Father's Day Shenanigans

 by Pamela Moran from the June 21, 2021 issue

Tagline: When Beth Abbott finds herself caught in a matchmaking scheme with the handsome Grant Davis, she never expects it'll lead her to love.

Observations: I wanted to point out that, although there is the traditional three-act structure here, the first act is almost half the story! I haven't collected any hard data, but usually the second act is the longest. However, there was a lot to establish in this story. We meet the precocious Katie (matchmaker #1). We see that Beth is strongly attracted to Grant and vice versa. We discover that Beth's father is complicit. And just at the end of act one, we get the info about the Father's Day brunch the next day.

Act two is the shortest. In it, all four characters meet and agree to have brunch together. (By coincidence? It's unclear. Maybe Katie and Beth's dad were more diabolical than they appeared.)

The third act just cements Beth and Grant's connection as Grant asks Beth out to dinner. There's a marvelous exchange--the whole story is, really--where we see the characters' amusement over the matchmaker's shenanigans, emphasizing the story's title.

Favorite line: Me, out in the wild at the hardware store was certainly not my finest look.