Saving Justice

Sweet, faith-filled romance dominates Crawford's debut novel, though the effect is somewhat blunted by a heavy-handed social justice agenda. Kinley Reid has chosen to honor her brother Eli's memory through her work as a teacher in one of Oklahoma City's poorest neighborhoods. It's a job she enjoys until Justice, one of her students, runs afoul of Nash McGuire, a successful commercial real estate broker. Nash has his own demons%E2%80%94many of them centered on the very neighborhood Justice lives in, the one Nash escaped. Yet Nash can't help but to fall prey to Kinley's smile and her obvious devotion to her students. Neither of them expects the surprising attraction that quickly blossoms between them%E2%80%94and neither is sure that attraction will be enough to overcome the tribulations in store for them. The stark conditions of Justice's life and neighborhood are sharply contrasted with those of his idealistic young teacher and the well-to-do Nash. The plethora of stereotypes and absence of subtlety almost overpower what is otherwise a tender tale. (Mar.)