River Rising

Set in Depression-era Missouri, Garlock's latest novel picks up where The Edge of Town left off, once again presenting the down-home charm and familiar characters that have made her books so popular. April Asbury, a lovely young nurse, has just arrived in town when her car breaks down and she meets Joe Jones, a ""natural-born flirt"" who offers to help her. April is plucky, pretty and smart, and Joe soon finds himself falling for her, though he struggles to shed his playboy image. Meanwhile, the town doctor, Todd Forbes, wades into troublesome romantic territory when he falls for a woman of color, and Shirley, the wife of the late rapist Ron Poole, goes off the deep end after discovering her husband's sordid history. When a flood wreaks havoc on the town, things come to a head, and many get their comeuppance. Garlock weaves together the various tales with the down home folksiness she's known for, which includes plenty of corny similes (""He's about as reliable as snow on the Fourth of July"") and exclamations such as ""Shucks!"" and ""Bullfoot!"" Of course, everything works out in the end, and there's a fair amount of sweaty sex thrown in along the way. But it's Garlock's characters that keep bringing readers back, and this book will not disappoint her many existing fans.