Vintage

Susan Gloss has written a sweet, romantic novel that is a throwback to the literature before the psychological thriller became the genre of choice.  This is a story of love, heartbreak and in the end an almost perfect happy ending.

This is the story of Violet, who has finally grown up and realized that marrying the football hero does not give life a storybook ending.  She has left her hometown life  and marriage behind and moved to a small college town fulfilling her dream of opening a vintage clothing store.  She not only loves the clothing of a bygone era but the personal stories of the owners of those clothes.  Entering her life at a critical time, are three new friends.  April, a young pregnant teenager, who has been left by her boyfriend as he listens to his parents and heads off to medical school. Sam, a blast from her past, but now a mature, handsome man and Amithi, a woman who has found herself at crossroads in life and
frustrated with what she may have missed out on, now wants to make up for lost time.  All these women have some things in common and are able to learn from each other and help each other achieve new goals and aspirations.

As we get to know each of the characters and their flaws and strengths, we are routing for them to find themselves and reach out to attain their dreams.  Also of course from the outside it is easy to see what the correct choices would be and hope that each person will make the right decisions.  Though life is not always wrapped up in a carefully crafted package with a neatly tied ribbon, this novel comes as close as possible to happily every after.