Heartwishes

A graduate student comes to Edilean, Va., for a job, but finds herself on the rocky road to love in Deveraux's new blend of modern romance and historical fiction. Alea Frazier hires Gemma Ranford to organize the family papers with the hope that the young woman might also convince Colin, the 27-year-old town sheriff and eldest Frazier son, to drop his on-again/off-again girlfriend and finally get serious. Small, blonde, smart, and brave, Gemma fits right in with the Fraziers and their idyllic community, earning early notoriety by stripping to a tank-top to help Colin rescue a boy from a tree, a scene that becomes a minor YouTube hit. A long-lost family heirloom, the Heartwishes Stone (purported to grant family members whatever they wish), finds Gemma drawn even more deeply to the Fraziers; Colin wants true love and his mother wants grandchildren, so Gemma seems destined for happiness. But misunderstandings abound, and a charming international thief and Colin's soon-to-be-ex, an ambitious lawyer, threaten the Frazier matriarch's hopes , the Fraziers themselves, and even the town. This latest in the Edilean series spends plenty of time in the modern world, and gleefully plugs plot holes with humorous academic rivalries and cheerful family chaos. Deveraux (The Scent of Jasmine) keeps the tone light and the plot moving, pausing only to take an occasional wistful look back. (Dec.)