Finally Fanny

After twenty-five years and a broken marriage, Franny McClain is returning to live in her hometown of Latitude, Alabama. With all her dreams having turned to dust, she doesn't know what to do with her life but knows she needs to figure out who she is and how to reinvent a life that means something.

Deputy Tru Jeffcoat was Franny’s high-school sweetheart but both left town all those years ago - he to serve in the army, she to get married.  Now he’s a deputy sheriff in Latitude and Franny is moving home.  Although she has changed considerably, Tru soon discovers the beautiful girl he once loved hidden beneath the woman she has become.  He would love to rekindle what they once had, but Franny has secrets she is not willing to share. These secrets must be overcome if she is ever to love - or really live - again.

With a style and voice that wraps a reader up and comforts them, Ms. Gardner weaves a sweet tale of a woman devastated by her choices in life.  The characters are realistic with believable situations that are relatable yet unique.  The problem is that there just isn’t much conflict, no climax or even a distinct arc in the story.  Reading about the day-to-day activities in the life of a woman is something all women already know, so the journey becomes very dry and somewhat boring.  Still, the writing in this women’s fiction story is nice, smooth and very easy to relax with.

Ruth Lynn Ritter