Ryan's Return is a wonderful book, a hard one to put down. Barbara Freethy tells a story of a family torn apart by scandals and secrets that can only be reunited with love. There is the story of Ryan, the town's "bad boy" and his attraction with Kara, a good girl. A secondary love story is included, with Andrew, Ryan's brother. This novel tells a story of a father who can never stop loving his younger son. Brothers once close, now seperated by misunderstanding. Its a tale of forgiveness, forgiving once parents, children, and girlfriends for the sins in their pasts. Its a tale of rising river, the fathers loves of that rushing water and Ryan's fear of the same river that makes his father and brother complete. Ms. Freethy employs the use of comic relief in this heavely emotional story. One example is the fist fight Andrew and Ryan get into that lands them in jail. Read it and I garantee that you won't be able to put it down.