't know if things unfolded more in a previous book or if it all happened off page. If the latter, if kept me from really feeling a connect between the betrayal that Darcy obviously felt enough that lead her to marry a much older man out of the blue. The other reasons behind the marriage are kind of strung along and just felt a bit...odd, I guess. Like we didn't have so long to learn the full reasons for Darcy's marriage or how her appointment to judge really kicked her imposter-syndrome into high-gear. But instead of maybe coming to the point on some of these matters a little more quickly we are strung along, and I felt like that meant there was less focus placed on Jason and Darcy really figuring out their relationship. They both obviously have things to work on individually in order for them to work out together, but I felt like enough focus wasn't placed on getting them to that point. There were too many other things added to the mix, that in the end, to me, didn't really change the story one way or another for better or worse.

I will say the shining point of the book for me focused on Bitsy, a member of the Widow's Club - a group of widows who like to play matchmaker around town - and one of Darcy's nemeses, Rupert. I really don't think that there are enough romances that highlight finding love - or having crushes, or having romantic feelings - for older women - or men. Bitsy has been widowed three times and she's starting to feel the "twitch" to get into a new relationship, but she's also scared because she's lost too many men that she's loved. Plus, there's the "unconventionality" that she's an older women interested in a younger man. I enjoyed so much seeing Bitsy and Rupert kind of dance around each other. I would have gladly had them be the featured pair of the story, but I was so happy they were at least secondary, and I loved every point of view we got from Bitsy.

Despite feeling like the story got bogged down with too much going on, it really had some wonderful moments and when it got it right, boy, did it get it right. I loved seeing both Darcy and Jason grow up - for all intents and purposes. Seeing them really figure out what they wanted their lives to look like, and whether or not their lives could include each other. Working through their misgivings about themselves and their fears. Those were such highlights of the story and when Melinda Curtis hit these topics, she did so with such poignancy. I'm looking forward to going back and reading the other books in the series and acquainting myself more with the characters I met in this book. And I'm very interested to see who will feature next. ( )