SWEET HOME ALASKA by Jennifer Snow is a story about choices. Some choices are made after planning and deliberating for the future, while others made due to circumstances rather than by original intention. In the end, all choices have ramifications and hopefully they lead to a fulfilling life. In SWEET HOME ALASKA Skylar returns to Port Serenity, her hometown, to take on the job assigned to her as a graduate of the coast guard. Not the assignment she had hoped for, but it has the advantage of giving her some time with her father and seeing some old friends. One friend she is planning on avoiding is her ex-boyfriend, Rex. There is lots of history there and it's a break that Skylar did not anticipate.

Rex and Skylar had shared more than affection and had the same goal and plans - coastguard school, then travel the world. In their hometown, they each represented one of the town’s feuding families. As teens they had worked diligently hiding their friendship. Once they had become more than just friends, that made hiding it more challenging, but they persevered. Skylar eventually went forward to achieve her goals. Rex did not. Rex abruptly broke up with Skylar. He stayed at Port Serenity while Skylar followed through and became a coastguard captain.

The story picks up after six years of separation. Somehow their feelings toward each other had not changed but there was the matter of trust. Skylar didn’t trust her feelings. They had led her to a heartbreaking separation. To this day she has no idea why.

Jennifer Snow does a great job creating an atmosphere of closeness in a small tourist town. These folk depend on their community. That’s what makes it a challenge to leave, but for some it is an incentive. These characters come to life before our eyes and soon you start taking sides. However, the goal for Jennifer Snow in SWEET HOME ALASKA is to illustrate how forces beyond our control often change our lives and plans. It’s how you respond to those forces that construct your future. The give and take between the two lead characters Rex and Skylar reenforce the sadness of the plans that were abandoned. Yet Jennifer Snow manages to keep an optimistic eye on how this rather hopeless challenge can be met and conquered. Love conquers all but sometimes it needs a little intervention.

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