One Day in Apple Grove

Admirand’s second modern-day smalltown Ohio romance might as well be set in Petticoat Junction. With Meg married and pregnant (following A Wedding in Apple Grove), 20-something Caitlin, “the awkward middle Mulcahy sister,” is picking up the slack in the family handyman business. Dr. Jack Gannon, still recovering emotionally and physically from military service, has just returned to Apple Grove to take over his father’s medical practice. They meet cute over an adorable ball of puppy fluff and begin a lovely courtship that fails to rise above cornpone surroundings. Caitlin’s minor accident in her father’s truck sets the entire town atwitter, nearly eclipsing plans for the upcoming Founder’s Day Picnic. “Gossip central,” the Apple Grove Diner, gets a workout when the local realtor spies Caitlin’s widowed dad hugging a lady friend. In Apple Grove, “hell” is “salty language”; only readers who want to pretend that 2013 can feel like 1950 will be at home there. Agent: Eric Ruben. (June)