Falling Softly

October 15, 2018
Holly just got engaged to her practical boyfriend, David, and wasn't prepared to see her first love, Josh, move in across the street with his pregnant girlfriend. Holly and Josh were childhood sweethearts who talked about having a romantic Christmas wedding. But he broke up with her in college, and neither has ever recovered. Holly learns that her sister interfered in the past, and now she and Josh tentatively start communicating in the hope of gaining closure. Instead, they see the problems with their current partners and fall back in love. Both try hard to make things work in their relationships. David does all that he can to stay with Holly, but Stephanie, Josh's girlfriend, is simply detestable. Readers may be exasperated with characters who can't see the solutions in front of them, but the engaging prose and appealing minor characters, including an elderly neighbor and his rambunctious dog, make this an enjoyable read. Duffy's destined-love story will appeal to fans of the late Maeve Binchy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)