Jeffrey Stepakoff

I wanted to like this book, especially since it was the first one I've won from the goodreads giveaways!

I started reading it when waiting on my computer (for reboots, downloads, etc.), thinking that once I got into it, I'd take it to my comfy chair for "serious reading" time.

I finished it at my computer.

One caveat--I generally do not read romance. I don't have a basis of comparison on whether this is a typical book for the genre or not. I found the characters to be flat. Lily, the circa 1945 belle of Toccoa Georgia, fluttered about, didn't have many thoughts, and unbelievably considering her background, fell in love with a manual laborer just days before her soldier husband was to come home.

The relationships were also hard to believe, for the most part. Honey, Lily's mother, was a stereotypical Southern matriarch, with poor coping skills for life's trauma. Friends and and old boyfriend were wispy and nearly non-existent. There was one nice scene with Lily and her Father, that was perhaps the highlight of the book.

The writing seemed to be trying too hard. About every ten pages, the author attempted to lyrically describe something. The phrasing tended to kick me out of the book, as I thought to myself, "Oh, the author is trying to be poetic or literary--boy that doesn't work!"

Although Toccoa was in the title, the setting could have been any Southern place that was hot and sticky. I'd hoped to learn more about the region as part of the back story, but, as with the whole book, was disappointed.
… (lisätietoja)

Jeffrey Stepakoff somehow remains to be one of the most beautiful writers of love stories I have ever read. If you haven't read his first novel, you need to read it. Anyway, he has a way of drawing you into a characters emotions and showing you exactly what they are thinking and feeling. He pulls the want and need right out of you so that you cry when the characters cry and you hurt when the characters hurt. It really is a remarkable ability.


I love the premise, plot, and characters of this story. There is one thing that did not flow for me though...when Dylan somehow thinks his wife is alive...I mean he knows how she died and maybe I don't understand grief correctly but...that messed up the whole feel of the story for me, I wish there would have been a different obstacle for Grace and Dylan to overcome.


I love how Mr. Stepakoff finds something to give his character passion about and you get to learn right along about each passion as you read. I enjoyed learning about apples and scents as I read and I didn't even realize it until I was done with the book. I love Mr. Stepakoff's writing and will be a fan forever.

… (lisätietoja)

I waited to write the review on this book because there were just no words to form to even begin to articulate how awesome this book is. This book is one of those books that changes or ruins you for the rest of your life. The love that Lily gets the priviledge to feel is intense, I cried so hard when reading this book, and that doesn't happen often. The author knows exactly how to capture the readers heart in the palm of his hand and cause the reader to start questioning everything they know about love, life, and loss.

The setting is amazing, the town, the characters, the writing, everything about this book is absolutely wonderful. It had a bit of a Nicolas Sparks feel to it, but something that was also completely Mr. Stepakoff's. I hope to see many more novels by this author.… (lisätietoja)