In the first few chapters, the reader finds two separate plots that are intended, of course, to eventually meld into one. We are, at the beginning, introduced to two people, both of whom experience a devastating event that changes their lives. Each of these two main characters, a man and a woman, initially presents to the reader a good character, an interesting background, and a successful and gratifying lifestyle, until separate disasters strike them. The man, a New York architect, and the woman, a beautiful film star (of course), start out on entirely different paths. She in pursuit of continued fame and wealth, and he doing the thing he most loves, building and designing buildings. Nothing much in common, you might think, but think again. In this area the author shows her true talent. Ms. Smith very cleverly finds a common denominator for her two lead characters, an old and abandoned farm in the remote mountains of North Carolina. In that connection, we discover some very well defined and deftly drawn sub-characters at a local eating place, The Crossroads Café. It is the two main characters, the plot idea, and the very interesting people of the North Carolina town in which it all takes place that draws the unsuspecting reader into what he believes is going to be a terrific read.

But. And that is a very big “but”. I will leave the reader who has fallen for the glowing jacket blurb to judge the value of the inappropriate and totally unnecessary turn that Ms. Smith takes at this point. Without warning, her very good character study and plot begins to slide down a very slippery slope into the muck of humanity's basic instincts. Sex, much too much of it, and much too much discussion of it and all the very personal aspects of it kidnap her initially well-written plot and hold it for ransom. She never manages to recapture her original story and get it back on track. What was this author thinking? And what a shame.

And, by the way, where was her editor? A little intelligent editing could have stopped this plot abduction in its tracks and saved what began as a very good story. Do people fall in love? Yes, of course, then do, and they probably engage in all the sexual activities that Ms. Smith describes in detail, but too much is too much. No one needs to know those intimate details, unless one is addicted to the kind of salacious passages which, in my opinion, do not belong in Ms. Smiths's otherwise lovely novel. Reading these passages is like watching a crude person picking his teeth and insisting that you examine what he has exhumed from his back molars.

Who needs it?
Review by Litera Scripta