cover image The Secret of Rainy Days

The Secret of Rainy Days

Leslie Hooton. Keylight, $17.99 trade paper (384p) ISBN 978-1-68442-704-8

In the uneven latest Southern inspirational from Hooton (After Everyone Else), a sudden loss forces a young woman to return to her cliquish Alabama hometown, where she must reconsider her idea of “home.” Nina “Little Bit” Barnes Enloe grew up in Erob under the shadow of her outspoken grandmother, her namesake, known as Biggie (“I shared her name, and by God, I was going to be a lady according to her rules.”). By leaning on her brother and their close circle of friends, Nina made it through the hardships of her father’s suicide and her emotionally distant mother before leaving for college and becoming a successful lawyer in New York City. Now, she’s returning to collect her inheritance: Biggie’s home, granted along with Biggie’s wish that Nina live in it, get married, and raise her own family there. While Nina is in no hurry to settle down, she does find herself drawn to her brother’s best friend, Carter. The romance between the two develops slowly; it’s friendships rather than seduction at the heart of the narrative. While the cast feels realistic and engaging, Nina herself doesn’t do much to endear herself to readers and comes across as prickly and quick to find fault in others. Much of the plot, meanwhile, is told through digression, which mutes the emotional through line. There are some big personalities at play here, but as a homecoming story it rings hollow. (Sept.)