Akron author’s new novel is ‘Home for Love’ | Book Talk

“Home for Love” is second in the Maple Ridge series of romance novels by Susan Bagby.

Maggy Anderson is a high-powered television producer with a colleague who’s trying to weasel his way into her job. When she gets a call that her father, a publishing executive, has had a heart attack, a distraught Maggy rushes home to the Berkshires.

Mark Richards is a doctor who is the first to attend to Maggy’s father, Jim, when he is brought into the hospital. Mark won’t be there long; he’s agreed to take over a private practice in Maple Ridge from a doctor who’s retiring. Mark suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder from his military service and is looking for something less stressful than a New York City emergency room.

In most books of this type, the hero and heroine meet and immediately loathe each other. That doesn’t happen here, though Maggy’s big-city life has conditioned her to be skeptical of anyone who is friendly toward her. That’s soon resolved when she learns that he’s the new doctor in town and will be treating Jim as he recuperates.

There are complications, of course: Both Maggy and Mark have former flames who are aggressively trying to rekindle their relationships; Mark’s ex, in particular, has moved back to a town near Maple Ridge to be closer to her sister, which is convenient for her purposes.

There are no real villains here. Maggy’s co-worker is sly but not evil, and Maggy and Mark’s exes seem sincere.

It turns out that Maggy Anderson is the sister of Jake from “Christmas Wish Upon a Star,” first book in the series. In that book, a New York television producer is sent to a picturesque Berkshires town to tape a children’s Christmas show, and she meets Jake, a widowed bookseller. Jake and Alison are minor characters here.

“Home for Love” (300 pages, softcover) costs $17.99 from online retailers.

Susan Bagby will sign “Home for Love” and “Christmas Wish Upon a Star” from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Learned Owl Book Shop, 204 N. Main St., Hudson. She lives in Akron and has worked as a speech and language pathologist.

Events

Learned Owl Book Shop (204 N. Main St., Hudson): Kathy Schulz signs “The Underground Railroad in Ohio,” 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday. From 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday, Susan Bagby signs “Home for Love” and “Christmas Wish Upon a Star.”

Akron-Summit County Public Library (60 S. High St.): Pen/Malamud Award winner Yiyun Li joins the “Many Voices” series to discuss “Wednesday’s Child: Stories,” 6:30 to 8 p.m. Monday.

Tuscarawas County Public Library (121 Fair Ave., New Philadelphia): Michael Gunther talks about “Views from the Hot Seat” as part of the One Book, One Community series, 7 to 8 p.m. Monday.

Akron-Summit County Public Library (Fairlawn-Bath branch, 3101 Smith Road, Fairlawn): Former Beacon Journal sportswriter David Lee Morgan Jr. discusses “Breaking Through the Lines: The Story of Marion Motley,” 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Hudson Library & Historical Society: Laura Norton, author of “Lay Them to Rest: On the Road with Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless,” appears in a virtual event at 7 p.m. Monday. Register at hudsonlibrary.org.

Geauga County Public Library (Chardon branch, 110 E. Park St.): David Petrovic, author of “My Spectrum on the Spectrum: From Uncertainty to Purpose,” talks about his life with autism, 7 to 8 p.m. Monday. Register at geaugalibrary.net.

Stow-Munroe Falls Public Library: Tiffany Aliche talks about “Get Good with Money: 10 Simple Steps to Becoming Financially Whole” in a virtual event at 2 p.m. Tuesday. Register at smfpl.org.

Westlake Porter Public Library (27333 Center Ridge Road): Burt Griffin, author of “JFK, Oswald, and Ruby: Politics, Prejudice, and Truth,” joins Ellen Connally in the World at War Forum, 7 p.m. Tuesday. Register at westlakelibrary.org.

Lakewood Public Library (15425 Detroit Ave.): Co-editor (with Michael Ruhlman) Miesha Wilson Headen and contributors to “Cleveland Noir” read from and sign their work, 7 p.m. Wednesday.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Parma-Powers branch, 6996 Powers Blvd.): Gilly Macmillan talks about her thriller “The Manor House,” 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Cleveland Public Library: Ausma Khan talks about “Blood Betrayal,” second in her Detective Inaya Rahman series, in a YouTube and Facebook Live event, 7 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Register at cpl.org.

Mac’s Backs (1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Poets Charlene Fix and Echieko Tamu read from their work, 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. From 7 to 8 p.m. Saturday, David Giffels, co-author of “The Beginning Was the End: Devo in Ohio,” talks about the band.

Medina County Public Library (Seville branch, 45 Center St.): Clarence Bechter signs “The Time of My Life with Bubba’s Pampered Pedalers: 3000 Miles from San Diego, California, to St. Augustine, Florida,” 6 to 7 p.m. Thursday. Register at medina.lib.oh.us.

Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library (Willoughby Hills branch, 35400 Chardon Road): Rick Porrello talks about his true-crime books, including “Bombs, Bullets, & Bribes” and “To Kill the Irishman: The War That Crippled the Mafia,” 6:30 p.m. Thursday. Register at we247.org.

Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library (Coventry Village branch, 1925 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights): Thomas Adams, author of “Where Is No. 2? The Mysterious Disappearance of a Lake Erie Ship,” 7 to 8 p.m. Thursday. Register at heightslibrary.org.

Music Box Supper Club (1148 Main Ave., Cleveland): “The Greatest Cleveland Concert Stories!” Cleveland Stories Dinner Party series features authors David Spero (“A Life in the Wings: My Sixty Year Love Affair with Rock and Roll: A Memoir”), Janet Macoska (“All Access Cleveland: The Rock and Roll Photography of Janet Macoska”) Deanna Adams (“Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Roots” and “Cleveland’s Rock and Roll Venues”), John Gorman (“The Buzzard: Inside the Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock and Roll”) and Carlo Wolff (“Cleveland Rock and Roll Memories), 7 p.m. Thursday. Dinner is $25; the lecture is free. Go to musicboxcle.com.

Maltz Performing Arts Center: In-person tickets to see Henry Winkler, author of “Being Henry: The Fonz … and Beyond,” in the Writers Center Stage series from 7:30 to 9 p.m. Thursday are sold out, but livestreaming tickets are available; go to cuyahogalibrary.org.

Visible Voice Books (2258 Professor Ave., Cleveland): Poets Matthew Klane, Warren Longmire, David James Miller and Caryl Pagel read from their work, 7 p.m. Friday.

Akron-Summit County Public Library (Maple Valley branch, 1187 Copley Road): Pamela Pinkney-Butts (“Choose Life! The Pamela Pinkney Butts Story: My 2020 United States of America Presidential Campaign”) talks about her self-help books, 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday. Register at akronlibrary.org.

Massillon Public Library (208 Lincoln Way E.): A local author book fair with 28 authors will be 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday. Participants include children’s and teen authors Deborah Edmisten, Larry Eley and Greg Scheetz, cookbook author Sarah Bir, poet Dwight Parrish, nonfiction writers Irv Korman, Don Ake and Kathryn Popio and fantasy author Dan R. Arman.

Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library (Willoughby branch, 30 Public Square): Kaitlin Ryan and illustrator Cameron Peters read from their storybook “Sidewalk Lunch,” 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Register at we247.org.

Cuyahoga County Public Library (Middleburg Heights branch, 16699 Bagley Road): Sharona Hoffman talks about “Aging with a Plan: How a Little Thought Today Can Vastly Improve Your Tomorrow,” 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday. Register at cuyahogalibrary.org.

Walls of Books (7783 W. Ridgewood Road, Parma): Brandi Larsen, co-author with Daniella Mestyanek Young, signs “Uncultured,” about Young’s childhood in a Brazilian cult and subsequent military service, 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Email information about books of local interest, and event notices at least two weeks in advance to BeaconBookTalk@gmail.com and bjnews@thebeaconjournal.com. Barbara McIntyre tweets at @BarbaraMcI.

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This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron author Susan Bagby’s new romance novel is ‘Home for Love’