Lessons Learned
A young girl needs to spread her wings, but a young woman needs roots.
English teacher Sarah Bray never thought she’d return to Sycamore Falls, but a traumatic event at her inner-city school leaves her desperate for the sanctuary of home. By returning to her roots, an older and wiser Sarah hopes to deal with the demons of her present and confront the ghosts of her past.
She discovers a kindred spirit in Lucas Miller, a teacher from New York with demons of his own. They quickly become friends – bonding through Lucas’s culture shock and their mutual desire to build new lives. When they open their wounded hearts to each other, their friendship effortlessly evolves into romance.
Their love is put to the test when Matt, the quarterback of the football team, shares his deepest secret with Sarah. When the conservative community finds out, Sarah and Lucas – along with the town of Sycamore Falls – are schooled in the lessons of acceptance, tolerance, and love. (from Goodreads)
English teacher Sarah Bray never thought she’d return to Sycamore Falls, but a traumatic event at her inner-city school leaves her desperate for the sanctuary of home. By returning to her roots, an older and wiser Sarah hopes to deal with the demons of her present and confront the ghosts of her past.
She discovers a kindred spirit in Lucas Miller, a teacher from New York with demons of his own. They quickly become friends – bonding through Lucas’s culture shock and their mutual desire to build new lives. When they open their wounded hearts to each other, their friendship effortlessly evolves into romance.
Their love is put to the test when Matt, the quarterback of the football team, shares his deepest secret with Sarah. When the conservative community finds out, Sarah and Lucas – along with the town of Sycamore Falls – are schooled in the lessons of acceptance, tolerance, and love. (from Goodreads)
My Thoughts
This was a well written debut novel. I thought it gave a good representation of the positives and negatives of living in a small town. The message sent about bullying and non-acceptance is relevant in today’s world. One of the worse things we can do when someone is being bullied is to do nothing at all. In this tale, we get to see the results of both action and inaction. The story also talks about dealing with life’s negatives and trying to move forward.
The only thing that bothered me was what I perceived to be Sarah’s sexual teasing with Lucas in the early part of their relationship. The only thing I can think is that the author was using this to show Sarah’s level of conflict as she tries to recover from her traumatic event and determine if she is really ready to make a commitment.
So, all in all a good book. Fast read, good messages and relevant topics.
Thank you to the Writer’s Coffee Shop Publishing House and Netgalley for allowing me to read this ARC for an unbiased review.
Publish date: September 6, 2012.
Great review Lisa, I am not sure this is something I would enjoy, but I do like that it addressed bully and the actions of observers.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment Kim.
DeleteThanks for posting this review. Short, sweet and to the point. :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment!
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