The Bridge

Popular inspirational novelist Kingsbury goes mainstream in her newest, which mixes a love story with a seasonal one that borrows from the Christmas favorite It's A Wonderful Life. Molly Allen and Ryan Kelly were college friends heading toward something more when a misunderstanding drives them apart. Five years later, Molly pines for Ryan, a country music guitarist, and vice versa, even though each assumes the other has married an earlier sweetheart. Meanwhile, Charlie Barton, owner of the Bridge, the Franklin, Tenn., bookstore where Molly and Ryan hung out, faces ruin in the aftermath of a devastating flood and the changes in publishing that have devastated many a book retailer. Shortly before Christmas, Charlie comes desperately to think he's worth more dead than alive, but before he can change his mind, a car accident leaves him in a coma. When Ryan hears about the accident, he begins a book drive for Charlie, and those who know the Jimmy Stewart holiday film don't have to guess how things turn out. Kingsbury fans may acquire a new holiday favorite read in this sugary tale of second chances. (Oct. 23)