cover image MEAN SEASON

MEAN SEASON

Heather Cochran, . . Red Dress, $12.95 (304pp) ISBN 978-0-373-25069-1

The old adage "be careful what you wish for" gets new life in Cochran's sweet, funny debut. Life in tiny Pinecob, W.Va., takes a turn for the wacky when Hollywood heartthrob Joshua Reed, nailed with another DUI, is forced to spend 90 days of house arrest in the home of a local fan. Leanne Gitlin, 25, has loved Joshua since she was 15 and led his fan club for eight years; such relative proximity to glamour makes her stand out in town (where she now works in the county clerk's office) and distracts from the fact that she's never strayed from home and is deeply committed to being the family caretaker, especially for her handicapped brother, Beau Ray. Joshua, with a court-mandated ankle sensor, takes up residence in the room of Leanne's beloved older brother, Vince, who abandoned Pinecob for greener pastures. For the Gitlins, this means TV cameras, drunken fans undressing on their lawn and an overdose of Joshua's bad attitude. In the midst of all this, wise, strong-willed Leanne slowly faces big life choices and long-hidden feelings for old friend Max, who's nursing some new big dreams of his own. The plot's a bit far-fetched, but that's just part of the fun in this poignant, gently comic story about growing up and moving on. Agent, Katherine Fausset. (Sept.)