Summary: Alexis "Alex" Jennings is so tired: laid off from her day job and a failing art career have only added to her troubles. Riley Conrad, after thirteen years in the military, just wants to live a simple life.

Notes: Amazing book, but let me warn you: Alex considers jumping a bridge...into the river...and not coming back out. She has second thoughts, so she goes into a bar (for the first time in her life) and orders a drink, thinking that being inebriated will help her resolve. Ok, obvious problem! Thankfully, the bartender, Riley, is really nice and notices that she is obviously distraught. In their conversation, they realize that he fought alongside her brother in Afghanistan. He invites her out to breakfast for the next day. Well, she says yes. They are both Christians and, after that macabre beginning, the book is great.

Age of Main Character: Thirty

Violence: SPOILER!!! Riley fights the bad guys, punches them thoroughly, and ends up in the hospital.

Romance: Yes. Sweet and not as mushy as "Alliance Bride." Clean, of course. Oh, there is a couple who lives together, but is not married. It is clear that their situation is not Biblical. (It isn't Alex and Riley, and the couple aren't Christians)

Scary Themes: Alex has some serious depression and has been blocking herself off from her friends and family. They do live far away, but she doesn't call them. (When her friend, Mindy, and her parents find out about her considered suicide, they are horrified and insist that she stay in contact and tell them if she feels like that again.) Riley has some PTSD.

Genre: Cozy Romance/Realistic Fiction