St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets

St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets by Annie England Noblin, 351 pages

In the course of 24 hours, Mae has lost her job, lost her boyfriend, and been mugged. Forced to move in with her parents, she's ready for a good long sulk and pity-party when she learns that her biological mother has died and is leaving everything she owns to the daughter she hasn't seen since birth. With nothing to lose, Mae decides to head to the tiny town of Timber Creek, Washington, and learn a bit about her biological mom and the town where she lived her whole life.

This book is in turns sweet, stark, and funny, peppered with flashbacks to Mae's mother before Mae was born. I enjoyed the characters, and Mae's growth, though everything seemed to happen a bit too quickly to feel real to any degree. But the quirky small-town characters (including Mae's new cat and dog) were enough to make up for it. A quick, engaging read.