** spoiler alert ** 
 3.5 stars, I think, maybe. I was a little torn about what to rate this. On the one hand it was both heartbreaking and heartwarming. First there was the abandoned baby and then the stuff about Mel's first husband - I definitely teared up a lot. On the other hand though, there were definitely a few things that kind of bugged me. 
 One of the big things was at the end when Mel told Jack that she had never been so in love before. I've seen this before in romances and I really dislike it. Falling in love with someone, meeting the person you want to make and share a life with, that doesn't automatically mean that the love you may have felt for previous partners wasn't real or wasn't as much or deep or whatever, and that's definitely the vibe I get when I read something like this. I used to know someone who honest to goodness truly believed that you could only ever really be in love once in your life, with one person. I think this is complete BS, from my own personal experience as well as seeing friends and their relationships. You can be in love with someone but not have the relationship work out for various reasons - love is not the only factor in a healthy, lasting relationship. Anyway, enough of my ranting tangent :D 
 Another thing that bugged me was that we never heard about Sondra's (I think) baby who was having breathing trouble in the middle of the night. Just a little thing, but I wondered about it. 
 Oh, and the surprise pregnancy - saw that coming as soon as we found out Mel and her husband had so much trouble conceiving. Didn't really care for it. Which brings me to another thing - marriage because of a surprise pregnancy. It bugs me because a lot of times it can feel like that's the only or main reason a couple is marrying and I honestly don't think it's the best reason. Marry someone because you love them and want to make a life with them, not because you got accidentally knocked up. 
 The sex scene with Ricky and Liz was unnecessary and, considering how young they both were, a little squicky to read. I don't think it particularly added anything to the story and for all the talk about safe sex, there wasn't actually any of it in the book. 
 I also wasn't a huge fan of Jack. He was a little too macho alpha hero with a soft side for me. He felt very much like a generic romance novel hero (although I suppose they all are really. I just wasn't feeling it this time). 
 There were things I liked, and the things I did like, I loved. It's just that I also really disliked the things I disliked. There was no real in between for me.