I originally picked up Sparks Fly with Mr. Mayor because the pseudo-political theme caught my eye. The hero and heroine are on opposing sides of a mayoral race, though it’s not a Republican/Democrat show down; they square off on whether endowment funds should pay for a museum or a sports complex. The whole town gets involved, and the ladies even start using sex as a weapon, so to speak. It’s an interesting idea, but unfortunately the book gets a bit bogged down with additional plot elements.

Dani Collins moves to Paradise Pines (a small southern California town) with her young daughter after her police officer husband is killed protecting someone in a convenience store. Her close childhood friend Samantha was already there, and since Dani has no family, living near Samantha is the next best thing. She opens a beauty salon, which soon becomes a gathering place for the women in the community.

Cole Sullivan is a popular landscaper who somehow found himself serving as the town’s mayor. He’s always been a charming love ‘em and leave ‘em type, and he has no immediate plans for a serious relationship. He’s also Dani’s friend Samantha’s brother-in-law, so he occasionally spends time with Dani’s daughter Faith when she’s at Samantha’s home playing with his nephews. He and Dani have words when he jokingly asks Faith to marry him; in a cute scene, Dani confronts him about his behavior, and he assumes she is about to tell him she’d like to date him, so he heads her off at the pass, telling her she’s attractive but he’s not interested. (Authors should take note: this is funny-arrogant, which is very different from jerk-arrogant.)

A few things happen simultaneously when Dani is more or less drafted to oppose Cole in the mayoral race, and the two are also asked to serve as godparents for Samantha’s son. They find themselves working together – and of course falling in love.

The opposing candidate premise that drew me to the book in the first place was the bright spot of the book. It offers a strong conflict, one that’s different from most others you see out there. Though the neutral nature of the issue and lack of party affiliation may be a little unrealistic, it’s also virtually guaranteed not to offend anyone, be they die-hard tea partiers or unabashed liberals. The battle of the sexes sweeps up the little town, and it’s fun – albeit in a quaint, Little House on the Prairie way (ten points for anyone who knows which episode I’m talking about).

But the problem with this book is that the election isn’t the only issue, or even the main one. Much of the book concentrates on Dani’s issues of fear and abandonment that stem from her husband’s death. It’s a big topic for such a short book, and though her issues are understandable, they took up too much space for my liking. With less than 200 pages to work with, one major conflict is plenty. I ended the book feeling that the author bit off more than she could chew.

Still, Sparks Fly with Mr. Mayor starts with an interesting idea, which is more than you can say for a lot of novels. Though the execution makes this one just an average read, I wouldn’t be adverse to trying another one by Teresa Carpenter.