The Idea of Love

June 1, 2015
Ella's life is such a mess that when a handsome stranger approaches her at a coffee shop, she makes up a new life for herself, one that transforms her from a woman whose husband has left her for her best friend's sister into a grieving widow. The stranger is not exactly telling the truth either. Instead of writing a nonfiction book about southern coastal towns as he claims, he's actually a screenwriter looking for fresh material after his last few movies flopped. As Hunter and Ella get to know each other, romance blooms. But in a small town, it's tough to keep secrets, and her carefully crafted story soon begins to unravel. Ella is a lively and relatable protagonist. As Henry (The Stories We Tell, 2014) delves into Ella's painful past, interesting subplots develop involving her friendship with an older woman and her job at a wedding store, adding some depth to the light romance in this feel-good women's fiction title. Anne Rivers Siddons fans will feel right at home in Henry's Watersend, South Carolina.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)