1. What are the major themes of this story? How does the tile support these themes? Explain your thoughts.

2. Susan Mallery has often been praised for writing stories that pull at readers’ emotions. Looking back on the story, discuss the moments that were the most emotional for you. What moments made you cry? What moments made you laugh?

3. What were the turning points? How and when did the characters change and grow? Who changed the most? Explain.

4. Which mother --- Beth or Serenity --- did you relate to the most, and why? Which father was the most like your father or husband, and why?

5. Discuss the ways the women in this story were different, and then talk about the traits they had in common.

6. Why do you think Serenity and Tom waited so long to find Jenna? Did they do the right thing? Why or why not? How should they have handled things differently? Under what circumstances do you think Jenna might have looked for her birth parents, if they hadn’t come looking for her?

7. Discuss the turning points in Violet’s subplot. How did this subplot support the major themes of the story? If you were Violet, how would you have reacted when Cliff was rude to Jenna and Ellington? Have you ever missed warning signs in your own life?

8. Do you think things will work out between Jenna and Ellington? Violet and Dragon? Why or why not?

9. If you had to reinvent yourself the way Jenna did after her divorce, what would you do?

10. Under what circumstances could you see yourself giving up a child for adoption?

11. Do you believe that some people really are more in tune with the Universe? Have you ever followed your intuition, your gut, even when logic said you shouldn’t? What happened? How did the situation turn out? Were you right to listen to your gut, or should you have stuck with logic?

12. Beth struggled with weight all her life, but Jenna and Marshall thought she was beautiful as she was. Why do you think so many women feel dissatisfied with their bodies?

13. How will having known Serenity impact Jenna throughout her life? How has Jenna changed because Serenity entered her life? What do you think Jenna’s life might’ve been like if she had been raised by her birth parents?