The Prodigal Daughter

Set in the fictional white-picket-fence town of Ruby Falls, Tex., Gray's new contemporary romance has all the ingredients one would expect from a small-town novel: jealously, treachery and characters one loves to hate. Gray cleverly weaves unexpected twists and turns into the narrative. When Harvard-educated supermodel Maggie Malone returns to her hometown after a seven-year absence, she finds that nothing has changed: the citizens of Ruby Falls still can't forget that she was once the town's ""wild child."" Moreover, although Maggie's mother mourns that her husband cast her oldest daughter aside, Maggie's sisters still regard her with a mixture of delight and disdain for trying to break off middle-sister Laurel's engagement to a despicable, controlling man. And finally, her dying father won't let her near his heart--or the family's failing business, even though she's the only one able to save it. After considerable argument, her father grudgingly agrees to let Maggie (who secretly owns controlling shares in the company) step into his shoes, but only after he instructs his loyal foreman, Dan Garrett, to keep an eye on her. It's a job Dan doesn't want until it becomes obvious that someone is out to sabotage Maggie and the business. This page-turner from a seasoned romance novelist boils down to deliciously wicked brain candy. (Sept.)