This was such an enjoyable book on so many levels. You cannot help but fall in love with Miriam who always knows the right thing to do or the right thing to say to a friend. All her life she has had a crush on Junior Beiler but he only wants to be friends because he wants Miriam to help him get to know her best friend, Mary Kate. Though disappointed, Miriam agrees to try and get Junior and Mary Kate together. But Junior finds out that Mary Kate wants nothing to do with him because she is escaping a bad relationship but never reveals that she is really being stalked by Will. As Junior gets to know Mary Kate, he realizes that she is not the woman for him, but that Miriam is. When Will finds Mary Kate and holds her hostage and hits her, Junior appears at Mary Kate's door with the intention of telling her just that, but winds up saving the day. Now they all realize what Mary Kate was running from, even her parents were not aware of Will's abuse. Finally, Junior professes his love for Miriam, and realizes all the ways she has helped his family. A very happy ending indeed.
The sub-plot is of Judith and Ben. Judith has had a miscarriage and is told she cannot have children which devastates her. Ben and her family struggle to get her out of the depression she falls into and slowly she gets better. It is as this point that Ben introduces the idea of adoption with Judith. At first, she is reluctant, but finally completes the paperwork and they go forward with the adoption process.
The characters in this book are real, their problems are real, and in the end they are there for each other, as Miriam has always been for all of them. Five stars for Shelley Shepard Gray.
The sub-plot is of Judith and Ben. Judith has had a miscarriage and is told she cannot have children which devastates her. Ben and her family struggle to get her out of the depression she falls into and slowly she gets better. It is as this point that Ben introduces the idea of adoption with Judith. At first, she is reluctant, but finally completes the paperwork and they go forward with the adoption process.
The characters in this book are real, their problems are real, and in the end they are there for each other, as Miriam has always been for all of them. Five stars for Shelley Shepard Gray.
