Book Review for 10.13.24: Love at Sunset Lake

 Title: Love at Sunset Lake

Author: Sally Bayless

Quote: "Leticia had me...put the house in trust for you...I believe she hoped you might move your business to this area."

When Tess inherits Aunt Leticia's big house by the lake, everyone thinks the sensible thing to do is to sell it and put the money into her business in St. Louis. 

So Tess entrusts the sale to Stacey, the first realtor she finds, unaware of the back-story. This is Stacey's very first real estate job. Stacey married too young and. under the stress of problems in the marriage, she publicly announced not only the thought that the town of Abundance was "inbred" but a Top Ten List of the people most likely to have only two grandparents. So she does not have a lot of local supporters and is eager to sell a house fast, for a lot of money. A developer who wants to put a hideous yuppie hotel on the lake will pay more than anyone who wants Aunt Leticia's house for a home.

Jack, the wildlife painter who shared the lake with Leticia, does not want new neighbors. One thing he liked about the old lady was that she never said he'd be perfect for her single niece. One evening he joked with his Cousin Earl Ray about scaring off prospective buyers. Earl Ray, still a clown at heart, noted the quantities of duck guano on Jack's dock and chortled about building a catapult to lob water balloons full of duck droppings across the lake. 

Then Jack finally meets the niece Leticia never pushed at him, and does like her. But they don't tell each other everything. Tess hasn't even spent enough time in Abundance to know Earl Ray.

So, when the developer insists on a price that even Tess knows is too low, and a good old local boy comes to see the house as a potential home, and Earl Ray finds Jack not at home...Earl Ray happens to be Stacey's ex. He misses her. If he had any idea that she was the one showing the house, much less that it was to someone Jack might be able to tolerate as a neighbor, he wouldn't sabotage her effort. But he's always been fascinated by catapults and he just happens to have built a "Duck Poop Launcher"...

Meanwhile, Tess is realizing that she's keeping her business in St. Louis mostly so that her employee will have a steady job, and her employee quits. Meanwhile, a friend of a friend is offering the perfect opportunity for her to move her business to Abundance.

The comedic near-misses keep going on. I laughed out loud while reading this romance. Before the story's over, Jack, Tess, Stacey, and Earl Ray all think they've lost everything, but they pray and reflect on Bible verses, and think of a few alternative plans before reaching the happiest ending that this plot could possibly have. No points for guessing that two weddings lie ahead.