Widowed Jenna rocks her baby Aaron to sleep, missing her baby’s father, still trying to come to terms with Daniel’s sudden death. Her loneliness and sense of dislocation is perfectly evoked. Daniel, her dead husband, was an artist whose art and needs Jenna always put ahead of her own talent and her own needs. Intense, idealistic, handsome, artistic, Daniel dominated her life, and perhaps not in a healthy way. Perhaps by accident, perhaps deliberately, he cut her off from her friends and from her own different artistic talent. Gradually the reasons for Jenna’s present isolation and loss of direction are revealed. Her mother has always been intent on her making a ‘good’ marriage and the ‘right’ connections. As a child growing up, Jenna is not allowed to choose for herself – a pattern of behaviour Daniel seems happy to foster when Jenna becomes pregnant at just 17 and he and Jenna are married. To escape her loneliness, Jenna begins to paint again. As she does so, memories stir in her. Her courtship with Daniel is shown in a series of flashbacks and contrasts – then and now. The emotions are always realistic and Jenna is an appealing mixture of stubborn independence and vulnerability. Her best friend Alan, who loves her but who is married to someone else, is a caring, sympathetic man and the reader appreciates why he remains drawn to Jenna. Trevor, another artist, is also interested in Jenna. He introduces her to new people and experiences, although their developing relationship is not smooth. Jenna is struggling with grief, her new baby and her own wants and needs. She is still very young and not sure what she wants. The reader goes with her on her journey of self-discovery. Will Jenna choose Trevor, two years younger than herself, part-time bartender and artist? A sweet man, who puts the needs of others first? Or will she choose a different life? The main point of view is Jenna’s, and this gives the novel great intensity. Others’ feelings and reactions are always very clear from speech and how they behave. However, I would have been fascinated to step completely into a different viewpoint at times. I was particularly intrigued by Cheryl, for instance, and would have welcomed a time in her thoughts. LK Hunsaker has a compassionate voice and an artistic eye. This is a realistic, warmly emotional novel and an engaging, satisfying read.