Over the course of four novels, romance author Jo McNally has treated readers to tender contemporary love stories set in the small fictional town of Rendezvous Falls in upstate New York. The challenges of real life--and their subsequent consequences--always play a part in her multigenerational stories set in locales such as the local vineyard (Slow Dancing at Sunrise), a bed and breakfast (Stealing Kisses in the Snow), the flower shop (Love Blooms) and an apartment rental (Barefoot on a Starlit Night).
In this fifth entry in the series, When Sparks Fly, McNally focuses on 40-year-old Zoey Hartford, who is self-employed in the field of appliance repair and whose confidence is down since a traumatic divorce. The hard-working single mother is determined to restore stability and normalcy to the life of rebellious Hazel, her 13-year-old daughter. When Zoey starts to have romantic feelings for Mike, a lawyer and now a widower who has been one of Zoey's best friends since high school, complications ensue. Will they risk their dear and cherished friendship by sparking up a romance after all these years? And will the couple's relationship drive a wedge in the mother-daughter bond?
The joys and tribulations of small-town life offer a colorful backdrop to this passionate, down-to-earth romance in which members of a meddling, matchmaking book club offer wit and levity. A subplot involving Zoey's house and place of business nicely binds up several plot threads. Readers who enjoy stories about the toils of true love will feel right at home in the comforts of this continuing series. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines