Single woman inherits house in picturesque setting. Also, meets a guy.

A Hallmark movie expert whom I know well says they all launch just like Tabitha King’s novel, Pearl. If only I watched Hallmark, I’d know these things. As it is, I catch snippets of the fall-in-love sagas as I pass through my house, distributing the mail or hunting for candy.

The thing about our main character, Pearl, is that it’s two guys. (Or is that another Hallmark convention?)

Anyway, a reader can easily get drawn in as soon as Pearl drives into this state-of-Maine village and sees:

“The skyward folding of the land into the White Mountains as a sudden revelation. . . . The lake is a wedge of sapphire in the middle ground, . . . A blue tear in all that rooted rock and green hallelujah of trees.”

Did that suck you in like it did me? Uh-huh.

Not every page is so poetic, but King delivers up some compelling characters whose dreams and grudges fill up a satisfying plot. More than once, I wished I could ignore my bedtime and read on into the night.

Anyway, Pearl inherits a house from an uncle she never met (and Pearl’s uncles, mom, dad and rest make for a meaty side story). She gets to know him as she sorts through his book shelves. It seems Uncle preferred trashy paperbacks.

But I digress.

Pretty soon, the reader settles in with Pearl and eavesdrops on the banter at the town diner. There are villains, both the storm-off-in-an-oil-burning-truck kind and the high-heels-clicking-down-the-sidewalk kind. There are drunks and ex-wives and horse people and summer people. Don’t let me forget to mention the nuisance dog.

And of course, I flipped these pages, waiting for the scene when Pearl’s two guys find out about each other. When will Pearl make up her mind? Or will a duel make it up for her?

As for cow patties, the sex in this story is frequent, but understated. King hurries along, saying little between “His hand grazed her shoulder . . . “ and “when they had finished . . .”

We know the finale’s near when King’s scenes that snap and flash by, some of them without filling even a page. In fact, the plot twists here resemble a TV-show shopping spree. Spend $500 in 3 minutes! Some truly strange items end up in her cart, but I shouldn’t talk. I spent writing time this week hacking through the overpacked wind-up scenes in my own novel-in-progress.

Overall, Pearl, even with some story bits that strain credibility, is a fun read.