Really an interesting story with great sense of place and strong characterizations. I enjoyed it. ( )

On Sunday, January 09, 2005 I wrote:

Hi kayote. I started to feel guilty because this book is on my TBR shelf since October, so more then 3 months But I am reading it now. The first chapter did not really get my interest so every time I picked up another book but this time i decided to read a bit more, and it was worth it.
I am at page 80 now and I enjoy the read so far.will update this journal while reading.take care my friend.

Update January 12 2005 Finished this book yesterday.I liked it a lot but I preferred reading the chapters of Arly. I thought the chapters about Annie could have been better.But overall another good read by Mrs Mitchard. ( )

I really enjoyed the story and found it memorable, although the details are hazy I can still remember the characters and main plot although I read it back in 2006 when I originally received it. I really like Arly as a character, it was painful to how mistreated and how naive she was at the beginning of the book but it was wonderful to read as she grew stronger. I also liked the fact that she was not portrayed as a typical teenage mother - she is not careless because she is young but she makes mistakes because she truly believes they are the right thing to do and she doesn't have too many regrets. She really believes she loves Dillon but in the end she comes to realise that Annie's love for her and her love for Desiree are so much stronger than her original love for him. ( )

Ridiculous romance between a 14-year-old and an inmate. Worst poetry ever. ( )

I loved Mitchard's first book, The Deep End of the Ocean, so I was looking forward to reading this one. I didn't think it was as compelling. The writing is excellent and the story is fun, but you know from the beginning what the major dramatic moment is. Also, there is an epilogue that ties the pices together - therefore, she shows me, rather than tells me.

The two main characters are Annie and Arly. Annie is 39 and has been living with Stuart for ten years. He wanted to get married but she did not, although she did want to have a baby. Annie and Stuart are both attorneys. He defends people on death row. She defends women and children.

Arly is 14 and has married Dillon LeGrande who is more than twice her age and in prison for robbing a gas station and shooting a man. She met him through her friend's sister, Connie, who was corresponding with Kevin, Dillon's brother. They wrote for three months, she visited him once and then they married. Arly has come to see Annie because she wants a conjugal visit with her husband. Arly gets pregnant and before the baby is born, Dillon breaks out of prison and kills a man. ( )