In this easy but uneven read, Reichs (The Best Day of Someone Else's Life
) spends 150 pages spinning her wheels with quirky, appealing characters before revealing a plot-enriching secret about protagonist Maeve Connelly. Maeve's story begins when she loses her job and vows to stop being flighty and irresponsible (“flitterdegibbety”). With her talking cockatiel in tow, Maeve heads west from the Carolinas, planning to reconnect with a friend who's found success in Hollywood. Her plan is predictably derailed when her car breaks down outside the town of Unknown, Ariz., where she's embraced by the locals and takes on a series of jobs—in a funky boarding house, at a bookstore owned by a handsome children's book author, at the local photo shop—while waiting on auto repairs. Chronic hypochondria leads her to seek out the town's doctor, and before long they begin a comfortable romance. Gentle humor and insight drive the sleepy story until a jarring but momentum-building conflict turns up, pushing the story toward a satisfying conclusion. (Apr.)
