COMING HOME

After a decade spent pining for the high school sweetheart who abandoned her with an unplanned pregnancy, 28-year-old Charlotte "Charlie" Brown is finally ready to pursue some of the dreams that were dashed by the responsibilities of single motherhood. Spurred to action by her handsome best friend, Steve, a widower and single dad himself, Charlie aspires to a career beyond her lowly job clerking at the general store and begins the process of applying to college. But when her ex-husband, Arthur Ross, now a successful heart surgeon, returns to town with grand intentions of renewing his relationship with her and their 10-year-old son, she's unsure of whether she should take him back or turn him away. Steve, on the other hand, sees her ex for what he truly is—a controlling social climber who only wants to mold Charlie and her son into his image of the perfect family—and he tries to steer Charlie away from Arthur and into his own arms. Gayle's realistic dialogue and superb characterizations make this deceptively simple story line come alive, and her narrative is thankfully devoid of the graphic sex scenes and suspense subplots that commonly appear in romances. Instead, Gayle (Nothing but the Truth) offers a simply and subtly written tale filled with situations and protagonists that readers can relate to. (Aug.)