The Only Game in Town | Lacie Waldon

"when two people were equally determined to protect each other, it didn't matter how often they spoke; some things often went undiscussed."

        This is a story of a small town that is finding its way and the quirky cast of characters who inhabit it, with just a dash of romance. Redford, Georgia never changes, but suddenly finds itself in an uproar when Jasper, the beloved but eccentric and wealthy benefactor, passes away.

        As a surprise, it is revealed at Jasper's funeral that he has devised an elaborate scavenger-type game for the town and that the winners will get to split the 10 million dollar prize. He has also made up the teams in advance - everyone is paired up and it soon very obvious that he had a ulterior motive because all the couples have some friction between them. Each team consists of a pair that have clashed in the past but must now set their differences aside in order to claim the prize.

        Jasper's grandson, Carter, arrives to town to his funeral and is soon pulled into the game, along with everyone else. He never expected to spend the summer in the town he heard so much about, but this  had to change. What was also surprising to him was the reception he got from the townspeople - they were all very suspicions of him and don't really treat him well. 

        Our other protagonist is Jess, a local book editor, who is kept homebound by the town's charm and the fact that is remains the same, with no changes at all. She is content with her job and taking care of her single father after her mother left them. She is paired up with Nikki, her high school friend turned nemesis - after she "stole" her then boyfriend. There's also a romance involving Nikki and Jess' dad.

        The game portion of the novel dragged on and on and the characters were pretty immature about the whole thing. There were petty pranks and hijinks, and I was especially annoyed by Jess' childlike behavior that took me out of the story when it was exhibited. Another con was the number of characters and plots to keep track of, and the story was told through multiple points of view - this meant I just couldn't get into any of the character's stories nor really care about them. The book struggled to cover too much ground and reading it felt like constantly being pulled in different directions.

        I don't think I'll be reading anything else by this author, since neither the vibe nor the writing were to my taste, though I was obviously intrigued by the synopsis. It was simply badly executed and I never got to care about the story much.