Great story! Besides themes of romance, friendship, and family, acceptance is the main themes I get from Beth and Rory's journey. On the surface, interpersonal acceptance plays an obvious role in Beth and Raine's lives. However, the challenge of intrapersonal acceptance is something Beth and Rory have to acknowledge.

Of all the characters, Kelly was just...uggh! Why didn't someone shake the hell out of that woman? I'm going to skip the next two books in the Darlington Romances Series and read [b:Close to Home|29633695|Close to Home|Rachel Spangler|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1460506180s/29633695.jpg|49985041] next. It's about Kelly. ( )

When I first read The Long Way Home, I gave it 3 stars. I’m moving it up to 4. Rory still gets a bit too much on my nerves but having read the other Darlington romances, I enjoyed the whole atmosphere a lot more, for some reason. Or maybe I’m just in a better mood, I don’t know. All I know is a 3 star rating feels unfairly low right now. All the more so as I feel, more and more, that Rachel Spangler is really good at shaping characters. ( )

My third Spangler book read. Though I've read a fourth since I read this one here. Before July I'd read zero. Of the four Spangler books I've read, this is the second that included a college professor. And of the four I've read, this one has the character I least like. Raine St. James.

Part of it is her superior than thou attitude. Her "I'm a real lesbian, you? You make me laugh, angrily, you? You are nothing more than a fake." attitude. And it's based on . . what exactly? Seriously? I read the book and kept waiting for the big reveal.

Rory St. James was beloved. One of the most popular, maybe even the most popular teenagers in the small town of Darlington Illinois. One night, in a fit of whimsy, she confessed to being a lesbian. To her parents. The mother stammered in confusion. The father roared at her. Something like "there's no way you are gay!" So, Rory, being horrified by the response from her coming out, fled. To Chicago. Started calling herself Raine. Made a huge career out of being a 17 year old who got tossed out on her ear for being gay (she wasn't, she got yelled at and so she fled). At least that was the story I got. That dribbled out. I kept waiting for the extra little something or other to drop.

So. Spends the next ten years harping on how horrible her coming out was, on being the big radical lesbian. On sleeping with groupies. While writing really really horrible articles about Darlington and it's inhabitants. Or, I mean, articles about how horrible small town Darlington is/was. Until people become tired of her stick, and she has to find something else. And apparently the only job opening is back in Darlington.

Beth? I rather liked Beth. Except for one moment that confuses me. When she made some snide superior comments about . . what was her name? Patty? About how openly lesbian she is? She didn't seem to have any problem about how open Raine was, and rather wished she herself could be allowed to be open. Her partner and her fear of how the town would react, the town that supported her when she lost her parents, both kept her from being openly lesbian. But . . . why exactly would that lead her to being snide and superior about Patty? Heck, she wanted to warn Raine about Patty. Because . . . um . . because . . Patty . . . .was a lesbian? I couldn't figure that out. But, meh.

Still. I liked Beth. And, to a certain extent, when she relaxes enough to be Rory, instead of Raine, I kinda of like Rory as well. ( )