Perfect Timing

Sacrificing romance for busy melodrama, the bulk of Spinella’s sophomore effort (after Beautiful Disaster) takes place in flashback, while the present fills in the blanks. Teens Isabel Lang and Aidan Roycroft were best friends, helping each other survive their small Alabama town. When Aidan was arrested for shooting wealthy Rick Stanton, the lover of Isabel’s mother, Isabel bailed Aidan out and they eloped to Las Vegas, but were divorced soon after. Seven years later, Aidan is a wildly successful rock star, while the radio station Isabel works for needs ratings, and the kid-centered nonprofit that she runs on the side could use cash. She asks Aidan to play a show and soon a host of buried feelings and hidden truths are revealed on both sides. Everyone in the enormous cast is agreeably one-note and obedient to the plot. While a few twists keep pages turning, Aidan and Isabel’s flimsy characterization can’t stand up to the torrent of coincidences. Agent: Susan Ginsburg, Writers House. (Nov.)