Spellbound Falls

Interlacing magic and reality, Chapman (Highlander for the Holidays) weaves a delightful yarn around lonely young widow Olivia Baldwin. Despite the bossy supervision of her mother-in-law, Olivia loves running Inglenook, a successful parent/child camp in picturesque Spellbound Falls. When single father Mac Oceanus arrives early with his son, Olivia is instantly smitten by his good looks, strength, and confidence, and she weighs the joys of initiating an affair against her fear of abandonment. As Mac tries to draw Olivia out of her shell, strange occurrences crop up, like his sister Carolina’s sudden appearance during a snowstorm, a working cellphone in a towerless region, and an ankle bracelet that Olivia can’t take off no matter how she tries. Contrived conversations between the otherwise well-drawn characters are distracting, but readers will root for the down-to-earth heroine who finally has her chance at powerful love. Agent: Grace Morgan, Grace Morgan Literary Agency. (Mar.)