Impossible Dreams

Prefaced with whimsical one-liners such as ""I souport publik edekasion"" and ""If you smoke after sex, you're doing it too fast,"" Rice (Volcano) delivers a busy, too-cute-for-words romance set in the small town of Wadeville, N.C. Pregnant schoolteacher Maya Alyssum has enough trouble running her jailbird sister's New Age gift shop, raising her young nephew and keeping one step ahead of the town council, which is threatening to turn her school into a shopping mall. She sure doesn't need handsome Axell Holm wanting to marry her so he'll have a live-in baby-sitter for his young daughter, Constance. Axell has his own troubles: his former mother-in-law wants custody of Constance, someone's dealing drugs in his restaurant and the local politicians will revoke his liquor license if he doesn't persuade Maya's school to move. Predictably, love conquers all, but the kaleidoscope of characters and half a dozen subplots that bind together this story ensures that the battle never gets dull. (Apr.)