Sometimes you just feel like a nice, clean romance. And this book is certainly that. It is a story of mistakes, failures, and the ability to forgive others as well as ourselves. It starts with Adrianne leaving school suddenly and leaving a note under her boyfriend’s door to say bye. Although it is never implicitly stated why, it’s fairly obvious the reason for something like this so the shocker there wasn’t much of one for me. When Chris shows up at the museum where she works eight years later, she knows the time has come to come clean with him and let him know about the daughter that they have. From there they have to decide if they can let go of past hurts and regret over mistakes to try to have a future together.
This story is ultimately about two people reconnecting with their first love, being able to forgive the mistakes for the past, and learn to accept forgiveness from themselves, each other, and most importantly from God. It also showed that forgiveness is a central part of the faith. Adrianne’s parents could have just as easily turned her out when she showed up pregnant out of wedlock. Chris could have refused to forgive her for not telling him about their daughter. And Adrianne could have not forgiven herself (which sometimes is hard to do). Knowing that forgiveness is a central part of the plot also makes the title make more sense.
It's a quick easy read and I enjoyed it well enough. Is some of it predictable? Yes, so fi that is a reading deal breaker for you, pass this one up. Ultimately it is a sweet story and sometimes, especially in this world, that is all you need.