My 1st Amy Hatvany - Pretty Good

Amy Hatvany is another author that comes from that cornucopia of authors from none other than fellow blogger Melissa.  This one wasn't a home run for me.  But I'll take a triple any day of the week.  Here is what It Happens All the Time is about:

Amber Bryant and Tyler Hicks have been best friends since they were teenagers - trusting and depending on each other through some of the darkest periods of their young lives.  And while Amber has always felt that their relationship is strictly platonic, Tyler has long harbored the secret desire that they might one day become more than friends.
Returning home for the summer after her college graduation, Amber begins spending more time with Tyler than she has in years.  Despite the fact that Amber is engaged to her college sweetheart, a flirtation begins to grow between them.  One night, fueled by alcohol and concerns about whether she's getting married too young, Amber kisses Tyler.
What happens next will change them forever.

I obviously liked IHAtT.  Here are some of the reasons:

1.  I learned a lot about what a paramedic does.  I do enjoy when books teach me something.  That might be why I'm a big fan of historical fiction (which this obviously isn't).
2.  She deals with anorexia, which is something I know a little about.
3.  I did connect with the characters and had some raised eyebrows and a few chills.
4.  The last 50 pages of the 302 were killer.
5.  This book reminded me of The Pact, which is one of my all-time favorite Picoult.
6.  I read 2 passages that reminded me of my grandchildren.  One is the side hug.  I've already told you in another review that my 12-year old granddaughter, Haley, only gives side hugs.  For the other reference, let me quote from the book:  "She was a short, skinny woman, likely in her late fifties, who wore red-framed glasses."

Okay, so about 3 months ago, our 5-year old granddaughter, Josie, got red-framed glasses with no lenses from her other grandmother.  She loves these things so much that she even sleeps with them.  And when it came time to have her kindergarten class picture taken, guess what? Yep, she wore them.  Here is her school picture and her own interpretation of what she looks like:

But I digress.  So my only criticism of It Happens All the Time is that the 1st 250 pages all happened at the same pace.  I certainly wasn't bored, but I wasn't blown away either.  I remember seeing that literary god, Ken Follett, live quite a few years ago.  He said that he has something dramatic happen every 7 pages.  I think I would have liked Amy to at least do that a few times in those 1st 250 pages.  I appreciated the last 50 but could have used some of that earlier.  Will I read more Hatvany books?  I'm definitely open to it.