This novel goes back to Post World War II era, and finds Shirley Stephens taking a job as a nanny to a family of five children. Rosie and Vincent are adopting street children who have had no family to speak of but have become a family among themselves. Shirley is an unwed mother who takes on the guise of being a war widow to take the job as nanny. Who she truly is and who her family wants her to be is what she's running from. As she arrives in Sugar Maple, Tennessee, a man arrives at the same time, Wayne Bishop, who is a journalist writing a "feel good" story for the newspaper in Detroit.
Ciara Knight takes the reader on a rather comedic journey to the happiness she's trying to portray in this novel. The people who populate the town make for some fun reading. Mrs Slaughter runs the boarding house and is a not-so-subtle matchmaker. Rosie builds furniture, Vincent runs a general store, Wayne is trying to write a story for the Valentine's Day paper, but trying to keep his real purposes for being in town under his hat. Shirley is hiding her daughter and herself from her New York Society family. Shirley's two year old daughter, Beth, falls for Wayne in a big way, calling him "Daddy" in spite of Shirley's attempts to teach her otherwise.
The sweetness of the name of the town portrays the sweetness of the novel. Wayne goes out of his way to figure out what the hold-up is in the oldest child, Davey, being able to be adopted. When he does that, he exposes Shirley's secrets and puts her in an untenable situation where she feels she has to leave to protect Rosie, Vincent, and Beth.
This is an enjoyable read that earns four strong stars.
Author Collective 20 and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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