A sweet, slow burn, small town romance.
Plot: Sage was born and raised in Spunes, Oregon, and self appointed small town ambassador. History teacher by day, hobby florist and animal rescuer by night, Sage has a small life that she loves dearly, even if her lack of ambition is was ended her last relationship to town golden-boy Ian Somethingorother. The ambassador is then challenged by the arrival of a new, short term resident – Fisher Lang, disgraced Michelin star chef and first rate loather of small towns. This is not your cookie-cutter small town romance though, Fisher’s hatred of small towns is earned. He grew up in one and knew first hand how prejudiced and hateful small town folk can be, and wants nothing in this world as much as he wants to protect his orphaned niece from the lonely childhood he had before he escaped to New York. But he also has a bit of an anger problem, so he’s been sentenced to 3 months in a small town to build a menu for his backer’s new restaurant as penance for cussing off a restaurant critic on video. He hates this place on principal, but he needs the town’s people on his side to get the restaurant off the ground. Fortunately, Sage is happy to step in and help. Shenanigans ensue.
This story is sweet as hell. Stakes are relatively low, characters behave reasonably (if not always thoughtfully), and communicate their needs and desires well. There isn’t the same “big cities are bad” narrative that tends to infest much of this sub-genre, nor is there a “small towns are inherently good” counter narrative. This makes it a lot easier, at least for a small town hater such as myself, to enjoy the story of this highly implausible town full of (mostly) friendly, open minded people and wholesome activities that don’t seem to struggle with funding despite the town’s dwindling tax base and business development. It’s basically Stars Hollow (with a much lower walkability score).
All that is secondary to the true love story at the heart of this book. A love story for the ages. A love story between a heartbroken teenaged girl named Indy, and her neighbour, Gary the (literal) Goose.
It’s funny, it’s sweet, it’s sexy, and it’s all about finding the courage to do hard things – like admitting to yourself that you want something you don’t think you should. Whether it is a slow paced life, a new career, or the love of a good goose.
Audio is excellent. Strongly recommend.