Lonestar Secrets

Evangelical Christian novelist Coble offers up a Texan-style serving of ranch, rodeo and rambunctious interpersonal conflicts. Single mom Shannon Astor returns to her hometown in Bluebird Crossing with her daughter, Kylie, in tow, to take over as local veterinarian. Immediately upon arriving at her late uncle’s dilapidated house, Shannon is faced with a dead farmhand. Before readers can recover from that episode, Shannon gets an emotional revelation involving Jack MacGowan, a wealthy landowner who ruined her reputation years earlier. Now, she must decide what to do with her newfound knowledge, and in quick succession her life is threatened, her daughter’s birth father re-enters her life, and she must put to rest demons from the past. Fans of Coble will enjoy the light banter and easy conversational tone of this story, but too many unlikely and unrealistic plot complications detract from what could have been a satisfying love story. (July)