Status Updates From The Bent Twig

We've reached the stage where a bunch of IMHO ill-matched people are in love for no good reason, all the male side of whom either are or have been in love with our irritating heroine since they first saw her.

There was a nice wildland fire, though, so I'm still sticking to the book in hope the author will burn down something else.

A few good bits, but it's getting progressively less interesting. Can any of our shallow supporting characters display hidden depths? Can some of our deep and authorially approved ones have a temper tantrum over burnt soup?