4.75 stars. Katy Regnery (the author of The Vixen and the Vet, which I loved) recommended this book last month on her Fscebook page and she made it sound pretty intriguing so I downloaded it and got a chance to read it today. I'm very glad I did! I'm already a sucker for stories where the human spirit overcomes adversity but this was an exceptional example of why I love that type of book. Each person had "stuff" to overcome but they did it with grace and strength and good intent. There was no villain in this book; there was simply life and we all know that can be a challenge without a villain. I loved this book. Absolutely worth reading! It's going straight into my Favorites collection! A VERY POWERFUL STORY LINE: DRAMA, HOT-STEAMY-SEX, LOST OF LIFE/LOVES, FAMILY, PARENTING, SECOND CHANCES AND THE TRAGEDY OF WAR. IT MADE ME WONDER WHY ARE WE SUCH A VIOLENT SPECIES, WHY DO WE HAVE TO HAVE WARS? IS IT HARD WIRED INTO OUR DNA? READING THIS MADE ME WONDER ABOUT SO MANY THINGS, I GOT UPLIFTED, I LOL, CRIED, GOT ANGRY AND ALL FROM ONE BOOK. I ENJOYED EVEN THOUGH I THINK IT WAS A LITTLE DRAWN OUT AND WORDY. I LOVED SAM, HE WAS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER. ;D