This was a sweet little contemporary, though I didn't feel as if it had the emotional punch as the other Kristan Higgins that I've read. Grace was quite the doormat up until the very end, and Callahan was quite the jerk except for a thirty page stint. His reaction to Grace's made up boyfriend thing is over the top. Still, the writing is clever, with lots of laugh out loud moments and the requisite adorable dog. I love how Grace's pup has the big dog syndrome so prevalent in smaller breeds and is her big bad protector from Cal. I could perfectly envision him grabbing a hold of a pant leg and shaking his little doggy head, snarling and growling. One of the things I love about this author is her obvious love of canines and how she incorporates them into her stories. They are, after all, family for those of us that adopt them!Grace's family was an odd mishmash of people. They treated Grace horribly, nosing in where they weren't wanted and basically humiliating her without even realizing it. I thought a few punches were in order. Or at least a move out of town. But that's family! They truly wanted what was best for Grace. Their way of going about it was all wrong.I love that Grace is a passionate history teacher, and the Civil War reenactments were awesome! How cool is that?! And what heroine has such a nerdy, original hobby?! This was a big thumbs up for me.One thing that I would have liked to see was some closure on a major problem that Callahan had. I know that life isn't always fair. But his brother sent him to jail for two years and gave him a felony record for a crime that he wasn't responsible for! Where's the justice! It just left me with a bad feeling. Poor Callahan!The epilogue was great! I love when an author actually tells the end of the story that I want to hear instead of leaving it up to my imagination. Callahan's reaction to what happens completely redeemed him in my eyes. He needs a big hug (or kiss, whatever :)
