Contrary to the title, the opening scene describes “the worst of times”, a multi-vehicle crash during Friday night rush hour traffic on a high-speed major highway. This one catastrophic moment brings together a cast of characters from all walks of life: an exhausted long-haul truck driver, a budding actress, a Dr. returning from a ‘business trip’ who just happens to have his mistress in the car with him, a bridegroom and his best man on the way to the wedding, an elderly woman on the way to the airport to reunite with the long-lost lover of her youth, a cranky construction worker, and a wealthy real estate tycoon driving an antique Jaguar.

Chaos ensues: injuries, death, delayed destinations, and for some unfortunate people, permanent interruptions of future plans and long term consequences.

Vincenzi’s writing structure is interesting. After a brief description of the accident the story drops back in time several weeks, introducing the characters and describing the chain of events leading up to the date of the disaster, and then a more detailed graphic description of the accident and the aftermath. As the police begin an investigation to discover the cause of this horrendous catastrophe, the reader discovers the unfaithful Dr. is not the only one with something to hide. This invokes guilt, fear, and more anxiety for many of the already distraught characters, and renders drama and suspense to the plot.

As the story unfolds, much like a soap opera, scenes drift from person to person. The narrative moves at a fast pace, primarily through dialogue and action eliminating unnecessary descriptions and deep analysis of characters. However, this does not diminish the emotional content. More than once I had tears in my eyes, and several times I had to laugh out loud.

Penny Vincenzi’s contemporary writing style is direct, light, and simple. I haven’t read any of her other fiction, so I don’t know if she is simply a romantic idealist, or just tends to focus on the goodness of humanity, but she certainly makes the most of impossible situations - and unpleasant people. Her message - never give up on your hopes and dreams. Be kind to others, and be open about your feelings. And above all - be a conscientious and careful driver.

Perhaps I should follow Penny Vincenzi’s advice to be kind, and not mention the improbable ‘love conquers all’ superficial fairy tale ending. ( )

It was interesting how intertwined the lives of everyone involved in the accident became. It would have been too much if everyone had a happy ending, so I am glad it ended that way it did. I thought the characters could have been explored more, I never had the sense that I could feel what they were feeling, panic, angst, joy, and all that. It was more of a perfunctory listing of events in order in each character's lives. I was never "IN THE MOMENT" with them. ( )

I enjoyed this book. It may have been ridiculously calculated to show all's well that ends well, but it kept my attention and for my attention deficit problem that was an achievement. Yes, it would be considered Chick Lit even though I detest that term, but so what. The message I got was: you can plan your life all you want, but life has a way of throwing you off course, and sometimes that is not a bad thing at all. ( )

I have mixed feelings about this one. I decided to read this along with a couple other books over the long holiday weekend. I'm glad I had other things to read. I quite loved the first half & thought the author did a great job with most of the characters & also the accident we are shown in the opening of the book. And then the second half happened. Or didn't so much and just meandered along until I have to honestly admit, I was skimming for resolutions for my favorite characters. I'm positive that's not a good sign & that's not how I like to get through my books. On the upside, I was compelled to at least get to the end to see how my favorites fared but that's not enough for me to give this one more than a middling star grade. Another thing that diminished my enjoyment was that I had the BBC series "Collision" (Masterpiece Contemporary in the US) running alongside in my mind. That's not the author's fault but they were so similar, I couldn't help the meld. I have other Penny Vincenzi books on my bookshelf & will gladly give them a read but this one is unfortunately no going to be a favorite. ( )

très agréable à lire, fourmillant de personnages et de péripéties, pas un chef d'oeuvre littéraire, mais parfait pour passer un bon moment ( )