Leandra Logan, Sugartown

Sugartown

Leandra Logan

Harlequin American, Mar 2006, $4.99

ISBN: 0373751125

In Brooklyn eight years ago, her beloved dad died in a traffic accident. Now her mom, who Tina Mills was never close with, has passed away. However, instead of solace with the Aunts, she gets grief and the hint that she is not of their blood. The award winning documentary filmmaker talks with her family lawyer and learns her father had an affair in Sugartown, Connecticut. She and her film partner Emmy Snow agree to do a show on small town living in the four corners of the country; Tina will visit Sugartown where she thinks one of three women in a photo she found is her biological mother.

Everyone in Sugartown is excited about the film project except widower Police Chief Colby Evans, who remembers the con man who ripped off the naive townsfolk. He believes Tina is hiding her real agenda and plans to keep her from hurting anyone, especially his son Jerod. Instead, Colby and Tina fall in love, but she knows he will be hurt once she reveals the truth of who brought her to this small Connecticut town.

SUGARTOWN is a deep character study that focuses on the human need to belong. Though the Aunts are something else, Tina hits it on the head when she tells them they could have encouraged their sister to love her not reject her. Her dad falls off the pedestal with his indiscretion, and even more so for never telling her the truth, while her mom gains some kudos for at least providing a home for her, albeit she was never warm. Several of the townsfolk are also looked at in a sharp perceptive manner so that fans gain a strong insightful drama.