Taming The Beastly MD

 Title: Taming The Beastly MD

Author: Elizabeth Bevarly

Paperback (at this time only eBook is available)

Pages: 177

Publisher: Silhouette (Now Harlequin)

ISBN: 0373765010 (ISBN on Paperback) 9781426886140 (eBook)

Release Date: Originally April of 2003 (ebook version 12-27-10)

Book Details: Standard paperback dimensions

Where To Find It: I got mine in a small bookshop that is no longer in business. However, it appears that all the books are available in eBook form.

Time that the story takes place? Present Day, at least in 2003 present day.

POV? Third Person

What caught your eye? The title. I have a collection of Beauty and the Beast stories, and I saw this one and added to the collection.

Did you enjoy it? I really did.

Was it predictable? No.

Was it sexy? Tame? Considering this a Silhouette Desire, the heat level is a touch more than their other lines at the time. Honestly, by today’s standards, it’s pretty tame.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? Not funny, but certainly entertaining.

Would you read it again? I would and I did.

Is this part of a series? It is! This is part of Dynasties: The Barones. This was the first book I noticed in the series and the first of any series like this. Each month a new book by a different author would come out following another member of the Barone Family or someone involved in it. I remember vividly seeking out and collection all twelve books and enjoying the story arc immensely. 

As I mentioned the other day, I’ve been scanning all my books into Library Thing. The problem with all this scanning is that I’m going through all the books and having to pause every other book to study it and remember that I enjoyed it and now must read it again. 

Taming The Beastly MD is a delightful spin on the classic Beauty and the Beast trope. We have Dr. Matthew Grayson, a wickedly talented cardiologist who isn’t known for his warmth and compassion. Heavily scarred from a lion attack when he was a child and on safari with his parents, Matthew’s scars have kept just about everyone away. Even as a teenager, the scars have garnered looks and inspired revulsion.

Nurse Rita Barone is the sunny and bubbly nurse working under Matthew and unbeknownst to her, has been carrying a torch for the pretty nurse for some time now. 

When a homeless man is brought into the emergency room, it is Rita who calms the man down, assures him that all will be well, and that Dr. Grayson is the very best man to care for him. To Matthew’s surprise, she sounds as though she means every word of what she’s saying to the man.

A gift is left for Rita, with no note. A pewter heart with a Band-Aid over it. She wears the pin in the hopes that the secret gift giver will reveal themselves. As time goes on, more gifts are left, none of them with a note. While Rita at first thought the gifts were cute and sweet, she’s now starting to wonder if she has a stalker and confesses her concerns to her sister.

During all of this, the Barone company: Baronessa Gelati is having a big fancy shindig and Rita is going stag. Which she’s fine with, no big deal. While waiting for her sister, Rita encounters Matthew in the hospital lounge and the two sit and have a chat. When Rita’s sister comes to pick her up, she looks at Matthew, points and says, “Why not ask him?”

While Rita tries to give Matthew an out as she figures such a function wouldn’t be interesting to someone like, he surprises everyone by saying he’d love to go with her. 

The two have a lovely time together at the party, so much so that Rita ends up going home with Matthew. The shocker of the evening is Matthew’s discovery in the moment, that Rita is a virgin. The huge misunderstanding that ensues is actually rather believable. 

Rita didn’t tell Matthew she was a virgin because she honestly didn’t think it mattered. He on the other hand is offended by those words because he believes that she thinks he wouldn’t care—that it wouldn’t matter to him.

And honestly, I thought that bit of writing was awesome. So often in some of these books, virginity is treated like some sacred status that can only be breeched by The One. Rita doesn’t hold this status as precious. If anything, it just wasn’t something she’d ever gotten around to. She works a lot and the hospital isn’t exactly a place to meet men.

Matthew’s pride is stung because he’s touched by the honor of being Rita’s first, he’s taking is seriously. After years of being looked at with disgust by his fellow humans, the woman that he’s secretly loved for years gave him the ultimate gift and she didn’t think it would matter. 

The two do not speak for at least two weeks, even though they are working in the same hospital.

A wicked blizzard has hit the city, and Matthew is worried about Rita walking the fifteen blocks back to her house. He convinces her to come home with him as he only lives just around the corner. 

The two talk and end up making love, having resolved the misunderstanding. Matthew even asks Rita to stay the weekend with him, until the storm ends.

The ending is predictable in that Matthew confesses he’s the mysterious gift giver, but it only started out by accident with the first gift as he accidentally forgot to leave the note, and it wasn’t until later he’d realized what had happened and was too self-conscious to come forward. 

Now as I stated above, this is part of a twelve book series that follows this family and the sabotage attempts against the company. I remember enjoying the entire series and for the life of me, I have no idea where I put the remaining books.

Have any of you read this series? Are you familiar with the author, as I honestly can’t say if I’ve read any of her stuff before, but I really enjoyed her style. It was easy to read and conveyed so much with so few pages. I actually read this twice over the weekend. Also, has anyone read any of the other Dynasties? I see there are several out there. Let me know 

Dear Jane

 Title: Dear Jane

Author: Marissa Clarke

eBook

Pages: 109 (on my phone it says 137, Entangled website says, 147. There’s an excerpt for the next story in the series. The entire story was about 109 pages.)

Publisher: Entangled

ISBN: 9781633758599

Release Date: 1-9-17

Book Details: eBook, customize your reading experience.

Where To Find It: I found this on the Entangled website and bought it from Barnes and Noble

Time that the story takes place? Current day (most likely in 2017)

POV? Third person 

What caught your eye? I had read Love Out Loud and loved it, saw the sample chapter and the price was very reasonable.

Did you enjoy it? I did.

Was it predictable? No, not really.

Was it sexy? Tame? In an odd way, I feel that this was tamer in the sex department than Love Out Loud. It has a very 'friends to lovers' feeling, but it never felt forced or silly. It worked.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? I found it amusing that a seemingly accomplished woman can’t seem to get a second date . . . I say that with a smile as Jane, for all her smarts and talent, things just happen. Sweet things, but she does seem to have some bad luck on first dates.

Would you read it again? I probably will.

Is this part of a series? This is the first book in the Animal Attraction series. The other two books are Love Out Loud and Three Day Fiancée.

Disclaimer: I had trouble focusing on this book not because the book was poorly written, life was happening at record speed and I read this book as a “break” from life. If my review seems less than it normally it is, that’s why.

Dear Jane. First of all, it is adorable. Yes, it’s sexy and sweet and has some seriously hot moments, but at the core of this book it was adorable.

This was the second book I’ve read of Marissa Clarke and the thing that I’ve appreciated in both Love Out Loud and Dear Jane is the believability and naturalness of the characters and the relationship that’s developing. Nothing feels rushed, if anything, these two are taking their time . . . the reason for that is made clear in the first few pages of the story.

Jane Dixon works at her father’s law firm. She comes from a family of lawyers, her father, her brothers, are all lawyers. She’s good at what she does and always seems to need to prove herself to her father.

Eric Blackwell is up and coming lawyer also working at the Dixon law firm. He puts in long hours, gives up weekends, and is up for junior partner. Everything he’s ever wanted is months away: becoming junior partner.

Jane calls herself the One Date Wonder, she hasn’t had a second date since grad school. And it isn’t that she’s a bad date, things just happen: accidentally spilling ice water in her date’s lap, knocking over a candle and setting the table on fire, you know normal stuff. Or, she goes out with a man that can’t handle art and giggles at nude sculptures or the guy who played a video game on his phone during the entire date and didn’t even notice when Jane left to go to the bathroom . . . and had dinner at the place next door and only came back to her date to get her coat. You get the picture.

Eric is one of those gents that strives for security in life because he never had it as a kid. His father died young and the marriage between his mother and father was not awesome. Protecting and providing for his mother has been a huge part of why he does what he does and why he is the way he is. Also, tears are his undoing, he can’t cope with a crying woman, it breaks his heart.

If you read the sample chapter from Entangled, you’ll see that Eric is just trying to help out the frazzled receptionist at the beginning of the story and deliver an arrangement of flowers to Jane. And Eric is stoked, he’s had a crush on Jane for two years, however . . . the company has a strict no dating policy so he couldn’t make a move if he wanted to.

Jane is shocked and delighted by the sight of Eric coming in with flowers. Until he says that they’re not from him. Reading the card, Jane is pissed and hurt, another Dear Jane letter (or card if you will) and she’s had it, tears are forming, voice is choked and Eric can’t handle a woman breaking down.

This is when she tells him the disastrous track record she has with dating.

So, he does what feels right, he gives her a hug to comfort her. Only he’s feeling those great curves, and his noble brain is short circuiting. He tells Jane that he knows lots of guys that would love to date her.

“You’re on!”

Thus begins a series of dates that Eric sets up for Jane. However, on the first date, he receives a text from Jane “Mayday! Mayday!” The date was a disaster and the two talk, watch a movie, have popcorn and beer, whilst Eric bonds with her grumpy cat Gandalf. 

This goes on for weeks. Terrible date, Friday night movie at Jane’s.

Eric has fallen head over heels for Jane and can’t continue this platonic torment and sends her a text that he’ll have to miss their Friday movie, he’s got work to do.

From here the story takes the natural course of action. Sexy time. Cuddle time. It’s all good.

I won’t give the whole story away, but rest assured, it ends really well. While I saw certain aspects of the story coming, at the same time, I didn’t see them coming the way they did. A touch of whimsy, but overall, the story felt very organic and legit. I really felt like these two people were relatable and people either you know or would want to know.

It was a quick and easy read. I read this entirely on my phone and had no issue reading the screen. Never had to enlarge it or anything.

But absolutely give this one a go. I also got the third book in this series and I’ll be reviewing that just as soon as I finish a few other things.

Happy reading!

Love Out Loud

 Title: Love Out Loud

Author: Marissa Clarke

eBook

Pages: 218

Publisher: Entangled

ISBN: 9781649373526

Release Date: 9-6-22

Book Details: It was an eBook, so you can customize your reading experience.

Where To Find It: I got an email from Entangled about new releases and this title was mentioned, I read the sample chapter on the Entangled website. I bought it from Barnes & Noble.

Time that the story takes place? Current day.

POV? Third person omniscient 

What caught your eye? The sample chapter and the price was pretty reasonable.

Did you enjoy it? It was excellent!

Was it predictable? Not at all. I mean, you’re expecting the HEA, so that was pretty predictable . . . I saw the set up for the final push, but as far as the story goes, no, I didn’t find it predictable.

Was it sexy? Tame? It was smart sexy. It was cute sexy. Plus, it was just cute.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? Very charming and very entertaining.

Would you read it again? Oh, yeah.

Is this part of a series? It is. The other two books are Dear Jane and Three Day Fiancée. 

Sometimes a book just hits all the right notes, and this book certainly did that for me. Marissa Clarke is a new author to me, I wasn’t familiar with her work, but I will certainly check her other offerings out after this.

The story is pretty simple and straightforward. Fiona, our leading lady, is a vet who has won an award for working with pets that belong to the homeless. She’s shy, introverted, but still spunky. She’s more comfortable working and talking to animals than humans.

Now with this award she’s being given, she’s expected to make a speech, which is just a huge ass NO for her. It’s not happening, she doesn’t speak in front of people. Her feelings on the matter are very relatable.

Enter Jacob, the hot guy that lives in her building that she’s been crushing on for a while. And guess what? He’s the speech coach that’s been hired by the vet clinic to help Fiona prepare for this speech. 

Jacob is afraid of dogs.

Already the set-up is excellent. Shy girl doesn’t speak in front of crowds and loves dogs. Confident man is very comfortable with people and is terrified of dogs.

The story flowed really well. I mean, just shockingly well. I kept waiting for all the normal crap that such a set-up would involve. And thankfully, none of the normal stuff happened. 

One of my favorite scenes in the book is when Fiona goes to her first session with Jacob not knowing that this would be a group session. She’s not pleased, at all. And she informs Jacob that immersion therapy doesn’t work for her. Her parents are shrinks and have put her through these paces before. She’s also upset with her friends for trying to “help” her with this phobia. Jacob replies that he would be grateful and happy if his friends tried to help him with something he’s struggling with.

Fiona calls his bluff and tells him to meet her tomorrow morning for an outing, she’ll text him the time and place.

The next morning, Fiona takes Jacob to the AKC Meet the Breeds, visiting several of her clients in the process. Jacob, who is terrified of large dogs, begins to have a panic attack and tries all the techniques and tricks that he teaches to his clients when they feel panic coming on. Only to realize that none of it works. 

(This is where I feel in love with the author, because finally, someone said it. I have battled anxiety my entire life, panic and anxiety attacks are something I deal with on a regular basis, and all the tips and tricks the shrinks have ever given me have never worked. Ever. And it was so validating to actually read that part of the book. All I could think was, “Ha! It doesn’t work!”)

The other great thing about this story was the approach to sex. Fiona tells Jacob that she’s “shy, not dead.” I think so often we believe that shy and introverted people, especially women, are nervous virgins in the bedroom. She also makes this same kind of claim about her bright and humorous shirts, just because you’re introverted doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy wearing certain things or even doing certain things.

The story flow is very believable and just easy. It was never a struggle to read, I never had that moment of, “what the hell?” it was all believable. Jacob was a lovely hero who slowly comes to realize where his fear dogs comes from and decides that dogs aren’t all that bad . . . he just needs a bit more time. Fiona is a very understanding and gentle in how she helps Jacob through this. She never judges him ever; she understands his issues.

I loved Fiona and was able to relate to her on just about every level. Everything she did and said I could get behind. She was smart and delightful. Jacob was confident but not overly arrogant. He’s a good and decent guy with a good heart.

I know some people don’t enjoy reading eBooks, and I admit, I’m not always a fan. However, via the B&N Digital Library feature on their website, I was able to read this book on my desktop, laptop, and of course through the Nook app on my phone.

It’s a good, quick, and easy read. I highly suggest getting this one. It was just lovely, and I look forward to reading the other two books in this series.

Three Day Fiancée

 Title: Three Day Fiancée

Author: Marissa Clarke

eBook

Pages: 168 (Entangled says 228 pages, however there is an excerpt for another book. My ebook file says 184 pages. However, 168 was the complete content of the actual story.)

Publisher: Entangled

ISBN: 9781640635074

Release Date: 5-14-18

Book Details: It was an eBook, so you can customize your reading experience.

Where To Find It: I found it on the Entangled website and then purchased it from Barnes and Noble

Time that the story takes place? Current day

POV? Third person.

What caught your eye? I’d read the other two books in the series and had to see how the third one went.

Did you enjoy it? I really did.

Was it predictable? Not really. I mean with all romances, you kind of get a sense of how a scene might play out, however this author has a lovely knack for making you think the predictable will happen and then turn the whole thing on its head. I love that.

Was it sexy? Tame? It was pretty sexy. Nothing tame about this one. I can’t believe the snow didn’t melt in the one scene!

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? A very amusing read. I never laughed out loud, but I was certainly smiling on certain scenes.

Would you read it again? Absolutely.

Is this part of a series? Yes. This is part of the Animal Attraction Series. I read them all out of order! The other two books are Love Out Loud and Dear Jane.

I love discovering an author that already has some backlist going, I hate waiting for the next offering. Thankfully this entire series was ready to go, so I burned through them pretty fast.

First off, I have to say, I love, absolutely LOVE the fact that all three books were vastly different. There were no similarities in the three stories. Sometimes an author will get bogged down with one or two ways to fall in love and develop a relationship and it always comes out feeling manufactured. Not this author, all three books just felt so wonderfully different and refreshing. And as I stated above, I didn’t read them in order, and I never felt I was missing out on anything.

We’ve got lovely Caitlin, a woman who’s getting her life back together after her divorce from a crappy husband. She’s back in New York with her two best friends and working at Animal Attraction as a dog walker while she studies for her CPA test so that she can be the accountant for the company.

Taylor is a helicopter pilot who never seems to have time for anything. Even dating. The poor man is being run ragged by his bosses flying them everywhere and anywhere at the drop of a hat. And he has a giant St. Bernard who just swallowed something very valuable and precious. An engagement ring. His grandmother’s engagement ring.

He needs Caitlin to stay with the giant dog all day in case a biological action takes place and the ring is expelled, and well . . . you get it. 

Caitlin is not having it. She doesn’t take orders from anyone and refuses to stay, she’s got other clients to care for and on top of that, she’s had the worst morning ever, she doesn’t need to wait for a ring to appear.

Taylor skips out while Caitlin is on the phone with Jane (from Dear Jane and one of the co-owners of Animal Attraction) and leaves her no choice but to stay with the dog.

Thankfully, Caitlin notices that the dog is acting like his mouth is bothering him and discovers the engagement ring around a back molar. After cleaning the ring, Caitlin tries it on and it gets stuck. Wickedly stuck, we might have to chop off a finger stuck, okay not that bad. But that sucker is stuck.

Enter lovable Grams who has popped over to see her grandson and believes that Caitlin is engaged to Taylor. “You all were going to wait and tell me at the anniversary party!” No matter how much Caitlin has protested that she’s not marrying Taylor, Grams thinks it’s all a cover up.

Of course, Taylor sees this as a golden opportunity to finally get his grandmother off his back about dating and getting married. He convinces Caitlin to come with him, just pretend to be engaged to him for the weekend. To make his sweet grandmother happy. It’s only a weekend.

Yeah . . . we all know how this is going to turn out.

Of course we could say this was predictable. They’re attracted to each other, they have their own cabin, they’re surrounded by a picture perfect Hallmark movie set up, things are going to happen. And happen they do. In the best possible ways. It’s hot.

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about Marissa Clarke’s work is that while the main characters change, they don’t change so much that they’re completely different from how they started. Growth is happening (for the betterment of the characters) but it’s never so drastic that you’d scoff and go, “Yeah, no one changes that fast for anyone.” All the change happens in such small amounts that it’s all believable.

A key scene that sticks out for me is just before Caitlin and Taylor are about to engage in some sexy time. Caitlin has snow pants that are stuck over snow boots; however Taylor is not letting that slow him down. Caitlin is in a bit of a stunned/shocked/this is funny emotion and tells Taylor, “No.” And at once, Taylor stops what he’s doing and sits back on his haunches as he thinks that Caitlin is telling him no (as in, no sexy time). He’s patient and waits and of course is immensely relieved when she means that she can’t make love or fool around with her snow pants trapped around her ankles.

If you liked the film, While You Were Sleeping, I think you’d probably like this. Granted there is no one in a coma, there’s no other brother that macks on the leading lady, however if you enjoyed the family dynamic of While You Were Sleeping, then you’ll enjoy the family in this book. They were lovely, simply lovely.

Reflecting on all three of the books, the one thing that I just realized is: for once (at least in my reading experience) the men are the ones that make the big sacrifice/the big change. The men are the ones gambling on love. They’re the ones that realize that they need something more out of life, that they’re missing out on life, and that they want all the stuff they’re entitled to in life. Normally it seems like the women are always giving something up for the men, so they can all live happily ever after. Not here. Marissa Clarke has written lovely men with believable flaws, quirks, and insecurities who are going to go after that woman they’ve always been searching for.

The other thing that I really loved in all three of these books is that while growth happens with both lead characters, it isn’t so much that they’re unrecognizable by the end of the book. The introvert isn’t magically transformed into a raging extrovert. The klutz isn’t transformed into a graceful never-miss-a-step swan. And the woman trying to get her life back on track after the bad divorce manages to stay on track to become a CPA.

Again, all of the characters are believable and likeable. Seriously, I wish I knew these people, they seem like a blast to be around. I’m looking forward to reading more by this author, I’m really loving her.

As a series: two big fat thumbs up, five gold stars, all the awards possible, and in the end . . . 

READ THIS SERIES. Trust me, you’ll enjoy them. 

A Touch of Darkness

 Title: A Touch of Darkness

Author: Scarlett St. Clair

Paperback (Available in Hardback, Paperback, eBook, and Audio.)

Pages: 379 (Even though B&N is saying 400 pages, the actual story is 379, you have author notes, excerpt from A Game of Fate.)

Publisher: Sourcebooks

ISBN: 9781728258454 (Paperback Edition)

Release Date: 8-13-21

Book Details: Paperback, 5x8, it was a bit of a heavier feeling book and the paper used is very nice. The cover has a touch of tackiness to it, it’s textured but not overly so.

Where To Find It: I got my copy through Barnes & Noble. Though I do see it is available at other retailers and Indie Bookstores

Time that the story takes place? An alternate current day.

POV? Third person limited viewpoint. Told entirely through Persephone’s perspective. 

What caught your eye? I’m a sucker for Hades and Persephone stories. I mean, what more can I say? God of the Underworld in love with the Goddess of Spring? Yes, please. I can’t lie, if you give me the alleged ‘villain’ who falls in love with a good person, I’m going to pick it every single time. I know it’s a trope, and I don’t care.

Did you enjoy it? I did, more than I actually thought I would.

Was it predictable? Honestly, no. I didn’t see half the stuff coming at me. There were a couple of points in the story where you’d kind of see the thing coming, but it wasn’t one of those eye rolling moments of “Duh, that’s been so done.” Lots of good twists and turns on what you might have been expecting.

Was it sexy? Tame? It was very sexy. A bit too sexy in a couple of places. Which shocked me at first, because honest to goodness, I thought this was a YA novel and I was doing the whole shifty eye whilst thinking, “Is this what the kids are reading now? Holy beans and cheese, wasn’t like this when I was a kid!” However, I was quickly assured that this was in fact written for adults.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? It was absolutely entertaining. Funny or humorous? Perhaps in places, but I would say the book was more charming than anything. 

Would you read it again? I most likely will as this is part of a series, and I like to keep track of details.

Is this part of a series? *points to above* This is the first book in the series. It also looks as though there a secondary parallel series where Hades is the main head we live in. *Edit, just checked a couple of websites, and indeed this looks as if we have the same story told from two different POVs. I’m cool with that. Here’s the big question: Do I read all of the Touch Of series as they were released or do I go ahead and read the Hades book; A Game of Fate next?

I had no idea what to expect with this book. I’m a mythology nerd like a lot of people, but this was absolutely a new take on the Hades and Persephone story, and I was digging it. 

The Gods and Goddesses living among the mortals like rock stars. They’re owning night clubs and stuff. They are watched much like the Royal Family, reported about in gossip magazines and have revealing articles written about them. I just loved how normal this all was, that’s why I’m calling this an alternate current time as you have all the modern tech we enjoy as our lowly regular selves, but then there’s a truckload of Gods and stuff.

I can’t even do justice to this . . . the book was great. It had everything you could want: A lovely girl trying to prove herself to get out from under her mother’s thumb. The God of the Underworld . . . do I even need to go on there? You’ve got bitches and snarky dudes. You got contracts with Gods, you got some blackmail. You got glamour and glitz and then places that don’t even exist in our world. And the author does a great job of making you feel and see those places, I was immersed, truly from Chapter 2 (you know how that first chapter can be, we got to settle into things, get to know each other).

As stated above, this is a romance with a good deal of sexy sex in it. Those that don’t like graphic content, be warned, this is pretty explicit. The F-word is used during love making or rather pre/post coital, which at times I find a bit distracting. Now don’t get me wrong, I use that four letter word whilst making my morning toast, I’ve just never enjoyed seeing it in a moment of passion. However, the use of it in this story, wasn’t enough to distract me completely from the action. With that being said, the sex in this is pretty intense.

As this is only the first book in the series, I’m sure we’ll get more relationship stuff, but in this book, I felt it was more lust than love. Persephone is clearly attracted to Hades, even when she tries to hide it, she can’t. Most of the time, I felt as if they’re barely keeping it together. “Let’s try and pretend we’re normal lovers,” before they transport to the under realm and rip off each other’s clothing. There are tender moments, and you do see that Hades does care for Persephone’s well being, so it’s not all sex.

But man is it intense!

I tried to post links for Sourcebooks and for the author’s website, however, that was not to be had this day of posting. Sourcebooks kept giving me error messages and from what I can see, Scarlett St. Clair only has a Tumblr site. I won’t link to it in case this isn’t the actual author.

Love For Beginners

 Title: Love For Beginners

Author: Jill Shalvis

eBook (also available in Paperback, Hardcover, and Audio)

Pages: 384 (the story ended on page 376 and there are book club questions and an excerpt from her next book.)

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN: 9780063025455 (eBook version)

Release Date: 6-8-21

Book Details: This was an eBook, so I was able to customize my reading experience.

Where To Find It: Barnes and Noble has it, however I read this copy via a library app called Libby.

Time that the story takes place? Current day

POV? Third person

What caught your eye? My local library offers eBooks and this one was on the list of authors with new books out. While I wasn’t able to request the current book by Jill Shalvis, this one: Love For Beginners, was available and it looked interesting.

Did you enjoy it? I did. This is one of the few books that has made me tear up in a few years. But it wasn’t sad weeping, it was relatable weeping, it was “Yeah, that’s right!” weeping.

Was it predictable? No. I had no clue where this was going. I wasn’t even entirely certain I was reading a romance, which we’ll get into in the review.

Was it sexy? Tame? Tame sexy, if you will. There is sex in this, but it isn’t the focal point of the story. Not a lot descriptors either, nothing that would make you go, “Holy cheese! I’m reading The Sex out in public!” However, this is a very romantic book, very emotional.

Did you find it funny? Entertaining? Very funny, very entertaining. All of the characters in this are very likeable and felt like people you’d know in the real world. 

Would you read it again? I would actually. This was a great comfort read.

Is this part of a series? It is, The Wildstone Series, this is book 7. And of course I haven’t read any of the other books! According to Jill Shalvis’s website, none of the books have to be read in any order, they’re all standalones. 

This was a good story. I know that people like to go, “Wow it was a GREAT book!” And don’t get me wrong, I could say this was a great book and it was, however I can’t just say GREAT without saying how GOOD this was. 

I could argue that this was almost too relatable of a story. Because what our Leading Lady, Emma, is going through is something that a lot of us have faced, well not exactly what Emma is facing, but just the navigating life after your world falls apart. Emma, a P.E. teacher, has literally lost everything. An avid jogger that was accustomed to running marathons and having control over her mobility. One morning while out for her jog, she’s hit by a car, goes flying, another car is then involved in the accident—a fatality actually occurs—Emma ends up in a coma for two months, suffers from some kind of infection that only added even more complications, and she’s being held together with rods and screws and a couple hundred feet of duct tape.

Okay, not duct tape, but really at this point, it couldn’t hurt.

Emma had a boyfriend, Ned, they were going to get married and everything. Only, while languishing in a coma, Ned and Emma’s best friend, Cindy thought it was a great idea to hook up. On a regular basis. And living in the apartment that Emma shared with Cindy. Or was it Ned? Either way, all three are under the same roof and Emma has no interest in listening to banshee sex happen in the next room.

So she tells the Exes Squared (her name for the two of them) that she’s moving out. With the help of her physical therapist, Simon—also nicknamed Hard Ass PT by Emma as this guy refuses to let Emma give up on herself—Emma moves into a new apartment. The Exes Squared try to talk her out of it, even as they are taking her to her new dwelling, Emma is not having it. She’s done. You two can go and never come back again. A sentiment that she keeps true to throughout the whole book.

Simon is the hero of this story and he’s a complicated guy. Not only is a he a physical therapist, but he also works at his father’s company, Armstrong Industries, and taking care of/living with his father after a series of strokes. Simon is taking care of his father and the company out of a deathbed promise to his mother that he would always be there for his dad. 

However, Dale, Simon’s father, is a bit of a handful. But honestly, is one of the most interesting supporting characters in the book. Seriously, for all his grumpy grumpiness and routinely walking around without pants (and sometimes no underwear), he’s a real sweetheart who still has a good deal going on upstairs. The advice that he hands out—wanted or not—is often times exactly what is needed to diffuse a moment. 

Then we have Alison, Simon’s cousin. She also works for Armstrong Industries and is really, really good at her job. She’s also an introvert, who really needs to work on some social skills. In fact, she’s got a list of things to work on and these are at the title/beginning of each chapter. Also, apparently she and Emma were frenemies in school (though Emma has no memory of being horrible to Alison, as it was Alison who was horrible to Emma). Oh, and Alison is still smarting over the break up with her boyfriend, Ryan, who is apparently the most people person out there. He’s one of these guys that has WAY too many friends and is WAY too close to his family for Alison’s comfort. It was one of the reasons they parted ways, she apparently didn’t make enough effort to befriend Ryan’s gaggle of friends.

Okay, wow! That was a lot of stuff there. Now you’re probably asking, so what’s the plot? Honestly? One of rediscovery and recovery. Emma can’t go back to her old life, nor does she want to. She’s found new goals and new reasons to live. One of her new dreams is taking over the pet daycare center Paw Pals from her employer who is looking to retire. Of course, Emma isn’t exactly flush with funds, because of the accident and banks are a bit dickish about handing out a loan to a woman who was in a coma for two months. A coma is no excuse for lack of income. And it was pointed out to me that I hadn’t made clear Emma’s employment situation: Yes, she was a P.E. teacher, however with the accident, she’s lost her job and her ability to do it and she’s been working at Paw Pals for a bit because not only is it the only things she’s able (and loves) to do—it’s also the only place that will hire her in her current state.

It was also impossible to focus on one relationship without mentioning the others. We can’t just focus on Simon and Emma’s relationship without looking at the satellite relationships, everything affects all the other relationships. Which is kind of an interesting. 

There is a lot going on in this book, I mean, A LOT. And it’s all good. Like I said earlier, it’s all completely relatable. Learning to get your life back together, caring for an ill parent, having to deal with an enemy from high school, winning back a lost love, and learning to just be a good person. 

I wouldn’t say this is an out right full blown romance, don’t get me wrong, there is certainly romance in this. However, I felt this was more of a love letter of self discovery. Discovering that you don’t need this or that or even certain people in your life to be happy and complete. Learning to be happy on your terms and defining what happiness looks like.

Watching all the characters come to terms with the fact that life doesn’t follow any particular set of rules even if you do, was highly entertaining. And these were all characters you were cheering for. Of course you know it’s going to be fine, but the struggle and compromise and just all of it was great. It was heartwarming and heartbreaking and truly the first book I’ve actually gotten misty eyed reading. It ends on a high note, happily ever afters all around!

**I always appreciate when authors give warnings about certain things and situations that may be alarming or triggering to some readers. And I think we need to add a new warning: This book mentions the COVID-19 pandemic, because I gotta tell you all, I do not EVER want to be reminded of that period for a good little while. At least not in a romance novel. I read to escape and I don’t want to be reminded of what I’m escaping from.**