Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I truly enjoyed this one, breaking my slump of meh books outside of the romance genre. Elizabeth Bass Parman is a great storyteller and I loved getting swept up in Callie Jane and Posey's narratives. For Callie Jane it was very much a coming of age story, while for Posey it seemed more of a cautionary tale of getting too big for your britches. I rarely root for characters that cheat in their relationships because *traumatized* BUT, honestly, Justice for Vern because he was such a great dad and deserved way more than he got. The ladies around town made fun of Posey but they barely knew the depth of the crazy. The book was a little slow to start and I was hesitant to really lean into it because I usually don't like historical fiction, but this was a great change of pace.

Additionally, Brittany Pressley is one of my favorite narrators and this is another great performance from her!

This read was a little strange for me. At times I enjoyed it. The story is told from the perspective of the mom (Posey) and the daughter (Callie Jane). Posey is a miserable sad sack of a human being and is awful to her daughter. I think I found it a little unbelievable that Vern (the husband) was such a good father, yet continued to let Posey bully Callie Jane and be a toxic presence in her life. The book wraps up too quickly for any sense of satisfaction and overall left me with the feeling of "What was the point?"

Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy for review.