The sweetheart rules

After years as an absentee father, Coast Guard lieutenant Mike Stark doesn't have a clue what to do when his ex leaves his two young daughters with him. His former wife hasn't put a lot of effort into being a mother, and it shows. Veterinarian Diana Tuttle is the single mother of a rebellious teenage son. They can't seem to communicate, and he has begun to hang out with an undesirable crowd. Still smarting from the end of their passionate affair, Diana and Mike both find themselves in Rescue Bay, where it's impossible not to run into each other. It's obvious to everyone but the two of them that they would make a perfect couple. Fortunately, no one in town is bashful about matchmaking. Jump's endearing book, the second in her Sweetheart Sisters series after The Sweetheart Bargain (2013), will appeal to fans of Debbie Macomber and Susan Mallery.--Mosley, Shelley Copyright 2014 Booklist

Jump's second Sweetheart Sisters contemporary (after The Sweetheart Bargain) brings together two flawed yet appealing single parents searching for love. Veterinarian Diana Tuttle, who's raising a 15-year-old son, seems, on the surface, to have it all together. But when her ex-lover Mike Stark, a Coast Guard lieutenant, returns to her sleepy Florida beach community with his two daughters in tow, her peaceful life is disrupted. Mike's abusive stepfather made it hard for him to be comfortable with anything but strict routines, and when his flaky ex leaves eight-year-old Jenny and four-year-old Ellie with him, he doesn't have the first idea of how to be a good father. Enter the scheming grannies of the Golden Years Retirement Home, who have one happy couple under their belts-and are aiming for another. Diana and Mike lurch toward love, slowly learning that perfection is not a prerequisite for being a parent, in this heartwarming and charming story. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.