Two Weeks at Gay Banana Hot Springs by T. T. Thomas

Title: Two Weeks at Gay Banana Hot Springs
Author: T.T. Thomas
Genre: Lesbian Fiction
URL:  Smashwords / Barnes & Noble
Price: $4.99 - $6.99
Other Information/warnings: None

Summary (from the publisher):  When Margaret Butler (aka "Ret" Butler) receives the rundown Gay Banana Hot Springs Resort & Spa from her rich, redneck father, she feels like she's been given a second chance at life. Her self-induced delusional euphoria is soon shattered by...uh, Daddy, who seems suddenly and mysteriously intent on running her out of business. Because he can? Or, does he have a deep, dark secret reason?

And what does Ret's seemingly clueless mother know? Quite a bit, it turns out! But Ret is preoccupied: She has grand larceny on her mind, pink mischief on her lips and a chance to rendezvous with an old flame, the ever-lovely Wilhelmina White. Ret is not about to let some old geezer with too much money ruin her grand plans for the Gay Banana--even if he is her father. This will end well, right? What could go wrong?

My Review:  I must admit, I am woefully under-read when it comes to lesbian fiction; so this review will not so much be based on specifics of the genre, but upon readability and the enjoyment the story brings.  And on that front, author Thomas excels, delivering a thoroughly entertaining read for the beach or the living room. 


Margaret "Ret" Butler is running the once glorious Gay Banana, a resort just outside of Palm Springs that her father and mother had once made into the social hot-spot. There were glamerous parties held here, with alluring women and classic gentlemen.  Now, its days of being the place to be seen are far behind it, but the resort still manages to eek out a meager existence.  But Ret has a problem.  The deadline her father had given her to turn the resort around is fast approaching and, unless Ret takes some drastic action, ownership of the Gay Banana will revert to him.  And who knows what Daddy will do with this magnificent place that Ret still finds romantic.

But things get complicated.  One of the gentlemen Ret considers going into partnership with is a young genius...a snotty, know-it-all youth who sets her ill at ease with his cockiness and the slightly shady and mysterious business practices that just seems to hover about him.  To make matters worse, Daddy has gone missing and Ret's high-society, no-nonsense mother--convinced he is cheating on her--is plotting his death. But let's not stop there. Enter Billie: the most beautiful and enigmatic woman ever to have visited the Gay Banana during its hey-day who returns after more than a decade just to see Ret.  Will the Gay Banana survive?  Will Mother get her way? Will Daddy turn up or just turn up dead?  And what about the alluring Billie?  Believe it or not, it all comes together in the end.  But you'll have to read it to find out how.

In this debut novel, Ret is our narrator and Thomas imbues her with a wonderful voice: a little bit edgy, a little bit lost romantic.  The style is a bit stream of conscious which only adds to the charm of Ret's character and adds much of the humor.  Ret ping-pongs a bit between the unraveling--and at times overwhelming--developments in her life. She's pulled in all directions by a demanding (and funny as hell) mother, a concerned staff, and two potential business partners.  And when Billie enters the scene, there is a wonderful romance between the two that is believable and charming, and which helps to create the romance and glamour of the bygone days of the Gay Banana.  We see why the old place is so important to Ret and why she wants so desperately to save it.

The prose reads swiftly and easily and I found myself smiling through most of it and enjoying the various red-herrings that Thomas throws out in the story.  Now, it's not the perfect novel:  I would like to have seen some of those red herrings played out and I longed to see a bit more of the past (and present) relationship between Ret and Billie, but in the end, this novel charmed me to no end.  It's a wonderfully fun novel, a breezy read with a little romance, a smidge of mystery and an infectious spirit.