After her sister, Harriet, eloped with Joe, the man Cassandra loved, 20-year-old Cassie moved to New York and worked hard to shed her Southern accent and small-town ways. She hasn't returned to Walton, Georgia, or spoken to her sister for 15 years, but when Harriet calls with the news that their father is dying, Cassie knows she must leave her fast-paced life and her fiancé/business partner, Andrew, to go back home.

Things are alien and familiar at the same time: the landmarks and landscape, the soft accents, the warmth of the residents. Of course, most of the young people she knew now have children of their own -- including Harriet's brood of five, who Cassie meets for the first time. She plans to run back to NYC at the first opportunity, but her father leaves her the house, so she's stuck trying to figure out what to do with it. The easy solution is to sell to the developers chomping at the bit for the property -- but Cassie discovers the memories there are more valuable and powerful than she expected. Not to mention she's gotten reacquainted with Sam Parker, her once-nerdy classmate who's become a handsome doctor, and who aggravates her almost as much as he attracts her. But Sam's life is in Walton, and Cassie's life is in New York, with Andrew. Or is it? A new family situation arises that will force Cassie to re-evaluate her priorities and decide which life she wants to claim.

I really enjoyed this book. The plot is a bit predictable, but the lovely descriptions of the kinder, gentler world of Walton, with its colorful and lovable inhabitants, drew me in. I also liked the format, which gives the narrative through the eyes of Cassie, Harriet and Harriet's rebellious oldest daughter, Maddie. In addition, Sam is a Southern charmer who would be hard for any girl to resist, whether she's from the city or the country. This bittersweet, romantic, and sometimes sad story is as refreshing as a cool breeze on a hot Georgia afternoon.

Book Summary

You know that saying about how sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug?

It's true. Take me, for example. I shook the Georgia dust from my feet fifteen years ago, vowing never to leave Manhattan. I traded sweet tea for Chardonnay, fried chicken for nouvelle cuisine, lazy days on my aunt's front porch for ad campaigns and board meetings, and the guy who broke my heart for my handsome boss, who soon became my fiance. Perfect, right?

Until my sister called. We haven't spoken since I left home--because she married the guy who broke my heart. What's more, she called to say my father is dying--but he refuses to finish until I show up. So I'm back in the hottest, dinkiest small town in Georgia, facing my sister and my old boyfriend over the heads of their--count them-- five children. It couldn't get weirder, right? Unless you count Sam Parker--a long-forgotten classmate, now the town doctor--and how good he's beginning to look to me.

I'm falling apart, I think, wondering why resentment and wounded pride seem silly here in Walton, where forgiveness and acceptance go hand-in-hand with homecoming. And I'm beginning to suspect that I'm falling in love for real this time, with a man whose touch is so right, I feel like I'm...

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