Book Reviews
Meacham (Roses) explores a small-town love triangle against the backdrop of Texas football in her overblown latest. Since childhood, Trey Don "TD" Hall and best friend John Caldwell have cared primarily for football and one another. But when recently orphaned Catherine Ann Benson moves to town to live with her grandmother, the boys are immediately drawn to her. At first, the three sixth-graders are just fast friends, but after adolescence sets in, their relationship deepens and complicates. Despite the boys' stellar high school football careers and Catherine Ann's equally sterling academic record, their future plans are fumbled thanks to a botched prank, a secret infatuation, and an accidental pregnancy, all of which will have consequences stretching far into the future. Spanning nearly 30 years, the novel seems unsure of its intentions: is it a romance, a sports saga, or a murder mystery?
Publishers Weekly
Meacham's second sprawling novel is as large as Texas itself. The author skillfully manipulates multiple themes of friendship, loss, guilt, and the possibility of redemption. Readers who love epic sagas that span a couple of generations will enjoy this soap opera tale of young love, betrayal, and living a life that might not have a happy ending. —Lesa Holstine, Glendale P.L., AZ
Library Journal
A topical soap opera from bestselling novelist Meacham (Roses, 2010), set on the familiar turf of small-town Texas.... Meacham captures the period details in her description of 11-year-old Cathy Benson... [who] without really meaning to...gets inside the heads of two local boys.... Well, one thing leads to another, and another, and another, and Cathy finds herself with a love bump and no place to go.... The plot is serviceable, the writing sometimes less so.... Meacham's latest is of a piece with her past work, and sure to find an eager audience among romance buffs.
Kirkus Reviews
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