Donna Smith

Two MC who are definitely autism-coded and whose special interest is...wait for it...trains. Huh. Is it too on the nose on purpose like a kind of post-ironic, like, "I can be passionate about trains and count by prime numbers when I'm stressed because that's who I am, regardless if I fit into all the stereotypes you have!"? I kept trying to decide if the non-autistic author did or did not have autistic friends/family in her life.

Probably I should have just taken it on it's merits as a sweet romance where a community of quirky people and comedic events push together two (+ kid) well-intentioned people. And defeat an evil property developer. (Again: too on the nose? or post-ironic?) I liked that all the core relationships *were* sweet and supportive. I didn't feel buckets of realism sluicing off any situation or relationship here, but it was sweet and I read the whole thing to the denouement. Which--spoilers!--takes place with a special train.