A Place to Belong

This slogging contemporary romance from Williams (Return to Yesterday) follows star-crossed lovers kept apart largely by their own poor choices. Willful 17-year-old Millie Jo Gordon has a crush on her aunt’s 23-year-old brother-in-law, Wyatt Rawley, whom she has known since childhood. Veterinary student Wy reveals he loves her too, despite their age difference and the disapproval of their family members. They begin to see each other in secret until a crisis drives them apart. Neither has the maturity to cope with their problems, and tedious years of pining go by as Wy struggles with another relationship and Millie trains for a job handling horses. Millie and Wy’s alternating perspectives blur into each other, making the characters murky. The path to their reunion is overwrought and overlong, and the age gap during their initial fling will put off many readers. Williams throws her existing fans a bone with frequent mentions of characters from her Shore Leave Café series, but new readers will struggle to keep them straight. This is one to skip. Agent: Linda Migalti, Schulman and Assoc. (Sept.)