This was an engaging read which was a good thing because I kind of hated dealing with the first third of it; everyone and the whole punny town farce annoyed me. But I really loved Brooks and Mal, and they had a great journey to get to their HEA. By the end I felt a bit better about the others and the town, but I adored these two together so it all evened out. ( )

It cracked me up, and it made me cry.
I am a small towns resident, one in Idaho, one in California, one in Montana, and two here in Florida. As a result I generally dislike the resented-small town trope, and am happy with versions where the MC rediscovers love for theirs. This is the latter. Plus, this small town not only has a ridiculous name (which is explained eventually), but the first half or more of this book is very cleverly chock-FULL of puns, word-play and double entendre on that name. It had me snickering, wincing, and LOLing in delight. It works well because our home boy is a great character, and his love interest is a smart-ass.

Things settle down a bit when the romance heats up, and thereafter it becomes more your well-done small-town life-changing romance. The supporting cast felt real, the angst felt real, the not-talking was organic... This one really worked for me, all the way to the last line of the Epilogue. I really hope the hints that there will be more stories set in this town comes true.

The one flaw is the advertising firm owner's attitude. I winced, but I could ignore it.

EDIT: I read a 1-star review by a gay man claiming no gay would put up with what Brooks did. Okay, fair enough as opinions go, although claiming you can speak for your entire demographic is...certainly an opinion. I doubt that reviewer grew up in a small but positive Southern town. IMHO, the authors got the problematic affections right, and the guilt, and the upbringing which is specifically Southern small town of the good sort, rather than the one Mal is from, which is poisonous.

I read another one of fewer-stars that had trouble with liking Ava, and I... That was the point? At first? Sometimes I wonder how people get through life if these stories confound them. LOL ( )

I picked this up because I've previously really liked Archer's small town settings in romance and this sounded like a quick and entertaining read. And it was exactly that. What I didn't expect was how many times I laughed out loud! The humor was definitely the best thing about this, in addition to the small town vibes and the cute cast of characters. The plot was pretty underwhelming and the eventual conflict felt a little forced, but I did still like this. Also, Paul was such a refreshing character. We should get more soft, asthmatic, four eyed men who get the girl. ( )

Ridiculously funny

This is ridiculously funny and loaded with all kinds of double entendres. I love the insane premise and just laughed myself through this. ( )