Hope Ramsay - Welcome to Last Chance

Welcome to Last Chance

Hope Ramsay

Forever, Mar 1 2011, $5.99

ISBN: 9780446576093

On the lam, Mary Smith buys a ticket to the Carolinas to hide in aptly named Last Chance. She expects a dead quiet town so is surprised to learn a fiddler plays. When Mary and the musician Clay Rhodes meet they prove hotter than a peppercorn (thanks to Johnny Cash).

After a great night at the Peach Blossom Motor Court, Mary checks her sleeping partner's wallet for his name. He assumes she is stealing from him and looks into her belongings to find out that Mary Smith is Wanda Jane Coblentz, a woman in distress. Both are irate with the other, but the church's Ladies Auxiliary matchmakers, the communication center (owned by his mama) Cut 'n' Curl Beauty Salon, his brother the cop and angels believe this couple belongs together forever.

Readers will feel Welcome to Last Chance thanks to the small town residents who make the tale fun to read even though the action is somewhat limited. The key is the homespun hometown musings of mama who is worried about her son refusing to risk anything emotional since he left a band, but sees Mary-Jane as the perfect CPR maker. Mindful of Mossy Creek, readers who enjoy a warm welcome to a remote part of South Carolina will remember mama (and her female horde) and son taking a chance by offering Mary-Jane a last chance.

Harriet Klausner