All Wrapped Up

Kincaid's fifth and final Pine Mountain contemporary (after Fire Me Up), set in Pennsylvania's Blue Ridge Mountains, opens with bar owner Nick Brennan running into a burning building to rescue a child. The townspeople laud him as a hero, but recognition is the last thing Nick wants. Reporter Ava Mancuso, the only woman Nick has ever loved, is assigned to get the whole story out of him, seven years after she left him to protect her own secrets. Faced with the choice of getting the hottest scoop in the area or losing her job, Ava has to convince Nick to open up to her in more ways than one. The story lacks any real surprises and borders on clich%C3%A9d, but it still makes a nice little gift for the holidays. Agent: Maureen Walters, Curtis Brown Ltd. (Oct.)