There is a lot happening in THIS TIME AROUND. Allie is not only dealing with an inheritance she wasn't expecting, but both her parents are in prison for orchestrating a ponzi scheme of some fashion. Jack has a 10-year-old daughter and no wife to help him answer said 10-year-old's pesky questions of burgeoning adolescence. Add in a trunk full of money discovered in an attic, a forthcoming reunion, and a few ex-fiancees, and they're both juggling quite a bit.

The best parts of this book were the ones with Jack, Allie, and Jack's daughter, Paige. The knitting of that small family, and the ways in which Jack learns to share parenting again after his wife's tragic death when Paige was a toddler were lovely. Some of the other pieces of this circus were less successful, but the effect overall was a lovely book.

I'd recommend this one to any contemporary readers who like adult heroes and heroines who are willing to own up to old demons and take second chances on each other.

Book Summary