Sunshine on Silver Lake

Rains (Starting Over at Blueberry Creek) makes a heartwarming return to the charming town of Sweetwater Springs, N.C., with this tale of a wary coffee shop owner and the hunky park ranger who’s been in love with her since childhood. When Jack Hershey stood Emma St. James up for her senior prom after a night full of mishaps (including a painful confrontation with Emma’s father), he inadvertently ruined their chances of being more than just friends, despite mutual feelings that linger into adulthood. Now Emma’s 30th birthday looms and she needs a friend more than ever; her mother died of breast cancer in her own 30th year. Emma turns to Jack for support, and though their chemistry is intense and both want something more, neither is brave enough to make the first move. Readers will have no trouble falling in love with Rains’s realistically flawed hero and heroine as they do their best to overcome their pasts and embrace their futures. A strong cast of supporting characters—especially Emma’s stepmother, Angel, and the many returning faces from earlier books—underpin Rains’s engaging prose and perfectly paced plot. Lovers of small-town tales won’t be able to resist. (July)