Miracle on I-40
Curtiss Ann Matlock
Mira, Oct 2005, $14.95, 256 pp.
ISBN: 0778322238

Eleven years ago pregnant unwed teen Lacey Bryant fled the wrath of her rigid father to make a life for herself and her unborn. Eventually she took a waitressing job at Gerald's Truckstop while raising her two children alone. Now she wants to come home to Pine Grove, North Carolina to introduce her kids to their grandparents, hoping for a Christmas miracle in which her dad forgives her because she needs her mom's hug.

However, long haul driver fiftyish widower Pate Andrews, who was taking the three Bryants across the country along with his load, broke his leg. His friend Cooper reluctantly agrees to take care of the shipment including the Bryants. On the trek east along Interstate 40, his three passengers slowly convert Cooper from Scrooge to Santa as he falls in love with them; they reciprocate, but the adults have so much baggage that it will take a miracle for either to admit their feelings.

MIRACLE ON I-40 is a fabulous early Christmas romance starring two likable adults who bag humbug love when they first start, but change their minds on the long drive east. The story line is character driven as the audience wonders whether Lacey and Cooper can make it as she fears bringing a man with her while trying for a reconciliation and wonders how her parents will react to her and their grandchildren though she is confident her mother will warmly greet them with love. A revised version of an early 1990s tale, contemporary readers will believe in the MIRACLE ON I-40.

Harriet Klausner