The Mandolin Lunch

Two timid school teachers find love in this cozy lesbian contemporary from Vaun (The Sea Within). Garet Allen moves from Atlanta to the small town of Shadetree, Ga., to fill in for the high school art teacher while she’s away on maternity leave. The short-term gig offers freewheeling Garet a stable income without forcing her to put down roots and frees her up to work on her picture book project at night. On her first day in town, she meets Tess Hill when Tess tries to sell her a dulcimer at the local guitar shop. Though Garet is too shy to make a move, she’s instantly attracted to Tess and hopes they’ll meet again—only to discover that Tess is the music teacher who shares her classroom. Though Garet’s happy-go-lucky lifestyle may prove incompatible with Tess’s life as a single mother, their romance is largely conflict-free as they bond while working on the school play. Vaun ramps up the drama for an eventful finale, but the conflict feels contrived after the sweetness of the buildup. The result is a touching, if muddled, romance. (Jan.)