Jenna McKnight, Love in the Fast Lane

Love in the Fast Lane

Jenna McKnight

Avon, January 2007, $5.99

ISBN: 0060843470

Professional race-car driver T.S. "Scotty" Templeton was pushing his Porsche towards 200 MPH when he realizes he has a passenger who came out of nowhere. The "hitchhiker" says he is Larry" Speed" Cooper. On the two way radio Scotty asks his boss who is Speed Cooper, and learns the man next to him was a 1970's stock car champion, who is a ghost asking the distracted driver to deliver something for him. Scotty agrees so that he can concentrate on the race, while his boss and the pit crew chief think he smoked something this morning.

Scotty visits Speed's daughter Maggie in St. Louis, accompanied by the ghost and his heavy delivery, that the spirit insists belongs in the barn. Lawrence's mother Gremmy knows her son is there, though she cannot see him, while his daughter thinks the hunk is a lunatic trying to hustle her Gremmy, even if he makes her heart skip a beat. As they fall in love, she knows he is bad for her executive career climb, besides which, she just ended a relationship; Scotty knows a winner when he sees one, so he goes all out for the checkered flag of love.

Though the finish line seems too abrupt, fans will appreciate this charming blending of the paranormal with racing cars. The characters make the humorous whimsical storyline fun, as Scotty struggles with the ghost who never shuts up, that only he apparently can see, while he courts the spirit's daughter. The support cast from Lawrence to Gremmy, to Goth sister Ruby makes for a jocular lighthearted supernatural romance.