Gus’s characterization is one of the bright spots in this already lovely novel, a precocious eight -year old who speaks and acts like a precious eight -year old.

Gus, who is quirky and brilliant in her own way, has found a kindred spirit in Wes, and serves as the impetus that brings Alex and Wes together. Alex has to bail his too-curious daughter out with his neighbor after she breaks into Wes’s basement. Gus’s shenanigans are the reason for the meet-cute. The novel cleverly introduces him in chapter one via his reputation, a device that skirts the info dump trap that is nonetheless required to understand him. Wes Mobray is the town’s boogey man, a recluse around whom stories of every kind have been spun to explain his unconventional way of existing – mostly at night, in a house with windows that have been papered over. However, when Mason decides that he no longer wishes to co-parent Gus and prefers an unfettered, single life, Alex returns to Garnet Run, and his sibling, River, who promises to help Alex care for Gus. Alex is accompanied by his daughter, August (or Gus), who is in reality his sister’s daughter whom he has raised together with Mason since she was a baby. The novel features Alex Mills, who has moved back to Garnet Run after a brutal breakup with his partner, Mason.

The Lights of Knockbridge Lane is a holiday romance, much in the spirit of Corbin Wales without the magical realism. This entry into the Garnet Run series does not disappoint. I’ve been a huge fan of Roan Parrish’s books ever since I read The Remaking of Corbin Wales, which really showcases the power of Parrish’s prose and word craft, as well as her ability to write unconventional characters with deep wounds who are nonetheless ready and open to love when it arrives. But when the eye-catching house ends up in the news, Wes has to make a choice: hide from the darkness of his unusual past or embrace the light of a future-and a family-with Adam. Though the little house may not have “the most lights ever,” the Mills home begins to brighten as handsome Wes Mobray spends more time there and slowly sheds his protective layers. After a messy breakup, Adam is doing his best to give his young daughter the life she deserves-including accepting help from their new, reclusive neighbor to fulfill her Christmas wish. Raising a family was always Adam Mills’ dream, although solo parenting and moving back to tiny Garnet Run certainly were not. Can one man’s crowded, messy life fill another man’s empty heart?

Fright Time #3 by Rochelle Larkin