ONLY YOU

Author: Deborah Grace-Staley ISBN:159080340X 6/2004 CONTEMPORARY Publisher: Echelon Press

Homespun Hearts Hometown girl made good, Josie Allen, has returned to Angel Ridge after years away at school. All too soon, the new Dr. Allen finds that being the director of the town's prestigious library won't be easy. With the debt of her education hanging over her head in the form of her benefactor breathing down her neck, Josie barely has time to concentrate on the new computer system giving her almost as many problems. She definitely has no time for the distractions of a man from the wrong side of the Ridge-no matter how handsome he is. Cole Craig, the town handyman, is a blue collar constant in the small town. For as long as anyone remembers, he and his family have worked hard and kept to their own kind, but things aren't always as they appear. Cole has a secret! When Josie comes back to town, Cole can't keep his mind on business or his eyes off the girl of his youthful dreams. Determined to win Josie over, Cole sets a course for romance-the old fashioned way. Even with years of history and attraction forcing them together, social pressures and politics threaten to keep Josie and Cole apart. Can the guiding hands of the town's legendary angels and quirky residents keep love on track or will two hearts pay the price of prejudice?

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

Josie Allen has come back to her hometown after studying seven years at college for her PhD. Quiet, unassuming, and book smart, she’s settled into her new job as director of the local library. Taking for granted that her life will now be focused on an all-consuming career, she unexpectedly finds herself in a quandary when she meets up with the handsome local handyman, Cole Craig.

Cole has never forgotten the little red-haired girl from his school days. Always her champion, he'd secretly longed for a relationship with the bookish, quiet Josie. But while she studied and went on to further her education and career, his life took a quite a different turn. Now he and Josie have met again, and both are no longer school kids. So what's to keep him from getting a second chance at love, besides an overbearing, uppity library board member who's determined to rule his sweetheart's life, and a secret that Cole dare not reveal?

With ONLY YOU, Deborah Grace-Staley brings to home nostalgic memories of silent crushes and wistful longings. Who hasn't worshiped a puppy love from afar, but was too young and shy to lay their heart on the line? I know I did, and perhaps that's why I enjoyed this story so much.

ONLY YOU is Book I in Grace-Staley's Angel Ridge Series. Well-written with finely tuned characters and dialogue, this is the story of young unrequited love and second chances, climaxing in a satisfying happily-ever-after ending. Begun and ended with a storyteller, it's a warm apple pie, cozy kind of story, that is sure to tug your heartstrings and leave you smiling.

Nancy Davis