Stepping to a New Day: A Blessings Novel

A vivid sense of caring connections shines in Jenkins's seventh Christian contemporary romance (after For Your Love), set in the idyllic small town of Henry Adams, Kans. Retired big rig driver and widower Terrence "T.C." Barbour relocates to Henry Adams to assist his adult nephew and family. Former mayor and ne'er-do-well Riley Curry and his prized hog, Cletus, return to Henry Adams in a stolen vehicle, with a trail of minor crimes in their wake. Riley's ex, teacher Genevieve Gibbs, is rediscovering herself in her sixth decade, a development her current beau, Clay Dobbs, finds unsettling. T.C. and Genevieve's immediate attraction deepens at a slow burn under the watchful eyes of Gen's neighbors, including rich landowner Bernadine Brown and shotgun-wielding matriarch Tamar July. Their romance is interspersed with tales of continued developments%E2%80%94largely positive in a community that functions on the value of "kindness over rightness"%E2%80%94in the lives of the townsfolk. (June)