I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

This didn't completely work for me. It was set in one of those small towns where everyone went to school together and is in each other's business all the time. Ria's boyfriend Jacob broke up with her abruptly and left town eight years ago, but now his grandfather is dying so he is back. I didn't really understand a) why, if they had been together for two years at the point, Jacob didn't explain to Ria why he felt he had to leave; b) why indeed he felt he had to leave; c) why he didn't contact her at any point during the ensuing eight years; and d) why on his return he didn't grovel a huge amount more than he did. Some of these questions were explained in the book, but didn't really ring true for me.

On the plus side, the various characters clearly being set up for the next few instalments in this series seem like they might be more interesting than Jacob and Ria. I'm particularly hoping for Fitz and Belinda...