I am always on the lookout for new contemporary authors, and this book sounded interesting: Single mother, with her city-raised son, moving to small-town America to take care of her alcoholic father. However, by the end of the book, I found the conflicts weak and felt like history had been re-written.

Autumn left Fairfield, Washington after graduating from high school and never looked back. Moving to Seattle, she immediately hooks up with the wrong guy, but has the good sense to end the relationship. Then she meets her soul mate, Henry. The magic of childhood and young adulthood was stolen from her by living with her alcoholic father, Billy Cole, but Henry makes her feel safe, serene, beautiful and content. Since she and Henry have yet to have sex, when she finds out she is pregnant, she knows she need to do the right thing and set Henry free. After telling him, based on his reaction, she knows she has made the right decision.

Fast forward thirteen years, as Autumn returns to Fairfield. Eighteen months ago she lost her job at a prestigious art gallery. Since she is broke and her father is sick, moving there to take care of him is the best solution right now. When she goes to enroll her son in school, finding that the staff hasn’t changed since her time there raises red flags – she didn’t fit in, so how will her son? Expressing her concern, she is told that the school has a new social studies teacher this year who has started all types of clubs not centered around sports. Escorting her son to his next class, Autumn is shocked to find that Henry is the teacher.

Henry is surprised to see her too. After she broke up with him, he attempted to get in touch with her, but Autumn never bothered to return his calls. It took him a long time to move on, but he meets Laurel, and after eight years of dating, they married. After the marriage failed he decided it would be better for him to leave, so he scouts out small towns, and picks Fairfield. His reaction to the town is completely different from Autumn’s. He loves the deep roots of the families, and he loves the prospect of one day teaching a child of a present student.

The plot revolves around Henry and Autumn’s romance; Autumn’s readjustment to small-town living; and mending fences with her family and friends. The secondary characters are interesting and varied, and I like Autumn for the most part; I love the scenes illustrating Autumn’s love and concern for her son.

When I first read the opening prologue I assumed that Henry didn’t want to raise another man’s child, but that wasn’t the case. He loved her and wanted to make it work, but Autumn didn’t give the man she loved a chance because she thought she needed to try to work it out with her baby’s father. I had a difficult time coming to terms with some of the decisions she made. Also, Henry’s marriage and the way the dissolution is handled seem very far-fetched, and as a conflict I found it lacking in credibility.

My main problem with the book is how the author re-writes history. Autumn’s childhood is marred by her father’s drunkenness and her relationship with him strained. As with most children of alcoholics Autumn is the responsible one, taking care of her father, and enduring embarrassment and ridicule by association. It troubled me that in this small town no one stepped in and helped provide some normalcy for her since Billy Cole was known far and wide as the town drunk. But by the book’s end, Fairfield is a wonderful place with caring, concerned people, and Autumn’s memories of her father are different.

The writing is good, and the story pulled me in until I had problems suspending disbelief. People look for different things in a book, so if you are willing to overlook weak conflicts, and miraculous changes then you might enjoy this book. Otherwise, I recommend giving it a pass.