Just Down the Road

Thomas’s fourth Harmony novel (after The Comforts of Home) introduces a strong, compelling heroine. Addison Spencer is a doctor in Harmony, Tex., hiding from her past. Tinch Turner is a cowboy, coping with his grief for his dead wife. Tinch gets custody of his nephew, Jamie, the son of his wife’s druggie sister, but it turns out Jamie has a secret of his own: he’s being hunted by the drug dealer who killed his mother. Addison and Tinch come together first to protect Jamie and then to explore their own irresistible attraction, while the whole town of Harmony bands together to save Jamie’s life. Readers unfamiliar with Harmony will not find this as immediately engaging as Thomas’s previous works, but for dedicated fans, it is a welcome return packed with cameos from familiar characters. Agent: Gail Fortune, the Talbot Fortune Agency. (Apr.)