I resisted reading Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos for the longest time. But then Barbara de Marco Barrett announced that she was interviewing de los Santos on her blog and when I cracked the book open at Target last week, I realized that I'd been passing up a gem. I wasted no time falling into this book when my Little Dude went down for his nap that day.

Marisa de los Santos has written an elegant, heartfelt story of café manager, Cornelia Brown whose life is changed when a handsome stranger walks into her café. Cornelia immediately falls for his Cary Grant charm and élan, thinking at last she's found her ideal. Adorable, unwittingly maternal, whip smart and at times totally blind, Cornelia is a character whom all of us recognize in ourselves or our friends. But then the author switches gears and in chapter two we meet Clare, a precocious 11 year old girl whose mother is coming apart at the seams. As a mother myself, her story had me in tears. Even though I had no idea how Cornelia and Clare's stories were connected – and that is all I'll say because I can't give away an important twist - de los Santos' had me.

Most literary novels, or this new breed of novels called "upmarket women's fiction" that's not quite literary, nor chick lit, fail to tell a good story. But in her best-selling debut, de los Santos balances the fine art of elegant prose, engaging characters and a plot that had me gasping with surprise. She's also gutsy. Cornelia's story is told in first person while Clare is told in third. I'm sure writers out there are imagining disapproving contest judges wielding their red pens! But it works


Book club members who want something to talk about, chick lit readers who want a little oomph to their reading and romance readers who love a good love story and classic movie references should read this book. This is a story about love in all of its forms: a man and woman, friend and friend, mother and daughter and especially the love discovered between two people most unlikely to ever cross paths.