FIRESIDE is rated "toasty warm."

[zoom]

FIRESIDE
by Susan Wiggs
RT Rating: ½
Publisher: MIRA
Published: February 2009
Type: Mainstream Fiction

Worth a look for the often-hilarious dialogue alone, the latest installment of her beloved Lakeshore Chronicles showcases Wiggs’ justly renowned gifts for storytelling and characterization. A keeper.

Summary: After a public fight, P.R. specialist Kimberly van Dorn loses her basketball star lover and her job. Going home to Avalon seems like a plan, but things have changed even there. Kim’s widowed mother, Penelope, has turned the family home into a boardinghouse and is dating one of the residents. Then Bo Crutcher and his son AJ move in. After years of hard work and no joy, Bo’s about to get his big break pitching for the Yankees — but the possibility of his ex’s deportation has left AJ in his custody.

Bo’s never had the chance to be a father to AJ, and wants to do right by him, but he’s expected to report to Fame School before the Yankees deal is finalized. So Bo compromises — by hiring Kim to do her thing instead. It’s a sweet deal for Bo; he’s been attracted to Kim since the first time he saw her. But Kim claims she’s done with athletes for good! (MIRA, Feb., 416 pp., $7.99)
—Catherine Witmer