Billy Harper isn’t looking for romance. The small-town librarian is too busy trying to raise Luke, her suddenly recalcitrant 13-year-old son, to worry about love. But then recently divorced architect Cal Cooper rolls into town in his Porsche 911, and everything changes.

In her fifth novel, Mary McNear takes readers back to the comforting confines of Butternut Lake, Minnesota, the same quaint setting of her previous books. The unlucky-in-love heroine this time around is Billy, a 32-year-old single mom who gave birth to her only child after indulging in a brief teenage fling on an Alaskan vacation. Luke’s dad isn’t in the picture at all; in fact, he doesn’t even realize he has a child. That wasn’t a problem in the past, but since Billy’s dad and Luke’s surrogate father died last year, the eighth-grader has been feeling the absence of a second parent. He’s also acting out accordingly --- sneaking out for late-night skateboard rides, painting graffiti on bridges, smoking cigarettes under the bleachers --- and Billy is hurt and baffled by his behavior.

"McNear’s characters are fresh and fun, and watching them stumble their way toward what they hope will be happiness is a treat. Anyone in the mood for a heartwarming beach read will be glad they grabbed this one from the shelf."

Given Billy’s more pressing parental concerns, it’s hardly surprising that Jane Austen’s novels, which she rereads religiously, are pretty much the only sign of romance in her life. And that’s just fine with her. After all, she relocated to Butternut Lake from the Twin Cities in order to provide a good life for her and her son, not to find Mr. Right. Plus, she’s a romantic at heart, though she knows real life is unlikely to deliver what she really wants, which is “a man like Mr. Darcy, witty dialogue, amusing plot twists, surprising new characters, and neatly tied-up endings.”

Readers won’t be surprised to find out that Billy ends up getting exactly what she wants in the form of Cal, who has fled to Butternut Lake from Seattle to recuperate from a nasty breakup with his wife. (The novel is narrated in alternating chapters from Billy’s, Cal’s and Luke’s perspectives.) He has taken up residence in his family’s old cabin, still owned by his sister Allie, who readers will remember from McNear’s first book, UP AT BUTTERNUT LAKE.

Cal is not exactly Mr. Darcy --- he may be rich, but he’s not prideful, for one. But that doesn’t stop sparks from flying when he and Billy meet at a wedding. The resulting romance comes with plenty of sweet flirtation and realistic roadblocks (finding time for seduction is hard when you’re a single parent). In Billy, McNear has crafted the kind of Sandra Bullock-esque heroine you just can’t help but root for. She’s smart, caring and funny, and also comes with a dash of relatable awkwardness, as when she tries to cut short a hookup with Cal to shave her legs.

Casting a shadow over this budding romance is a secret that Billy has been carrying around for the past year. Shortly before he died, Billy’s father tracked down Luke’s father. But she hasn’t been able to open the envelope revealing where her former lover is now, let alone tell Luke she knows how to get in touch with his dad, since “there was no telling what, exactly, Wesley might do if he was informed he had a son.” Will he demand custody of his child? Or worse, what if he refuses to acknowledge him at all?

McNear’s characters are fresh and fun, and watching them stumble their way toward what they hope will be happiness is a treat. Anyone in the mood for a heartwarming beach read will be glad they grabbed this one from the shelf.