It was a good story that deserved better developed characters, characters that had more dimension instead of being so cookie cutter types.

Although half of the Book Club liked this book, I found it easy to read, easy to forget. Toward the end I did get a bit attached to the characters, but the first half especially was not well-written.

We read this book in the midst of turmoil with police shootings. It sparked much discussion and the provided questions were quite good. We found the writing a little awkward at times, but we all found that once you got past the first 150 pages it became a fast read.

The ending was shocking. No predictability in this book. The characters were real in my mind. I couldn't put it down.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I couldn't wait to see what happens next. It was an easy read.

“With others, you believe you’ll never be more than acquaintances. You’re so different, after all. But them this thing surprises you, sticking longer than you ever predicted, and you begin to rely on it, and that relationship whittles down your walls, little by little, until you realize you know that one person better than almost anyone.”

This story employed a writing technique that I really enjoy. It was a dual narrative with one story in the past and the other in the present. The past story dealt with forbidden love and its consequences, as well as the relationships between parents, children, and siblings. I found the relationship between the main character’s parents to be very unusual for the time and this is the one part of the story I found hard to believe and understand. Otherwise, I felt the author did a fabulous job creating a sense of time, place, and history that drew me in and was very realistic. I could feel the heat, smell the dust, and taste the lemonade. I also really enjoyed slowly discovering the story of Robert and Isabelle. I am fortunate to be friends with a number of mixed race couples and I would love to get their perspective of this story.

The present-day story dealt with a journey for Isabelle and her friend/surrogate daughter, Dorrie. This journey showed the ways in which people’s attitudes and prejudices have changed and remained over the last few decades. Many elements of the race relations in this novel are relevant to today’s climate and headlines. Also, the emphasis on motherhood displayed during this journey was profound. I was partial to how beautifully the author showed that family is not only those born to you, but can be found and nurtured in the most unlikely places. I found Isabelle to be a force of nature and a woman whose time had not yet come. I admired her spunk, courage, perseverance, and way of looking at the world. She is a formidable main character that I will not soon forget. The backbone and grit she displayed reminded me of my own grandmother.

This book stayed with me for quite a while after finishing it. I kept thinking about the characters, their experiences, how I wished situations could have been different, and how much circumstances have changed yet still remain the same. The novel was about friendships, love, parent/child relationships, race relationships, segregation, tragic consequences, and loss. This was the author’s debut novel and I was impressed with how sensitively and delicately she handled these themes. I look forward to reading more from Julie Kibler.

My latest novel, Calling Me Home, straddled 1937-1950 Kentucky and a modern day Texas to Ohio road trip. A story of true love, complete loss, repeated heartbreak and perseverance. Life can be messy, life can be unfair and our lives can deeply touch the lives of others. It makes us look at our own lives and prejudices and reflect. It makes us realize that we should never judge â??a book by itâ??s coverâ?, and that someoneâ??s story should never be taken at face value.

I loved the romantic story, even though heartbreaking. It really made me think about my values in regards to racism.