This story is very sweet, well thought out, and you can tell how much the author CARES for her characters. If you want a beach read or just a feel good book, this works. My problem with it was that I think the author cared a little TOO much about her characters; not that nothing bad happens to make the story dynamic, but you can tell Thein will never let them down or let them come to too much harm. Besides that, I'll bet 10:1 Thein is a long time fan of soap operas because the dialog is so soap operay and contrived. It didn't bother me (as I am a life long DOOL fan) but it was so bad it make the boom sort of campy.