When I heard that the next book in the Walker Boys had an interracial relationship, I was really excited. Having been in an interracial relationship in the belt buckle of the Bible belt, I could guess what it would be like for Lanie and Reece. But wow, were there some issues with this book that made it read as more of a public service announcement than a heartfelt love story between a woman of color and a white man.

Let’s just get down to it: there was too much focus on Lanie’s race in this book. You couldn’t go a few pages without hearing that hey, Lanie isn’t white! It got really annoying after a while because I promise you, most people of color aren’t that fixated on the amount of melanin they had. It felt like the author tried hard to show that Reece wasn’t a racist or a jerk and that the people of Baylor didn’t care about her skin color. There was a point in the book where a young girl, who apparently hadn’t seen a person of color before, wanted to touch Lanie’s hair. The mother then gives this speech about how she’s trying to teach her daughter to be inclusive and how a person shouldn’t ask to touch their hair. This entire exchange was such a set up that I put the book away for a few days.

And to make things worse, it seemed like Lanie needed Reece to tell her he didn’t care about her skin color and that she was beautiful regardless of anything. I can’t, under any circumstance, take it when an author sets up a WOC to accept her coloring because of their significant other. In this book it seemed like the white guy needed to show her, tell her, give her this sense of importance. When her family came into the picture, I wanted more from them. Her mother was rightfully interested in the relationship with Reece and how it would affect her life.

Overall, it’s not to say that I didn’t love certain aspects of the book. For one, there were moments when Reece and Lanie’s relationship seemed real and I could connect to it. Reece’s son, Jamie, was absolutely adorable and I loved it whenever he was on the page. I also loved the relationship between the Walker boys. It’s clear that they love each other a lot.

Lanie (Delaney) never expected that she would be looking for a new job or new direction in life. Deciding to just get away for a while, she goes and visits her best friend. Its been a bit since she was back in Baylor, GA. Its been just a much time since she had seen her friend. Getting back into the swing of things get her off to a rough start but then Reece walks back in. She long for him back then and still sees it as a lost chance. Even with his wife now gone and the door open. Reece has not been on his game since his wife died. With a son to raise and pity not something he wants, his life was not quite right. That was until Lanie.

There was a lot her to consume, drama, race issues, death, coping, life decisions and then some. I enjoyed the book. It gave me something to chew on.