I couldn't put "Almost Perfect" by Dianne Blacklock (ISBN 9780425211625)down.

We first meet a single, somewhat eccentric bookstore owner, Georgie Reading. She's content running the shop with her sister-in-law. Flash cross town to a couple struggling with infertility. Flash back to the shop and a handsome stranger sets off sparks with Georgie.

You just know these stories are going to intertwine. And it's fairly obvious early on just how, but still I had to know how it was going to turn out. At times I wasn't sure whose side I was on (just like in real life).

Infidelity, both past and present, is a central theme of the novel. The characters explore it in shades of gray - not stark black and white, right and wrong. There is struggle. There is conflict. There is good writing!

It was such a welcome change from the last book I read.

Blacklock also wrote "Call Waiting" and "Wife for Hire." I'll be checking those out the next time I'm in the Bs.

Tomorrow: Something completely different, "In the Forest of Harm"

- Tricia Ambrose