This is a small town story, about slow "good old-fashioned" American life that probably doesn't really exist anymore, and possibly never did. It's definitely an idolized vision of Americana, as portrayed on 1950s TV.
The (extremely) fictional town of Valentine, Oklahoma is inhabited solely by quirky characters of the type that don't exist outside of old "Northern Exposure" episodes. Sweet to the point of sappy--snappy writing saves this from being all out sap-fest--this is a contrived tale that bounces from one inhabitant to another, hitting a lot of cliches along the way: the eccentric old codger, the small-town gossip, the enterprising town shopkeeper, a rugged do-gooder deputy, alcoholic caregiver with a mistreated teen and on and on ...
This is a sweet and gentle story, with a little sadness, a little sass and oodles of stereotypes. It's not altogether terrible, but it's also not too interesting. Sort of like "The Andy Griffith" show, if Aunt Bea occasionally got beat up by her boyfriend.
I gather from the blurb that there have been several stories set in this fictional Oklahoma community, focusing on various town residents, but despite my connection to the Sooner state, I'm not interested in learning any more about these dull, cardboard caricatures.
The book was well-written, unlike so many of these stories though, so if this IS a genre you enjoy (which, obviously, I don't), you'll probably like this one.