Tied to the Tracks
Despite earnest attempts to tweak modern romance clichés, historical novelist Lippi (1999 Pen/Hemingway winner forHomestead) falls victim to the predictable plotting of contemporary chick lit in her first present-day excursion, a story of love in a small Southern town. When a struggling New Jersey film company, Tied to the Tracks, gets invited to Ogilvie, Ga., to make a documentary about renowned writer-in-residence Zula Bragg, Tied to the Tracks' owner, Angie Mangiamele, is thrilled to get the work—but not so thrilled to see old flame John Grant, chair of Ogilvie College's English department. John is brilliant, handsome, well-connected and about to marry Caroline Rose, youngest daughter of a prominent local family. Angie and John, under the gaze of prying Ogilvie eyes, try, and fail, to convince themselves there is nothing left between them. The more interesting story of Zula's secret past plays second fiddle to the ho-hum reunion of the star-crossed lovers. Several amusing secondary characters, including Angie's wisecracking business partners and the oh-so-Southern Ogilvie denizens, add to the story's charm, but the novel makes no real emotional demands.(June)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.