Somewhere between 3 to 4 stars. 
 This was my first Allen novel, judging by the stats on Goodreads, I was expecting so much more. I can't stomach pathetic characters and Julia was definitely one. Her past is tragic, fine, but bombarding us with sentence upon sentence of Sawyer's flawlessness was needy and sloppy writing that made Julia come off as annoying. 
 What saved this book was the little mystery surrounding Emily's mother, although that as well was a bit abrupt. 
 Meh. Might give this author another shot, might not.