A Cedar Cove Christmas

Mary Jo Wyse, the protagonist of this trite little throwaway, is extremely pregnant. She sets out for Cedar Cove on Christmas Eve to hunt down her child's delinquent dad, David. Hot on her trail are her three overprotective brothers (the three Wyse men—get it?), determined to make David do the right thing. Mary Jo can't find a hotel room or her man, so she takes shelter at Grace Harding's ranch, in an apartment above a barn. She delivers her child that night with Grace, an EMT, and several farm animals as onlookers, and everyone is reminded of the true spirit of Christmas. Clearly, subtlety is not the order of the day. Sadly, neither is quality storytelling. There's more life in a lump of coal. (Oct.)