cover image The To-Do List

The To-Do List

Sharon Struth. Solsbury Hill, $3.99 e-book (254p) ISBN 978-0-9979293-0-0

Struth’s sweet contemporary struggles a bit under the weight of its complex story. Free after a contentious divorce, Maggie Harris leaps at the chance to restart her life with her teenage daughter back in her hometown of Brockport, Conn., where she inherited her aunt’s bookstore. But she didn’t count on bumping into her high school crush, Cooper Stanton, so soon after settling in. No one warned her that the former college baseball star was now a town detective—and he’s in charge of finding whomever vandalized her bookstore. Despite old chemistry reigniting between Maggie and Cooper, it’s a long and slow road to a relationship. Each is keeping 20-year-old secrets that could very easily drive the other away. Struth’s characters are well developed and are given room to consult with family and friends about their problems, which is refreshing when many contemporaries keep the dialogue between the focus couple. But two big revelations make the story feels more complicated than it needs to be and take away from the pleasure of watching Maggie and Cooper fall back in love. (BookLife)

This review has been corrected; an early version had a typo in the author's first name.