REVIEW: Don't Clause a Scene by Lee Blair (Love in Maplewood#10)

DON’T CLAUSE A SCENE

Love in Maplewood - Book Ten

by Lee Blair

Release Date: July 18, 2025

Review

Ten books, and I’m still sad that Love in Maplewood is over. Such a wonderful town with an over-the-top love of festivals and maple syrup.

Lee Blair ends the series with a truly heartwarming story about the two youngest members of the town's most infamous rival families. Red’s and Sparky’s Diners were born of a falling out between two best friends that have led to most of the town folks picking a side like it’s a baseball team.

Mickey and Amos don’t know each other well, thanks to the feud. But all that changes when they start working together to organize a holiday meal for the whole town.

They are both at a bit of a crossroads in life and are feeling defined by their family legacies. Finding someone who doesn’t just understand it but has lived through it is something they never knew they needed. And it’s sweet. Supporting one another while falling in love, and in turn bringing some light and peace to the town. Perfect.

But I do need to have some words with both of their families!! *giving them my best look of disappointment and disapproval*

I’m secretly hoping there might be a season 2 for this cute town.

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Synopsis

The world expects us to hate each other, but fate has other plans.

As a member of a Maplewood founding family, I’ve always known what I’m supposed to do with my life:

Take over Red’s, the diner that’s been in my family for generations.
Support the community, which usually means helping out with the town’s almost-monthly festivals.
Hate everything about, and everyone involved with, Sparky’s Diner.

For the most part, it’s been an easy destiny to fulfill, even if sometimes I wish for something else. Something more. Maybe that’s why I take a chance on Halloween with a costumed guy who shouldn’t look so good in a mullet wig.

I’m stunned when his costume comes off and I see the one man I can’t have anything to do with. The man who’s temporarily back in town and working at his family’s diner. The man I can’t get off my mind.

No worries. It’ll be easy to avoid Amos—I’ve been doing it my entire life. Except Amos and I are voluntold to plan an event for the big Christmas festival. Together.

When others on the planning committee say we couldn’t possibly pull it off, we decide to prove them wrong. It turns out stubbornness is just the beginning of a long list of things we have in common.

The more time we spend together, the more I realize my life is sweeter with Amos in it. I begin to wonder how deep this rivalry goes, how long Amos plans to stay in Maplewood, and what matters more: my destiny or my freedom.

Don’t Clause a Scene is a low-angst, small-town story about an introvert and extrovert finding a groove, secrets—so many secrets—and a well-meaning town that cares maybe a little too much.

With the highest percentage of LGBTQIA+ residents in Vermont, Maplewood is a town where everyone belongs. And with festivals year round, there’s always something fun happening! This multi-author, low-angst queer series features ten standalone romances—each set against the backdrop of a different festival. Come for the celebrations, stay for the happily-ever-afters!

About Lee Blair

Lee Blair is a queer author from Oregon who writes low angst, funny, M/M contemporary romance. She's constantly amused by the antics of her two ginger cats, considers daydreaming about future trips to Scotland a part-time job, and is obsessed with Schitt's Creek to an alarming degree.

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