Summer in Good Hope

In the breezy second Good Hope contemporary (after Christmas in Good Hope), a widow returns to her childhood home, intending to raise her boys without any complications of a romance, but her emotions betray her plans. Primrose Bloom and her six-year-old twins move back to Good Hope, Wis., where her newlywed sister Ami is bent on matchmaking. Prim, who has been widowed two years, resists, despite the charms of Max Brody, who was her childhood friend and is now "a blond Adonis." Though the backstory of Prim's strife with her late husband, Rory, is a little overdone, it provides a perceived obstacle for Max. There are also moments of tension arising by other possible love interests for both protagonists, a burglar who has the people of the tourist town on edge, and Rory's mother disapproving of any romantic interest between Prim and Max. But these conflicts are resolved relatively swiftly, so drama is minimized to maintain the easy pace of this light beach read. Agent: Annelise Robey, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (June)