In my mind all I could picture is a broken down Iowa town of Gilmore Girls. This is about a small town that is slowly dying, until the Swedish "tourist", Sara, comes to meet her pen pal Anne of many years. Unfortunately, Anne has passed away and now Sara has two months on her visa. Using the books in Anne's house, she opens a book store that seems to revive the little town of Broken Wheel, including Anne's nephew, Tom.
I have to say, this is a somewhat slow book (but so is Broken Wheel), with quippy characters who aren't completely unique from any small town book. But it still had so many elements that I really enjoyed. I loved that there were other books often mentioned (there is a list at the end of the book to those of us who want another list to venture into). I also, as a librarian, thought there were some cute things Sara did in her bookstore that I would like to do in the library (so more of a professional development thing for me). And of course, I love small town stories. There is something about everyone surviving together, supporting each other despite the squabbles, in a small town.
I can't say this is a book everyone would enjoy. The pacing is fairly slow, and the characters aren't altogether ones that I was either rooting for or not, but the ending was good. It's like a food that isn't all that great at first, but the aftertaste gives you a completely different opinion of the food, maybe like one of the different flavored Oreos. Just sayin'...