Reviewed by Stacy Ahlgren
Publisher: Zebra
3.75 stars

After years in the military, Chris Montgomery is looking for somewhere to relax and recharge, and Lambert Falls, with its tree-lined streets and picturesque town square, seems ideal. Chris expected that a stranger in town would attract suspicion and gossip. He didn’t expect to meet someone like Angie Kane, with her warm, open smile and self contained air that are instantly intriguing. Angie has built a satisfying life for herself, one she’s not willing to uproot for someone who’s just passing through. But Chris is quietly persistent – not to mention handsome and charming. Against her own better judgment, Angie finds herself falling deeper than she ever intended – until one phone call forces her to choose between the town she’s always loved, and a man she can’t imagine living without…

Chris Montgomery realizes how very fortunate he is to have survived a horrible accident while serving his country, and decides to count his blessings and go back to a place he once called home a long time ago.  When he moves into his grandfather’s old house, he creates quite a stir in the small, close-knit community of Lambert Falls.  There he meets Angie Kane, a quiet, pretty woman who immediately captures his attention with her sweet smile and caring heart.  Angie is the type of woman who makes Chris think of family, of permanence, but it takes him awhile to convince her that he’s not just passing through.

Angie is content with her life in Lambert Falls.  She knows deep in her heart that this is home, and nowhere else on Earth will ever do.  When Chris starts showing an interest in her, Angie can’t quite believe this handsome, eligible bachelor could possibly find her attractive, but the more time she spends with him, she realizes his interest is completely genuine, and for the first time in a long time, she is falling in love and starts to imagine what it would be like to share her life with this wonderful man in the town she strongly loves.  Angie blossoms in her relationship with Chris, and opportunities she had never imagined begin to present themselves to her in the most amazing of ways.  Between the support of her family and the love of a good man, Angie is coming into her own.

Chris has not been able to let go of the military altogether, and continues to commit himself to short assignments located in Colorado, a beautiful part of the country he hopes to share with Angie one day.  He knows she is the woman he wants to spend the rest of his life with, but it isn’t until an important job opportunity, set in Colorado, is offered to him, that he starts to fully understand how strongly Angie feels about never leaving her beloved hometown.  He owes so much to the military, but will it mean sacrificing the one woman he cannot live without?

I chose this story by first-time author Pauline Trent because the idea of a sweet, small town romance appealed to me at the time, and I wasn’t disappointed.  I loved the idea of this relationship set in a place where everyone knew their neighbors and looked out for each other, where you could leave your door unlocked and feel completely safe.  In Lambert Falls, ego and material objects don’t mean much to the townfolk.  This is a place where the people are sensible, caring, and quite happy with the simple things in life.  Angie Kane loved her life, and couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.  To be so certain about exactly what you wanted has it’s own appeal, that’s for sure.  Watching Chris fall in love with her was sweet, because he saw past her shyness to the loving and passionate woman she was, and that’s what attracted him, not the showier, more noticeable beauty that her sister had.  Chris saw Angie’s worth right from the start, and that made him ideal hero material.

Their romance was going along quite well until it became obvious that Chris’s frequent trips to Colorado were eventually going to lead to a more permanent career move, and this was the obstacle that was going to test the strength of their relationship.  But isn’t that where the compromise comes in, that give and take that allows each individual to grow, yet also to give something back to their partner?  Well, that’s what I thought was supposed to happen.   However Angie never once left Lambert Falls, not even to visit Chris when he asked her to come with him for a week.  As much as I tried to rationalize her behavior, it really bothered me that she wasn’t willing to be with Chris unless he was in Lambert Falls.  Even though she was upfront right from the beginning with Chris about never wanting to leave her hometown, I didn’t see what was so wrong in having her at least spend a little time with him while he was in Colorado, even if it didn’t change her mind.

For the most part, I did enjoy this book; it was sweet and tender and charming, but I couldn’t get past Angie’s adamant refusal to go with Chris to Colorado, even for a brief time period.  I could have understood if she would have at least given his request some consideration and gone with him for a week just to test the waters, but instead she couldn’t see beyond her own feelings, and that really got my back up.  I didn’t expect her to change her life around because of a man, but I at least thought she should have been willing to give it a decent try, and if after that she felt the same way, then fine, I could totally live with that.

I wouldn’t want other readers to hesitate to read this book just because of my feelings on a particular aspect of the story, because there were many good qualities about it.  I just felt that maybe Angie had a little growing up to do with respect to Chris’ feelings.  We never truly find out exactly how much his career meant to him, other than he was proud that his efforts could save lives, and that he felt he owed it to his captain, so that makes the outcome of the story a little too pat for me to be completely satisfied at the resolution of the situation, especially since it felt like a rather rushed ending.  Still, it’s a fine first effort for this author, and I’d be completely willing to read another story written by her.  Any issues I had with the book are completely my own.