Genuine, likeable characters couldn’t overcome the worn-out theme of small town living’s superiority and a weak recapping of events from book one of the series, leaving the reader in the dark about the details of the catastrophic event that impacted this small community. However, the way the heroine handles an ethical dilemma is what pushed my final grade to a C-.

Emotionally devastated, Evie Blanchard left Los Angeles and her career as an occupational therapist to visit Hope’s Crossing based on an e-mail friendship with Katherine Thorne. Falling in love with the town, she finds work in the bead shop there. She is now in charge of running the outdoor art and crafts fair booth and teaching others the joy of beading. While it is difficult work, it doesn’t leave her emotionally drained. Still, Hope’s Crossing has had its share of problems. In fact one of their own – a young teenager – was tragically killed in a car accident. Another teen, Taryn Thorne, in the same accident suffered a traumatic brain injury and faces months of rehab.

When Brodie Thorne, Taryn’s father, waylays Evie she is dismayed to discover that he wants her to handle his daughter’s rehab. Taryn and her present facility have come to a parting of the ways due to Taryn’s refusal to cooperate in her own recovery. While Evie loved what she did, she knows that the emotional cost is too great for her to return to patient care. Plus while she adores his mother Katherine, Brodie and she are like oil and water. Brodie made it very clear when she first arrived in town that he distrusted her motives in befriending his mother, treating her like she was some type of con artist. And Evie thinks that Brodie needs material possessions to feel important.

Brodie is not the type to take no for an answer and has his mother ask her also. Evie plans on using her work at String Fever, the bead shop, as an excuse for her refusal. However Katherine, the founder and original owner, outsmarts her by offering to take her place, leaving Evie truly boxed in. Resigned, she agrees to give the family two weeks.

Fueling the animosity between Evie and Brodie is intense sexual attraction. Soon they acknowledge it, although both realize that now is not the optimum time to act on it since Taryn’s needs come first.

There are certain professions that have stringent principles and regulations, and the medical field is one of them. Developing a intimate relationship with a patient’s family member is considered improper, although there would probably be very few medical romances if authors didn’t bend this professional ethic a little. So while it isn’t my favorite plot device, I do appreciate the fact that Ms. Thayne addressed it and acknowledged that this is outside the doctrines governing patient care. However, Evie as a caregiver also oversteps her bounds and breaks a trust with a feeble excuse. I lost respect for her as a professional after the sneaking around. Not only does she keep a secret from Brodie, but she involves another household member.

This is the second book in a series. From the very first chapter, events from the first book are talked about but a full explanation of the car accident and the cause are not given until toward the end. The author peppers the story with hints like “she had been killed in April in a tragic accident that had ripped apart the peace of Hope’s Crossing and shredded it into tiny pieces.” I have to say this just exasperated me, especially since many of the conflicts and plot devices evolve from this one incident.

If you are able to overlook some lapses in professional judgment and you have read the first book, then maybe you will enjoy this more than I did. This is the second book that I have read by Ms. Thayne that didn’t work for me, so I doubt I will be reading any others.