ACT TWO, a Novel in Perfect Pitch... by Kimberly Stuart

I'm busy recuperating and reading everything I can get my hands on. This book is a fabulous "beach read", or in my case, "backyard read", for the summer. It's laugh-out-loud funny, with just a light spiritual touch that shouldn't offend mainliners and will remind Christians to count their blessings.

Here's the back blurb:

"New Yorker Sadie Maddox is the toast of the classical-music world - and a bit of a diva. But lately her CD sales are sagging, not to mention parts of her anatomy. Maybe it's time for a change. So when her agent suggests a professorship at a small liberal-arts college, Sadie decides to give it a go. Besides, she needs the money.

But the college is in rural Iowa. Sadie's colleagues are intimidated, her students aren't impressed, and she has to live far too close to farm animals. When Sadie meets Mac, a veterinarian, she assumes they have nothing in common - he is, after all, a country-music fan - and she's counting the days until she moves back to New York. Yet, when Sadie is forced to spend time with Mac, she likes him. Her students really need her. And this quiet midwest community begins to grow on her.

But when the semester ends, Sadie packs up and decamps for the city that never sleeps...and finds she can't either. Will she find the courage and grace she needs to embrace her ACT TWO?

This is Stuarts' third book and she's refined her craft for romantic comedy. Sadie's a just-turned-forty, single career woman, and frankly, it was a relief to meet a heroine so well written and realistically portrayed. The premise may seem familiar, but Stuart's writing style, imagery, and character relationships bring it to life in a fresh, new way. Her romantic touch brings to mind Susan Elizabeth Phillips. I'm looking forward to Stuarts' next book!

Run and check out her website at KIMBERLY STUART and enter her contest to win an iPOD. All her books can be bought on AMAZON.COM.