The third Wednesday has rolled around and it’s time for my February pick for TBR Challenge 2011, hosted by @SuperWendy. Wendy blogs The Misadventures of… SUPER LIBRARIAN here. You’ll find my January pick here.

The theme suggestion for February is Ugly Ducklings (Heroes and/or heroines who aren’t “pretty”)

I let my fingers do the walking through the TBR pile several times before I decided that I just didn’t have anything that fit that theme.

So. I picked a book that was gifted to me before Christmas through the electronic woo-woo that is Kindle. This was a new-to-me author, and I was anticipating the read.

Cue music.

From the Publisher ~

When sudden chest pains leave Kate lying in a parking lot, it’s a man in a Grateful Dead t-shirt who saves her life. He’s a total stranger–yet Kate would give anything to see him again. And when the handsome good Samaritan shows up on her doorstep, and reveals a surprising truth about himself, they discover that even the strongest heart is no match for love. (From chapters.indigo.ca)

Product Description ~

It all started with a red lace thong. Normally Kate is a twin set and pearls kind of girl who wouldn’t be caught dead in such a thing. But that’s exactly what happens when sudden chest pains leave her lying in a parking lot with her skirt hiked up around her hips for all of Princeton to see. It’s a man in a Grateful Dead t-shirt who saves her life, and then disappears without a trace. A total stranger-and yet Kate would give anything to see him again. How is she to know that her mystery man is planning a new, far-away life for himself, one that doesn’t include romance, even if he can’t seem to get the woman in red lace out of his mind?

Romance isn’t high on Kate’s list of priorities either. But when the handsome good Samaritan shows up on her doorstep, they discover that even the strongest heart is no match for love… (From amazon.com)

I had to chuckle at the difference between what was put up at Chapters/Indigo in Canada and what was put up at Amazon. If I were to do my own blurb, it would be somewhere between the two…plus. But that plus would reveal plot twists that are intended for the reader to discover as she goes along, so I won’t do that here. But I really want to.

This 2007 release was a sweet read from the first paragraph to the closing line. And when I say sweet I’m not talking sugar rush, I’m talking sweeeeet. It’s a big story taking place in a small town.

Kate is in need of a rescue and Mark is the man to give it to her, in more ways than one. These two aren’t 20-something, but 40-something, which is a refreshing change of pace in the romance genre. Each is falling in love — one for the first and one for the second time in their lives — and the road to love is filled with angst and uncertainty, and a boulder or two. It’s a bumpy ride, made even bumpier by a lively cast of familial characters. Kate has trust issues, and Mark has trouble leaving the past behind.

Fave line: Bad enough she was wearing underwear ten years too young and two sizes too small for her.

Bretton has a deft hand with story. The characters are real. The plot hums along. The humor is sharp. I couldn’t ask for more.

That’s two new-to-me authors in two months. There is nothing more exciting to a reader than discovering a new author. What I love most about that experience is…backlist, baby, backlist!

Now, excuse me while I got check out what the other challengers pulled from their TBR.

Elen