The Sweet Gum Tree - Katherine Allred This was one beautiful story about real life. I would prefer if it have ended with a more happy ending and a big family, but this is not how life goes and you can't have what you want every time. And there was a little opening in the end that suggested that maybe there's going to be a new member to the family. I really hope so. Alix and Nick love each other since they were little kids. They were separated and for 15 years they were miserable but they didn't stop love each other despite all the pain. They got another chance to make things better. But I'm not sure how they could heel their wounds, because they are too deep. The way Nick left leaving Alix was not fair at all, he choose another person in stead of her. Even though what he did was very honorable, he almost destroyed the only person he loved more than anything. He wanted to come back to town successful, to make something of himself, but I'm not sure if it was the right way. To leave Alix alone, all she had to go trough again for all these years isn't fair at all. This book was very touching and I definitely recommend it.