Reviewed by Anne Boling for Readers' Favorite

The setting is Florida during the roaring twenties and our female lead was a flapper. I quickly fell in love with the character of Lilly Margolis. She was carefree, bright, cheerful, and fun loving. Deep inside Lilly was hurting. Like most of us she wanted someone to love her. Lilly’s mother was cruel demonstrating a false religion filled with condemnation and little love.

The war left Cullen Burnside scarred both physically and emotional. He and his mother lived a sad dreary existence in the Burnside mansion. Cullen carried the heavy load of caring for his mother who was slowly fading away with dementia.

After partying hard Lilly ends up at the Burnside Mansion. Cullen found her distasteful; he didn’t approve of her way of life. Lilly brought a ray of sunshine into the dark and dreary life of the mother and son. They each needed what the other had to offer; Cullen the desire to live a full life and Lilly the unconditional love of Jesus Christ.

This is a story of redemption. Lilly often used her good looks to get her way with men. The author was very careful not to be explicit, many things were implied. Cullen’s mother, Betty offered Lilly something she’d never before experienced, a mother’s love.

Allison Pittman skillfully intertwines the lives of Cullen and Lilly. She added twists and turns to keep the reader eagerly turning pages. Pittman’s writing was vivid! I felt like I was back in 1925 with Lilly and Cullen. The story leaped at me from the pages and the characters emotion was realistic and very believable. After finishing the book, I felt like I’d just had a history lesson on the early 1900s—it was that detailed.