Heart's Desire
Laura Pedersen
Ballantine, Aug 2005, $13.95, 416 pp.
ISBN: 0345479556

Though she would prefer not to work another summer at mother and son Olivia and Bernard Stockton's estate garden where she took refuge last year (see BEGINNER'S LUCK), Hallie Palmer knows she needs the money to offset some of her freshman year debts. So Hallie returns to her Ohio home accepting the same job she held in the past.

However, she is shocked when a depressed Bernard informs her that his lover Mr. Gil dropped him. He enlists Hallie's help to bring Gil to his senses and restart their relationship. At the same time, Hallie sees her high school boyfriend Craig and, though she has a college beau, she remains attracted to him. He feels the same way even reflecting on whether their agreement to see others was realistic as being together feels like the right thing. Is it her HEART'S DESIRE or just a nostalgic summer love?

This sequel stars the still whimsical charming former poker champ Hallie, a likable teen still feeling crowded in the Palmer household as the second born with a horde of siblings. The storyline beguiles the readers as the older wiser Hallie is helplessly overwhelmed once more with relationships, her own with Craig, and Bernard with Mr. Gil. Fans will appreciate Laura Pederson's teen queen who hopefully returns for one more entanglement perhaps as a recent college graduate whose only work is yard work at the Stockton home garden.

Harriet Klausner