Small Town Secrets

Sunny couldn't leave Latitude, Alabama fast enough after graduating from high school. Now settled in Atlanta, coming home to bury her hippie living mother after an accident on the family farm is not what Sunny had planned.  Even after 15 years of being away, never talking to her mother again wasn't what Sunny had in mind. Clancy MacCallum was Harmony's handyman, and always carried a torch for Sunny. Sticking around to help her with funeral arrangements and settling the estate is the only thing to do, even if he doesn't know if he'll be out of a job he loves so much. Small towns, however, have dark sides - whether you live there or not.

Returning to a hated rural hometown isn't a new idea, but this mystery manages to avoid the trope pitfall in a unique way: Sunny wonders if maybe her own juvenile viewpoint had more to do with feeling like a hated, weird outsider than anything the townspeople actually did. Clancy's solid form keeps her from being overwhelmed. He's always there, always reliable and helpful, never pushing or judging. He keeps the entire story grounded. He is an amazing character! Though most of the time it is done well, some of Sunny's inner dialogue doesn't explain her leaps in logic and therefore a few things appear out of character. The dialogue is split oddly, making conversations hard to read. Sunny is a well-written soul searching character, taking readers on a heart-warming journey to finding love and a home.

Julie York