Last year, Meg Cabot launched a new series centered on the idyllic island of Little Bridge in the Florida Keys. Readers who fell in love with this tight-knit, vividly realized community in NO JUDGMENTS will gladly sign up for a return trip.

Although this is a series continuation of sorts, NO OFFENSE more than adequately stands on its own. Bree and Drew, the romantic protagonists in Cabot’s earlier novel, barely figure in the plot of this new installment. This time, the central characters are two people who recently have arrived on Little Bridge Island. Molly Montgomery is a children’s librarian who loves her job. She’s eager to help oversee the Little Bridge Library’s impending move from an outdated mid-20th-century building to a grand, fully restored mansion, complete with all the 21st-century amenities. Sheriff John Hartwell is not a newcomer to Little Bridge Island --- he grew up there, after all --- but he has returned with his teenaged daughter Katie following many years in Miami and an amicable divorce from her mother.

"[NO OFFENSE] offers readers a feel-good story with a heartwarming romance at its center --- and a most unusual dance number to cap it all off."

Molly and John’s paths cross following an unexpected situation: Molly encounters a newborn baby (whom she soon dubs “Aphrodite) abandoned in the restroom of the library. Eventually, the two connect the child to a string of bizarre home burglaries, for which John has a suspect in mind but little evidence to actually apprehend him.

As Molly and John continue to interact over the course of the investigation, their attraction for each other keeps growing. At the same time, they have very different points of view when it comes to criminal justice, privacy and how best to support Aphrodite’s mother.

As in NO JUDGMENTS, the real attraction of this cozy yet steamy romance are the quirky secondary characters. From the soon-to-retire children’s librarian of John’s youth to the benefactress of the new library to the lonely teenager who is both Molly’s favorite patron and her most frustrating, these characters continue to enrich and expand Cabot’s well-developed milieu.

Although NO OFFENSE might seem to be a sweet and sunny romance, it doesn’t shy away from hard topics, which include financial insecurity, irresponsible parenting and racial profiling. At the end of the day, though, it offers readers a feel-good story with a heartwarming romance at its center --- and a most unusual dance number to cap it all off. Before this summer is over, you will want to pay a visit to the Florida Keys with Meg Cabot as your guide.