If there were half rating, I would have given this 3.5 stars. The story revolves around snow Ashley Gable and Luke Kilcannon, who meet in a small town outside of Chicago when she is 8 and he is 11. Both are outcasts and have difficult parents, but Luke insists that they keep their friendship secret.
The story moves back and forth between the present and the past and I'd guess about half the story takes place 25 - 15 years ago, to give the reader the background for today's storyline. While interesting, I kept thinking, "Okay, let's get to today's story."
After a tragedy at 15, Snow leaves town and remakes herself as a successful talk radio host. Now, 16 years later, she's returning to Chicago and bringing her show, The Cinderella Hour, with her. She has unresolved issues to work out with Luke, who is now a firefighter.
Thrown into the mix are Vivian Larsen, the town's leading socialite; her husband, Blaine Prescott, a prominent psychiatrist in women's mental health; Mira Larsen, Vivian's younger sister who is a veterinarian and the polar opposite of her sister; Thomas Vail, an intensive care doctor who once dated Vivian's best friend, and a farmer and his daughter, Daniel and Wendy. All their stories interweave with Snow and Luke, some in good ways, some not.
Once the story moved completely to today, I couldn't put the book down. Some bad things happen and I started to figure out who was behind them but had to read on for affirmation.
Since there are so many characters and so many stories, I can see opportunities for several sequels, which I'd happily read.