Between Sundays

Bestselling author Kingsbury (Forever ; Sunrise ) sets her first hardcover novel in the world of professional football. Derrick Anderson, a retiring quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, promised his dying son that he would win a Super Bowl for him. His hope may rest on upcoming star Aaron Hill, who is beginning to find the glitz and glamour of life at the top meaningless. To complicate things, there's a young foster child named Cory who believes that Aaron is his dad and is determined to get his point across, and sparks fly (of course) between Aaron and Megan, Cory's foster mother. Kingsbury's fans can probably guess exactly how the story will turn out, but will still enjoy the ride. Woven into the light inspirational romance is a message about the needs of foster children, inspired by Alex Smith's work with the foster care system—Smith is the real-life 49ers' quarterback and penned the foreword. The writing at times plods, and everything is simple, sometimes unbelievably so—the story, the dialogue, the characters' Christian faith. But Kingsbury's fans like her novels sweet, and this one may motivate them to get involved and make a difference with some of the neediest kids. (Nov.)