Sugar Hill Book

Years ago, C.J. - the town's golden boy - and Bonnie Jean - the girl from the wrong side of the tracks - were lovers, until their families conspired to rip them apart. C.J. has always blamed Bonnie Jean for running off with another man, and Bonnie Jean has some bitterness about the way she was run out of town. Now that she's back, can these two lovers work through their old pain and forge something new and strong?

I wasn't overly thrilled with Sugar Hill, though I liked it better on the second reading than I did on the first. Bonnie Jean wasn't a bad heroine - I liked her spunk - though she made what seemed like some pretty awful choices. C.J., I found entirely too cruel for my tastes. Barton's heroes are often blunt, brash, insulting and arrogant (usually to cover their inner torment) but they don't often tip over the edge into out-and-out cruelty the way C.J. did. I did appreciate that the families weren't painted as absolute monsters, but rather parents who behaved badly out of misplaced worry for their children. Still, I found this to be a bleak read overall, and wouldn't read it again. 2 stars.