Trudy's an ordinary teenager. She isn't beautiful, a great student, athletic, nor has any special talents. She is the oldest girl of the Carpenter kids who does a lot of housework and child care, tries to keep her dad from going off on everyone, listens to her mom's problems, and loves her family as best she can. Trudy's a country girl. For her, going to college just means leaving home, and that doesn't sound good at all. No matter what anyone else thinks, Trudy knows she needs only true love to make her complete. Unfortunately, that isn't easy to find in a small southern Oregon town with a high school that has only 300 students. Her luck changes when she gets in a fight and comes face to face with Jimmy Jones. One of the wild boys from the boonies, Jimmy's cute, shy smile lights up her heart. But, she also finds that he's a lot more complicated than she expects, and their love might not provide her with what she hopes for. Livin' the Life is Book I in the series, The Girls of Sawyer's Crossing. The author, Nicole Rensenbrink, is a therapist who works with teenagers in a community similar to Sawyer's Crossing, the scene of this novel. Though the characters in this book are entirely fictitious, the issues they face are real for many.