Sometimes, one needs a happily-ever-after, and from the beginning of Lost in New Falls you know you are going to get one. But the path to the end in this particular book is funny, charming and also deeply sad, but with a thread of hope and caring through it all.

Kate Delaney is the character many of us can identify with great ease from our own childhood experiences. The ‘friendly fat girl’ all through school in New Falls, Tennessee she and her brother Reese find themselves in the care of their beloved grandfather when their parents are killed in an accident. Tagging along after Reese and his best friend, Quentin Taylor, Kate spends her childhood and teen years being just one of the boys. When her growing attraction to Quentin leads to heartbreak, her path takes her to Hollywood, where she ghostwrites, writes for the occasional television show, and is now climbing her way to success. With a famous producer now wanting her newest script, this should be the happiest time of her life. However, her beloved grandfather is close to death, and she must return to Tennessee to be with him in his final days. Of course, with email, she can still finish her script in the cabin her grandfather once called home. Oops.

Returning to the cabin after a visit to her grandfather in the hospital, Kate discovers that her cabin has been robbed, her laptop, flash drive backup gone, and even her underwear drawer cleaned out. What happens next is funny in a mildly slapstick way as Kate attempts to ship off the rough paper copy of her work to her agent, only to wind up in a game of pass-the-football with her treasured screenplay. Everyone in town seems to be reading her work, but whether it gets to her agent is another question.

Cherie Marks characters are funny and charming, thought the whole “Hillbilly Red Neck” situation comes into play, but not in a grating way. The chase for the burglar is well done, and quite realistic overall, and the thief was a shocker – funny as all get out in the end, though the acts weren’t themselves funny at all.

This is a great summer read. I accepted the book as I admire Cherie Marks, a breast cancer survivor like myself. Now, I am glad I did simply because I enjoyed the book and want to read more of her work.

I receive this book in return for a realistic review. All thoughts are my own.