Sarah's Smile by Dawn Kinzer

Sarah and Peter were always the best of friends growing up. He helped her through all of the times that Rebecca, another classmate, would bully Sarah. But once Peter went away to college all of that changed. Peter met and married a woman and had a child with her. He broke Sarah's heart because she had always loved Peter and had dreams that one day they would marry. Now Peter is a widower and back in their small town. Sarah's dreams have changed now. She plans to go away to the mission field soon. Both Peter and Sarah realize that their feelings for each other haven't changed, but resentments and distrust are hard to put behind them. Add to those Rebecca's attempts to win Peter for herself and emotions and heartache may once again cause Sarah to lose the man she loves.

I liked Sarah and Peter's characters. I did think they let people walk all over them a bit too much. But Sarah's sweetness to her grandmother, that was always so cranky with her, was also a part of what made Sarah's character likeable. Peter frustrated me with holding back things from Sarah that would have helped her understand his motives better. If you like a bit of a love triangle you'll also enjoy this story. Rebecca is one of those characters that has the reader wanting to reach through the pages to shake or slap or at the very least hoping for her comeuppance. I liked the small town setting where everyone seemed to know everybody's business, but by the same token I didn't like it because it made it easier for reputations to be smeared without question. Both Sarah and Peter had to work through some spiritual issues of forgiving others and forgiving themselves. All in all it was a good story and I enjoyed the HEA at the end!