Hey, Good Looking

Book excerpt: With lively prose, unforgettable characters, and a touch of mischievous wit, Fern Michaels creates vivid reading experiences in all of her acclaimed USA TODAY and New York Times bestselling novels. Now, she inspires and entertains with a touching tale of the transforming power of love—and a woman whose broken heart finds more room for the simple pleasures of family and home, and for discovering true love in the last place she expected. Darby Lane and Russell Gunn had been inseparable friends from their early years in the Horseshoe, their wonderful Baton Rouge neighborhood of Southern comforts and childhood fancies, all the way through to graduate school dreams and beyond. Then the unthinkable happens: a tragic accident takes Russ's life, and Darby's world is shattered. Returning to the Horseshoe in utter despair, Darby clings to the only family she's ever known: the three wily and colorful aunts who raised her. Her long journey to healing takes hold as Darby begins to see Russ's brother Ben through new eyes. Suddenly love blooms in the place of grief, and now, with the help of her aunts, Darby faces the challenge of reuniting Ben with his estranged father—if they can get through the conniving schemes of Ben's social climber stepmother. Calling on the same tender care and patience with which she builds custom dollhouses, Darby begins to create a new life out of her loss—and comes to understand that love truly can conquer anything.