People, people, people: this quirky novel with a touch of magic transported me out of a dark moment into a world of laughter and pure escapism. I loved it.

The story pulses with unique character voices. Consider the opening paragraph:

“The Reverend Gershom Sadler had been dead more than half Callie’s life, though they still argued from time to time. There was a certain ugly allure to it, like staring at a splattered armadillo receding in the rearview mirror. Thus, Callie visited him out in the barn now and then, never to pick the fight, but always willing to stand her ground. Most days she brought a snack.”

Callie, our badass heroine, is the owner of a shabby amusement park—more of a carnival—in a dying Texas town. She’s survived several of life’s hard knocks and has a strong disdain for organized religion, thanks to her adoptive but now dead father (see above).  Her estranged daughter’s career path—Sophie, ran away to become a mega-successful televangelist—doesn’t help.

Callie has learned to protect her heart, even from Toribo, who has been by her side since he delivered Sophie in the back of a pickup truck. An immigrant famous for his hamburgers, he’s devoted to Callie. He rolls with her more unusual decisions that include coming home from a local auction with an infamous, celebrity bull.

Everything changes when a county commissioner realizes Callie’s land holds the potential to earn him a place in history, and he ropes in Sophie as an ally. All they have to do is get Callie and Toribo, and everyone else who lives there, off the land.

Once Sophie returns home, nothing goes as planned. Part of this disruption is Beefo the bull. A former mascot for a college football team, Beefo might have a bad-boy reputation, but he and Callie have mutual respect. Plus, he rather enjoys retirement on her land, where he can get ‘snot-slinging drunk’ on beer infused alfalfa pellets that local ranchers refuse to feed their cattle.

But can Callie, Toribo, and Sophie make peace with the past? Can they grab their second chance—with a little help from Beefo and an angelic being who pops up when needed to sprinkle wisdom and hope?