Souvenir by Theresa Fowler

So many people I know read this book, that I felt I had to read it. What a disappointment. Yes, it takes place right here in Ocala (and the characters went to North Marion High), but that's about all the intrigue I found. The plot seemed to me to be like a movie for Lifetime TV: a daughter gives up the love of her life to marry a rich boy to save her family's horse farm, she becomes a doctor herself, has a teenaged daughter she never talks to, and dreams of her lost love who has become a famous rock star. She is diagnosed with ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig's disease), and from there the book spirals downward in my opinion. The parents and daughter don't communicate and the daughter gets involved sexually with some guy she met online, the love of the protagonist's life re-appears and (surprise!) after 16 years, he still loves her. Then, the daughter turns out to be his instead of her husband's, and, well there's a suicide too. All of those things are glamourized--even the suicide is presented like it's a natural, beautiful thing.
This book just wasn't my cup of tea. BTW, my 15 year old daughter read it last year because so many people were talking about it. I initiated a serious discussion with her as soon as I finished reading it.