Fading Starlight

Lauren Summers is a talented fashion designer on the rise, but a fluke wardrobe malfunction on the runway brings an abrupt end to her hopes of a career in fashion. With paparazzi questioning her and her bosses and clients turning on her, Lauren runs to Santa Barbara, Calif., where she gets a job making costumes for a school play. The job comes with a rent-free cottage in a secluded neighborhood, but when Lauren realizes that it is a fixer-upper right next to the home of Charlotte Montgomery, an unpleasant and mysterious older woman, she doubts it is really part of God's plan. Despite all Lauren's efforts to make friends with her, Charlotte likes to keep herself and her past a secret. When Kendall Joiner, a hard-core reporter, comes to Lauren with information regarding the culprit behind the wardrobe malfunction, she promises Lauren will get her old job back. Kendall, however, wants information regarding Charlotte. Cushman (Finding Me) brings realism and depth to Lauren's economic, career, and ethical struggles. After considering Kendall's proposal, Lauren realizes she is more like Charlotte than she believed and is unwilling to hurt the friendship that does not yet exist. Cushman's (Finding Me) talent is spectacular in this heartening story of putting others first. (May)