New Leaf

November 30, 2015
Anderson returns to Mystic Creek with an uneven contemporary romance that’s disappointingly similar in plot to the first book in the series, Silver Thaw. Mystic Creek is a warm and friendly town in the Pacific Northwest, and among its most prominent citizens is Barney Sterling, the handsome deputy sheriff. He investigates a report of inappropriate behavior and finds the usually unassuming Taffeta Brown getting rid of all her frustrations by dancing up a storm in the privacy of her room, not realizing her seductive moves are visible through the curtains and have been scandalizing the neighbors. Taffeta’s new to town; she runs a health store and dreams of one day regaining custody of the daughter she lost in a bitter legal battle with her dissolute ex-husband. Desperate to rehabilitate her reputation, she takes advantage of Barney’s interest in her and proposes to him. When kindhearted Barney realizes how much Taffeta needs him, he agrees to marry her. The warmhearted Sterlings specialize in assisting women in jeopardy, but Taffeta needs to put her own effort into figuring out whether she can save her child and make her marriage work. Anderson manufactures conflict rather than fleshing out her plot with fully drawn characters, but she does know how to tug the heartstrings. Agent: Steve Axelrod, Axelrod Agency.

December 1, 2015

Wrongly convicted of child abuse by her totally selfish and well-connected ex-husband, Taffeta Brown moves to Mystic Creek, OR, determined to repair her reputation and regain custody of five-year-old Sarah. Then Taffy gets the news that her ex's careless lifestyle is putting Sarah in danger, and she does the one outrageous thing that might help her case--she proposes a temporary marriage to Barney Sterling, the local deputy sheriff. Caught off guard, Barney refuses. Then after some sleuthing of his own, he agrees, never thinking that keeping the marriage platonic (his rules) would be so blasted hard. Of course, their immediate mutual attraction adds its own complications. VERDICT With gentle humor, a dollop of sweet sensuality, and her trademark brand of down-home tenderness and heartfelt compassion, Anderson gives the classic convenient marriage plot a refreshing child-in-jeopardy spin. Welcome another happy family to the picturesque Mystic Creek world. Anderson (Silver Thaw) lives in rural Oregon.

Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from December 15, 2015
Taffeta Brown has had enough media attention. Now she doesn't want anyone to know who she is. After her too-rich, too-spoiled, too-cavalier ex-husband, Phillip, frames her for child abuse, she starts a new, low-key life in Mystic Creek, a small, quiet town in Oregon, so she can eventually fight him for custody of their five-year-old daughter, Sarah. Then Taffeta hears that Phillip is partying, using drugs, and leaving Sarah with different ladies of the night as babysitters. Panicked about her daughter's living conditions, Taffeta asks the town deputy, Barney Sterling, to marry her. She hopes this marriage will enable her to get her daughter back. Barney is attracted to Taffeta, but he wants a real wife, not a pretend one. Anderson has taken the classic marriage-of-convenience story and given it a decidedly modern twist. Brimming with emotionsthe distress of a mother, the frustration of her unexpected knight in shining armor, the concern of a small townthis second book in the Mystic Creek series (Silver Thaw, 2015) highlights her amazing ability to pull the reader right into the story.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)