I tried to finish this book but halfway through I was so annoyed that I had already wasted a few hours on it. As a reader, I could predict what was going to happen in the next 10 pages. There was an unbearable amount of sobbing (not from me, but by the characters in the book) every few pages. The women in the story are all stunningly beautiful of course. Strangers start loving each other inexplicably within a span of a couple of days. I'm sorry but this story hardly reflects reality. I was so looking forward to a quality book but it seemed that Ms. Rice just put SOMETHING on paper.