On reflection, though, I'm going to slip this down to four stars and this note that Lowe tends towards the ideal. The pacing of the story is strong enough that I didn't notice it as much more than a niggle that something was a bit off at the time.
I mean, there's no arc or character growth there beyond her dealing with a foreign environment and adapting to her new home. As I think it over, though, that flaw is more pervasive than I perceived at first and is particularly manifest in Tildy's character. Weak because parts were perhaps a bit too perfect or ideal for me to buy into completely. I finished the book last night with all the feels and the thought that this would be a weak five star review. I can see why this is the secondary plotline because there wasn't enough to be much more than a short story on its own, but Lowe does a fantastic job making it present without overwhelming Tildy and Marc working things out around them. And I particularly liked how he had to adjust and grow with her. I really don't get that, but maybe that's just me? Anyway, once it started getting out and she had to confront her loss and future I really appreciated her growth and Bryan's strength. I had a hard time with her at first because of her desire for secrecy in her cancer diagnosis and mastectomy surgery. Both her and Bryan (Brian? I listened to this one on audible) had some growing to do and them coming together was touching and engaging as well. The better romantic story was Marc's sister. Being with them was fun and while a lot of that was Tildy, Marc had enough humanizing hints to keep me engaged, though it was a stretch at times.
I liked that Tildy gets past his defenses and doesn't put up with his nonsense and that she still had the courage to be vulnerable when the time came. Marc starts out arrogant though with a kind of vulnerable bewilderment in his relationship with his family. Tildy is awesome and her determination and kindness and optimistic courage were engaging. So I'm not able to marshal the resources to redo it and you get this crap review instead. I cannot tell you how dispiriting that is (though if it's happened to you, you probably know). I fat-fingered a page reload after finishing this review once.
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