Desire and Dawn — Natalie King

After a serious argument with her father over her romance with a young man whom he disapproved, Dawn Lister left home and the small town of Weber to seek a new life unshackled by parental interference. She hoped to be reunited with Gary Prince, the composer of songs who was the cause of her grief with her family, in the large, cosmopolitan city nearby.

But Gary proved to be exactly what Dawn's father had said he was -- an irresponsible drifter who took no longer than the brief time he was separated from Dawn to find himself a new girl friend who subsequently became his wife. Dawn's bitterness was two-edged when she learned of Gary's perfidy: her love for him had obviously meant little, and now more than ever she felt that to return home would be an impossibility.

A chance meeting with Lauretta Daley, a friendly neighborhood librarian, took Dawn out of her part-time job as a drive-in waitress and into the hectic atmosphere of a doctor's office. As receptionist for Dr. Parkhurst, Dawn came in contact with many people -- not the least of whom was John Maxwell, an easygoing dentist who worked in the same building.

Dawn's budding friendship with John and her volunteer work as reader of books to the elderly provided her with many pleasurable moments, but until her relationship with her family was reconciled, Dawn knew that she could not achieve her full measure of happiness.