The Awful Mess: A Love Story

Cast off by a husband who wanted children she couldn't have, book editor Mary Bellamy has left behind the Boston suburbs to telecommute from tiny, affordable Lawson, New Hampshire. All she wants is peace and quiet (and maybe a cat), but she's soon coping with attentions from Arthur, an unhappily-married Episcopal priest who’d like to save her heathen soul, but is susceptible to more earthly temptations. Then there's handsome local cop Winslow, an excellent kisser who confuses her by being in favor of gay rights, but opposed to sex before marriage.

Things start to get messy when she loses her job, turns out to be pregnant, and is forced to keep a scandalous secret, even as her disintegrating ex-husband threatens what little she has left. In this witty, affectionate tale of small town life, Mary discovers that the connections we make can result in terrifying risks, as well as unexpected blessings.

Content warning: Although far from erotica, this book contains a couple of sex scenes and some bad language. It also contains religious themes, but if you require piety and reverence in such matters, this is not the book for you. Skeptics, you will probably be able to cope.