In The Bride of Willow Creek, Maggie Osborne delivers a less emotionally intense than usual, yet still enjoyable read, with a pleasantly unusual premise.

Angie Bertoli arrives in Willow Creek, Colorado, with one objective in mind; to divorce Sam Holland, her husband of ten years. Neither has seen the other since Angie's domineering father ordered Sam out of her life immediately after the wedding, and it's time to end things legally.

When Angie finds that Sam has no funds to obtain the divorce, she decks him in front of everyone at the train station, but the biggest blow is still to come, in the form of Sam's two young daughters. Lucy and Daisy are the children of Sam's now deceased love, Laura, whom the town believed was his wife. Angie's father is dead, and she has nowhere else to go, so Sam proposes that she live with them until they can save for the divorce.

From there, obstacles abound. Sam's money comes hard. As a contractor, his projects are continually sabotaged, and what little money he can earn must go to pay for surgery to correct Daisy's clubfoot. Both girls are resistant to Angie's presence, and ten years of pride and misunderstanding keep Sam and Angie apart. When Laura's parents scheme to take the girls away from Sam, Angie fights to preserve her impromptu family.

The tension between Sam and Angie is palpable, though more in depth coverage of their early relationship in Chicago would have given a better grip on both characters. Ms. Osborne weaves a deft tale of real people with real emotions, and a heartwarming Cinderella ending. The epilogue, set twenty years after the events of the novel may leave readers eager for a glimpse of the girls' lives as adults.