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Annie Obless is a thirty-five-year-old widow mourning the loss of her husband, Jason, and learning to navigate her new existence as a single mother of two young children. Caught in a downward spiral of depression, grief, and self-recrimination, Annie is forced to seek professional help. But after a year of therapy, she is still unable to talk about the fateful night that forever changed her life. She continues to hide her emotions while harboring deep-rooted guilt, insecurities, and self-doubt. In response to her therapist’s constant urging to move forward with her life, Annie signs up for a ballroom dancing class. Sparks fly as she learns intricate steps with her attractive dance partner, Milo. As the exhilaration of physical activity and budding romance restores Annie’s vitality, she is compelled to reassess her self-image, reevaluate her relationships, rediscover her purpose, and finally face the tragedy that reframed her world.
Skillfully written, this book deals with the emotionally heavy topics of substance abuse, depression, and suicide. Youngers accurately depicts the drastic personality changes and volatile mood swings of someone suffering from drug addiction. She also delivers a powerful portrayal of the overwhelming guilt and never-ending questions generated by a loved one’s suicide. A prominent theme is the insecurity, frustration, loss of self, and unshared weight of responsibility inherent to single parenthood. Despite the gravity of the subject matter, this is a beautiful romance peppered with moments of levity. The main character’s self-deprecating, snarky inner dialogue, combined with her loving but antagonistic relationship with her younger brother and the antics of her precocious children, add a touch of humor that readers will find relatable and entertaining. Through flashbacks interspersed throughout the narrative, Youngers artfully tells two different love stories, juxtaposing past and present romance, both with exquisite sweetness and poignant heartache.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review