The Patron Saint of Unmarried Women

Readers after a wholesome, feel-good love story need look no further than this debut novel chronicling a couple's stormy yet meant-to-be relationship. In Washington, D.C., narrator Jack Townshend, a landscaper, and his fiancee, artist Nina Lawrence, break off their engagement just three months before the scheduled wedding. Jack is heartbroken, as is Nina's Italian Catholic family, some of whom meet with the young man on the sly to keep him informed of Nina's post-engagement progress. But Nina takes up with one of Jack's amateur-basketball teammates, and Jack, determined to get on with his life, also begins seeing someone else. Thus does Jack stew and Nina remain uncommunicative--until their momentous meeting (helped along by Nina's family) at an exhibition of Nina's paintings. Ackerman deftly indicates the undying spark of passion between his principals; the question all along is not if, but how and when, they'll patch things up. A somewhat misleading title notwithstanding, this irreverent modern romance blends equal parts soap opera and sitcom into a frothy read. (May)