When Fools opens, Dunn is still questioning and confused. So the town goes back to waiting and hoping these two fools will see what’s right in front of them. Half the town witnesses the kiss and holds their breath, hoping that this is it, that Dunn and Tucker have finally realized they belong together romantically. In one of the most hysterical and simultaneously heartbreaking scenes in Book 2, Liars, Dunn swoops in and full-on kisses Tucker at the Lickin’ Festival in what becomes a new Lickin’ Festival tradition (“Joyous Pickin’ Tidings”). He’s just very “confused” about these thoughts he keeps having about his best best friend. He doesn’t realize he’s doing that at first, though. Things begin to go sideways when Dunn starts to question his sexuality. What else could it be? After all, Dunn is straight and Tucker is gay and never the twain shall meet … right? But they dismiss it as how best best friends feel about each other. And yes, Dunn and Tucker do realize how much they care about each other. These two have an obvious affection and dedication to each other that is unrivalled. Tucker is the town doctor and longtime “best best friend” of Dunn. Oblivious Dunn, dedicated dairy farmer with a heart of gold and a penchant for pet pigs, is the brother of Brooks from Fakers, Book 1. Well, that is unless you’re Dunn Johnson and Tucker Wright, who have managed to keep their love for each other a secret from absolutely no one in this town, except each other. You can’t keep a secret in a place like this.

We’ve seen in the prior two books, Fakers and Liars, that Licking Thicket is full of interfering, albeit well-meaning, townsfolk. It also honors unique traditions like symbolic eating of tater tots to declare you’re in a serious relationship, and the Entwinin’ Festival where you twist wisteria vines into mementos for your loved ones. It hosts the craziest town events, mostly bovine inspired.

Licking Thicket is “quirky” … yeah let’s go with that. What’s a 6-letter word for a nerdy, crossword-loving town doctor who’s doomed to be hopelessly, thoroughly, irrevocably, in love with that straight best friend for the rest of his born days?īut when I agree to let Dunn be my 24/7 dating coach, and he decides to get our whole nosy town in on the act, there’s only one 5-letter word to describe the pair of us.įools is the third book in the excellent Licking Thicket series by Lucy Lennox and May Archer, aptly named after the small town of Licking Thicket, Tennessee where these series books are set.

That’d be D-U-N-N, as in Dunn Johnson, my very best pal and fishing buddy since I moved to Licking Thicket. What’s a 4-letter word for an utterly oblivious, totally commitment-phobic, heartbreakingly gorgeous man with a pet pig named Bernadette?

Fools by Lucy Lennox