A budding love story set in a simple ice cream parlor--owned by fairies.
Ice cream store owner Georgiana Bennet lost her sense of taste in an accident. When she travels to Lake Okoboji, Iowa, to reconnect with a happier time in her life, she meets Michal, the handsome co-owner of the Lucky Star Ice Cream Bar, and his three eccentric partners. The women weave their way into Georgiana's world as she finds herself spending long days in the sun with Michal and warm evenings under the stars. But the day she sees fairy wings on her new female friends changes her forever.
The fairies manipulate Georgiana's life, including her love life, until she makes a decision that complicates everything.
A budding love story set in a simple ice cream parlor--owned by fairies.
Ice cream store owner Georgiana Bennet lost her sense of taste in an accident. When she travels to Lake Okoboji, Iowa, to reconnect with a happier time in her life, she meets Michal, the handsome co-owner of the Lucky Star Ice Cream Bar, and his three eccentric partners. The women weave their way into Georgiana's world as she finds herself spending long days in the sun with Michal and warm evenings under the stars. But the day she sees fairy wings on her new female friends changes her forever.
The fairies manipulate Georgiana's life, including her love life, until she makes a decision that complicates everything.
Chapter One
Georgiana Bennet knew for a fact that every successful and happy city was in need of an ice cream shop. Sheād done the research and the math, and sheād done them properly, which was the only way she knew to do anything.
Thus, her Bennetās Creamery, in a prime location next to Amazān Steamboat Family Fun Park in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, was a successful cog in the community machinery. It had wide-ranging loyalties as a small business. If only it werenāt in serious danger of becoming boring.
She was far from her beloved ice cream parlor when she parked her car and turned off the navigation system. Gone were the views of snow-capped mountains and her favorite ski run, Heavenly Daze. Instead, she gazed past the narrow condo sheād rented online to the summery blue shimmer of Lake Okoboji, Iowa. The lake looked far too serene to hold the magic that sheād attached to it when sheād been young. But it was her last hope. If the lake didnāt provide a miracle this week, her creamery was history. She couldnāt run it without a sense of taste or smell. She couldnāt run it if she couldnāt distinguish lemon from pineapple or sweet from sour. Fair or not, the lake needed to take this seriously.
Speaking of the lake, Georgiana lifted her sunglasses to peer at the far shore, but dropped them back into place at the glare. What if she damaged her eyesight from harsh UV exposure? She only had three senses left, after all, which meant being overcautious was a luxury beyond her means.
The alarm on her watch chimed, and Georgiana reached for the bag of candy. The idea to try flavored candy to gauge her sense of taste had struck in the early hours of her long drive. What flavor was next? Cinnamon? She scanned her chart. Cinnamon it was. With a practiced hand, she wrote the time and opened the piece of candy. She closed her eyes in concentration as she rolled it around her mouth, feeling it click against her teeth. Her reflex system worked wonderfully, praise be, by producing saliva on cue. Finally, she held the candy still with her tongue and breathed deeply through her nose, but not a nuance of scent settled there.
Opening her eyes, she plucked the candy out and stuck out her tongue to the vanity mirror. Yes, it was the expected red. The package had boasted the hottest of hot cinnamon, guaranteed to make oneās eyes water. Everyoneās, it seemed, except hers.
She closed the mirror and snapped the sun visor back into place. The doctors werenāt sure what would bring her senses back. By process of elimination, she now knew it wouldnāt be cinnamon. Might as well have been fluff for all the flavor it held. The familiar disappointment surged through her. Hour after hour, day after day, month after month it had pitted itself against her optimistic nature. It was winning. She groaned and slowly leaned forward, thumping her forehead against the steering wheel with quiet, efficient, and satisfying thuds.
Someone knocked on her window, and she nearly dropped the wet candy. āGeorgiana Bennet?ā a man asked through the glass.
He appeared to be in his late twenties. His University of Okoboji t-shirt looked comfortably faded, but his face was creased with concern. Must be her landlord. She hadnāt expected him to be her age. The pain on her forehead was merely an echo of the loss that tormented her, but she pasted on a smile and opened her door.
āAre you Meehow?ā She stood, holding out her right hand while dropping the sticky candy behind her with the other. āIām Georgiana, your renter for the week.ā
His gaze shifted from her forehead to her eyes. āItās Michal.ā He took her hand and held it. āYou mustāve talked to my grandmother. She uses the old-world pronunciation.ā
Georgiana was taken by surprise at the warmth that ran from his hand up her arm. She wondered briefly, as she gazed up at him, which old world he referred to, but decided it must be an Eastern European area. He thoroughly looked the part of a romantic artist.
āHow was your drive from Colorado?ā he asked.
His eyes were blue, and his hand was big around hers. The heat rolled over her clavicle and down across her chest to her belly. She tugged free and fought the urge to cross her arms.
āLong. I-80 got me halfway through Nebraska, then all those stairstep turns, finally headed north at Sioux City.ā With a quick breath, she bent to retrieve her rental agreement from the passenger seat. āHere you are. Iām sure everythingās in order.ā
A smile tipped the corners of his lips. āThatās not necessary. Iāve got the electronic copy.ā He held up a set of keys on a floatable key ring. āLet me show you around.ā
For all that he moved and spoke with leisurely grace, the tour didnāt take long. One bedroom and one bathroom up narrow stairs. The kitchen and living room open on the main floor. Georgiana listened intently to the directions for the appliances and the thermostat although her gaze wandered repeatedly to the large picture window framing the lake.
Michal followed her gaze the tenth time it strayed. He straightened, closing the oven door. āYou seem anxious to be out on the water. Wanna see your ride?ā
She tried to contain her excitement, really just tried to act her age. Not that twenty-seven was that old in years. But she didnāt think sheād ever been a young person. This quest to relive her first taste of a Gnutty Bar, the origin of her fascination with ice cream, had driven her for days. She was giddy with wide-eyed eagerness as she locked the back door and followed him across the lawn to the lake. The sun was warm and energizing. She wanted to fling out her arms and let her troubles slip off like an unwanted sweater.
āI canāt get over how blue the lake is,ā she said.
āItās a beauty, isnāt it?ā He smiled over his shoulder. āItās a glacier lake. Deepest natural lake in Iowa.ā
The narrow dock creaked and rocked under their steps. He stopped at the small fishing boat bobbing gently. She smiled her approval. It looked perfectly quaint and vintage. She was gazing at it with something akin to maternal pride when her watch alarm startled her.
Michal raised his eyebrows. āIs this a bad time?ā
āItās an old alarm. I donāt need it anymore.ā She shut it off and glanced longingly at the boat.
Humor lit his gaze. āIt looks like youāre ready for these.ā He held out the key chain. āThe big key works the condoās front or back door. The small key is for the boat.ā
She took the offered key chain but hesitated.
āClimb onboard, and Iāll show you how to run it.ā Michal kicked off his flip flops, tossing them into the boat. āThen you can go.ā
The use of a boat had been a large part of the appeal of this rental and the sooner she knew how to get around, the quicker sheād begin her real work of trying to save her shop. But it occurred to her that a Gnutty Bar wasnāt all she needed. She glanced across the water to the far side of the lake. For one thing, where was Arnoldās Park from here?
Michal covered his uncertainty with a polite smile when she stayed on the dock.
She cleared her throat. āCould I bother you to take a ride with me?ā
He glanced toward the house where the corner of his truck was visible. āWell, Iāā
āI promise it wonāt take long,ā she said. āIf you could show me how to get to Arnoldās Park, Iād really appreciate it.ā
He blinked. His right hand covered the watch on his left wrist as if he were calculating something. āOkay,ā he said slowly. āI could do that.ā
Giving him her best smile, she scrambled into the boat and started to sit in the passenger seat, but he gestured to the captainās chair. The boat rocked as they changed places. He showed her how to clear the gasoline fumes and start the engine, then untied them from the dock and took a seat.
His voice was low and calm as he directed her away from the dock. She glanced over to see if his hands were clenched in a death grip, but he looked relaxed. Once they were on the open water, she gave the little boat the gas. They skimmed over the surface. Michalās hair blew in the wind, and his arm glistened with spray where it rested on the edge. She thought he looked like livinā-on-lake-time in the flesh.
āYou seem to know what youāre doing. Have you driven a boat before?ā he asked.
āIāve driven a lot of snowmobiles. Same concept, right?ā
Under his direction, the park grew larger and larger. She could see the Ferris wheel and the vintage roller coaster.
āThereās a no wake zone ahead,ā Michal said over the whine of the engine.
It almost hurt to slow down now that they were close, but she pulled back the throttle and idled across the last yards to the dock. She slid into the boat slip without bumping the wood, and Michalās eyebrows rose. He hopped out and tied them off.
Georgiana didnāt notice. She was lost in the sounds of the park. It looked the same as it had years ago when her parents had brought her here for the week thatād changed her lifeāwhen an ice cream bar had changed her life. But the sounds made it all real. Laughter swelled with the slide and swoosh of metal roller coaster wheels. The slap of water against the dock behind her echoed the squeals of children and above it all rose the strains of music. The only things missing were the smellsĀ and taste. But that was why she was here after all.
Michal tilted his head and offered his hand to help her from the boat. āHave you been here before?ā
āOh. Yes.ā She beamed up at him. āAnd I want ice cream. My treat.ā
A Neapolitan Fairy Tale at Lake OkobojiĀ gives us the determined and responsible Georgiana, a dreamer intent on reaching her goals. Her adventure provides a cozy and mystical read, full of delightful and vivid depictions of beloved experiences: magnetic love at first sight, adrenaline-inducing horror screenings, refreshing activities in the sun and on the lake, and delicious ice cream. This is the perfect book to escape into just for the afternoon, as it is a quick read.
Paula Bengeās charming āfairy taleā surprised me with its satisfying simplicity. Though a predictable story, her descriptions of a magical lake in Iowa and unique ice cream combinations delight. Benge manages to meld the whimsy of an ice cream shop, the wonder of new but fast love, and true magical elements flawlessly, creating a sense of magic in the ordinary and vice versa. Her heroine had clearly set ideals, goals, and traits, resulting in a romance full of chemistry and true tension in the conflict. Overall, Bengeās writing proves she understands the power of a simple storyline and great description.Ā
There are a few areas Benge can improve in, however. The development was still lacking, though she did a remarkable job with it in the short space of the book. I will say itās far more important to err on the side of caution so as not to drag something out too far, but the reflection of the authorās talent in the story practically demanded more. Georgiana and her love interest, Michal, couldāve done with more time for their backstories, including her accident, the loss of their parents respectfully, and some longer flashbacks to her earlier experience at the lake. The fairy concept also felt a bit thrown in, though it was heavily featured and foreshadowed. I preferred Bengeās effort to not make it the focus but felt her method needed a little work.Ā
A hidden gem by a naturally talented writer, Iād recommend this to āchick litā fans.Ā