Baby, Drive South

Bond's formulaic contemporary embraces the trifecta of down-home romance: a muscular but tenderhearted hunk, a feisty but wary woman, and a set of folksy meddlers who complicate their lives. Tornado-ravaged Sweetness, Ga., has advertised for single ladies to come choose husbands from the town's notoriously handsome menfolk. Dr. Nikki Salinger, heart recently broken by an unfaithful beau, moves to Sweetness just in time to set the broken leg of Porter Armstrong. The petite medic remains outwardly unfazed by Porter's hunkiness, but her heart pounds whenever he's near. When the town's "macho, Southern boys" sneer at the "little lady doc," Nikki tries to leave%E2%80%94but Porter disables her car and sets out to win her affections. Predictable complications and misunderstandings ensue, with not a lick of redeeming novelty. (June)