"You'll be cheering for these characters just like Cricket Creek cheers for its baseball team."
Reviewed by Viki Ferrell
Posted January 24, 2011
Romance Contemporary
Noah Falcon is returning to Cricket Creek to do summer
theater in a play written by hometown girl Madison Robinson.
She left Cricket Creek for Chicago with her mom,
Jessica, but is back trying to prove herself as a serious
playwright. When Noah reconnects with his high
school tutor, Olivia Lawson, sparks fly... and
they're not all romantic. Noah is a hometown hero, having made it big in Major League
Baseball and as an actor on a well-known soap opera. But
when his character on the soap opera is blown-up, he
decides to take a change of direction in his life. He's not
sure that fame and fortune is all they're cracked up to be.
There must be more to life. Noah and Olivia are thrown together as the leads in
Madison's play, so they begin spending lots of
time with each other. Olivia is very guarded about any kind
of a relationship with Noah, but Noah seems to be falling
fast for her. She just doesn't think this can end well. Meanwhile, Madison is quickly falling for another local
Cricket Creek hunk, Jason Craig. He's doing some remodeling
at her aunt's diner and also working on the sets for her
play. Madison is just looking for a good time, but Jason has
something more in mind. Will Jason and Noah find what they
are seeking, the one thing that really matters in life? These two are PLAYING FOR KEEPS in this brand new Cricket
Creek series by LuAnn McClane. This charming, romantic story
is set in a small southern town that is drying up and needs
something or someone to save it. You'll cheer on each of the
characters, just like Cricket Creek cheers for their
baseball team. This new series should be a real hit!
SUMMARY
Olivia Lawson is peeved when ex-ace pitcher turned soap
opera star Noah Falcon roars back into Cricket Creek,
Kentucky, after all these years, to take the lead opposite
her in the community theater's summer play. Noah's beloved
hometown is having major financial woes and needs his
status to turn this small-town play into a big-time hit. But Noah has bigger plans for this small town. And this
time he's determined to show Olivia he's not just playing
around-he's playing for keeps.
ExcerptCHAPTER ONE
Sweet Southern Comfort
“Welcome to Cricket Creek, Kentucky, birthplace of Noah
Falcon,” Noah read as he drove his red Corvette convertible
past the city limits sign. He had won several awards
as a major league relief pitcher but this little bit of
hometown pride never failed to bring a smile to his
face. Of course he’d never dreamt he would be
returning home to audition for the community theater of all
things but then again lately his life wasn’t exactly going
as planned. But Noah’s smile faded as soon as he turned onto Main
Street. The once thriving little town was all but
deserted even on a Saturday afternoon. Several of the
shops had for
lease signs in the window and other store fronts were
in need of a fresh coat of paint. “Wow,” Noah
whispered with a slow shake of his head. He supposed
that the sluggish economy had taken its toll on the quaint
river town that depended upon boating and tourism. He
guessed that here, like everywhere else, it was difficult
for the local stores and restaurants to compete with nearby
suburban chains. Some of the antique shops had
survived and he smiled when he stopped at the red light and
spotted Myra’s Diner where he had consumed many a cherry
Coke, double cheeseburger and giant onion rings with his
rowdy teammates after Cricket Creek Tiger baseball games. As Noah idled there at the light he took a trip down
memory lane and had to chuckle. Myra Robinson, as
feisty as she was tiny, had somehow managed to keep Noah and
his cronies pretty much in line. All she had to do was
raise one eyebrow in their direction and they would pipe
down… well at least for a minute or two. He also
recalled having a huge crush on Myra’s niece Jessica who
caused quite a stir when she showed up on her aunt’s
doorstep pregnant at sixteen. But free-spirited Myra
lived by her own rules. She took her niece in without
batting an eye and after sweet little Madison was born she
charmed the town with her mop of blonde curls and big blue
eyes. Noah shook his head thinking that here he was
twenty three years later auditioning for a play that
Jessica’s daughter wrote. As he passed the diner he
did notice that there seemed to be some construction going
on inside and hoped it meant that the restaurant remained on
solid ground.
“Yes!” Noah shot a celebratory fist into the air
when he saw that Grammar’s Bakery, home of the best butter
cookies on the planet was still in business. “Thank
God for small favors!” he said to the blue sky and then slid
his sleek red car into a parking spot directly in front of
the bakery. Noah glanced at his watch. If he was
lucky they would still have a few cookies left. He
unfolded his jean clad legs from the driver’s seat and eased
his road weary body to a standing position before
stretching. At least nobody in Cricket Creek would
poke fun at his cowboy boots or western cut flannel
shirt. It was a bit on the cool side to have the top
down but on a bright, sunshiny day like this, Noah couldn’t
resist. “You can take the boy out of the country…” he
said under his breath and then grinned. Man, it felt
good to be back home. A bell jingled when Noah tugged the door open and he had
to stop in his tracks and take a deep breath of air scented
with cinnamon and yeast. “Please tell me you have some
butter cookies left.”
“I think so.” A teenage girl with a pale blonde
lopsided ponytail glanced up from wiping the counter and
gave him a bored smile.
“Sweet. I’ll take them all.” Since it was
Saturday afternoon the shelves were already mostly bare but
he glanced in the glass display case and breathed a sigh of
relief when he spotted a couple dozen butter cookies dotted
with pastel icing. A fat cinnamon cake topped with
mounds of crumble called his name and so did a flat, crispy
elephant ear. Oh and he needed a loaf of white and a
loaf of marble rye… “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle!” boomed the big voice of
Mabel Grammar. She stood there with her hands on her
ample hips and grinned while the double doors to the kitchen
swung back and forth behind her. “Noah Falcon?”
Noah pushed his mirrored aviators up onto his head and
grinned back. “The one and only.”
“No truer words were ever spoken.” Mabel laughed
causing her double chin to jiggle. “Well, aren’t you
just a sight for sore eyes.” She dusted floured hands
on her apron and ambled out from behind the counter. “And so are you, Mabel,” Noah told her and gave her a big
bear hug. “It sure smells good in here.” After
he stepped back he noticed that the teenager’s jaw had
dropped.
“Noah, this is Chrissie.”
“Nuh-uh…”
“You mean you’re not Chrissie?” Noah asked with a grin.
“No, I mean… yes. Really? You’re Noah
Falcon?” She stood up from her slouch and
suddenly appeared less bored. “Yep.” Although Noah bestowed his best Dr. Jesse
Drake soap-opera smile upon her it grated a little that he
wasn’t worth the time of day until she knew he was
famous. He had experienced much of the same after he
was no longer a major league baseball player and now that he
had been booted off of Love in the Afternoon his net worth had
taken a nose dive once again. No one wants a has-been,
only a right-now
and it was beginning to wear on him but he kept his
smile in place and gave her a wink.
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