This book had it all, forbidden love, unrequited love, first love, jealousy and a mysterious death. The author wound these threads together in a wonderful story that took us from the present (1906) back 14 years to when one of the protagonists, Johnathan, was a teenager. The story was wonderfully paced with bits pieces and pieces of the past as well as the present revealed tantalizingly. The author did a wonderful job with characterizations as well as atmosphere. There were some bumps in the narrative when switching the POV, but as the story moved along those became smoother. Over all this was a great read and I could hardly put it down trying to figure out exactly what took place that summer and to see if Jonathan and Alayne got their happily ever after.