Miracle On I-40 (Hardcover)

by Curtiss Ann Matlock (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
". . . all is well, and Matlock's down-to-earth characters and comforting plot will please." -- Booklist on Recipes for Easy Living

"A wonderful cast and a perfect setting make for a gentle and reassuring story." -- Booklist on Sweet Dreams at the Goodnight Motel

"Once again, Matlock delivers a gentle, glowing tale that is as sweet and sunny as its small-town setting." -- Publishers Weekly on At the Corner of Love and Heartache

"With her realistic characters and absorbing dialogue, Matlock crafts a moving story about a woman's road to self-discovery." -- Publishers Weekly on Driving Lessons

"You'll love Claire . . . She finds a way of life and enough good folks to fill her heart's empty spaces." -- The Oklahoman on Sweet Dreams at the Goodnight Motel

Product Description
A journey home to the heart . . .

Lacey Bryant is the ever-hopeful waitress at Gerald's Truckstop Restaurant in Albuquerque, New Mexico, a spot that is clear across the country from her home and family in North Carolina. It has been eleven years since Lacey, pregnant and unmarried, ran away from her angry father. Now she wants to go home again. A single mother struggling to raise her own children, she longs for her father's forgiveness, her mother's sweet embrace and to share with her aging parents the grandchildren they have never seen.

Cooper is every inch a Scrooge who wants no part of traveling across country with two children, but he has promised to help out a friend, and so he loads Lacey and her brood into his eighteen-wheeler and carries them along with him on his trip down Interstate 40. As the miles roll under the big truck's wheels, it turns out to be Lacey and her children who are bringing Cooper along with them, on a journey that takes them home to the heart.

In this revised edition of a Curtiss Ann Matlock classic, readers are treated once again to a cast of lovable characters in a magical romance as sweet and tender as a Christmas cookie.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Mira (October 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0778322238
• ISBN-13: 978-0778322238
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 5.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #493,089 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars fabulous early Christmas romance , September 28, 2005

By	Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews (#1 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Eleven years pregnant unwed teen Lacey Bryant fled the wrath of her rigid father to make a life for herself and her unborn. Eventually she took a waitressing job at Gerald's Truckstop while raising her two children alone. Now she wants to come home to Pine Grove, North Carolina to introduce her kids to their grandparents, hoping for a Christmas miracle in which her dad forgives her because she needs her mom's hug.

However, long haul driver fiftyish widower Pate Andrews, who was taking the three Bryants across the country along with his load, broke his leg. His friend Cooper reluctantly agrees to take care of the shipment including the Bryants. On the trek east along Interstate 40, his three passengers slowly convert Cooper from Scrooge to Santa as he falls in love with them; they reciprocate, but the adults have so much baggage that it will take a miracle for either to admit their feelings.

MIRACLE ON I-40 is a fabulous early Christmas romance starring two likable adults who bag humbug love when they first start, but change their minds on the long drive east. The story line is character driven as the audience wonders whether Lacey and Cooper can make it as she fears bringing a man with her while trying for a reconciliation and wonders how her parents will react to her and their grandchildren though she is confident her mother will warmly greet them with love . A revised version of an early 1990s tale, contemporary romance readers will believe in the MIRACLE ON I-40.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, November 20, 2000

By	Irene C. Lance (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miracle on I-40: A Christmas Love Story (Paperback)

I really enjoyed reading this book. It is a great story, with characters who you feel like you know, and beautiful illustrations. I can't say enough about this book - it's wonderful!!

4.0 out of 5 stars Short and sweet, November 2, 2007

By	Gemma "bookworm" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Miracle on I-40 (Paperback)

From the back cover:

To reconcile with her folks back East, and give her kids grandparents for Christams, truck stop waitress Lacey Bryant arranged transportation with her steadiest customer. Little did she know she'd hitched a ride with Scrooge! Eighteen hundred miles confined with scowling Barry Cooper would feel endless...unless Lacey miraculously changed his "Bah Humbug" to "Barry Christmas!"

And my review:

This story is a reprint. It originally appeared in one of Silhouette's Christmas stories collections (not sure which one).

I never know what to expect from Curtiss Ann Matlock. Some of her stories have bored me to tears. But not this one. It was short (less than 100 pages) but sweet.

While the theme of a bright, sunny woman melting the heart of a Scrooge is an old one, this story doesn't feel old or stale. I loved that even when Cooper was a Scrooge, you could still see that there was a nice person underneath all that bluster. I also loved watching Lacey and the kids peel away that gruff exterior to reveal the loving man underneath. The kids were so cute, and felt like more than just plot devices. Lacey was such a sweetheart, yet still a strong woman. No weeping weakness from her. I was impressed that the author could manage so much character development in so little space. The author also touched on the themes of family and forgiveness, and did them quite well. Plus there's the requisite appearance of Santa to keep the holiday spirit alive.

This was a character-driven story. It didn't have any life-or-death moments, and it didn't need them. Good writing can be entertaining just by showing characters growing and changing, and that's what happened here. I also liked that I felt the characters really fell in love with each other as people, not just because they lusted after each other. In fact, the sensuality was at a PG level. Enough to show that they were physically attracted to one another, but not overblown into a lust-fest. Being physically attracted was an added bonus to falling in love. That's just how I like it. If you get disappointed when there's no sex in a novel, then you might be a little let down, because the relationship's consummation is never shown. Of course, for some readers, that's a selling point. It all depends on your taste.

For a sweet short story to put you in a holiday mood, this will do the trick. Not a story that's going to be hard to put down, but it is an enjoyable way to pass an hour, and recommended by this reader.