N.R. Walker

Starting as the new veterinarian in an animal hospital, Carter gets to know the withdrawn, moody Isaac and his guide dog Brady. Carter and Isaac gravitate to each other fairly quickly, but Isaac has trouble to rely on his dog or show him any affection.

It's not one of Walker's strongest books, I thought.

Carter is a bit too perfect but I liked him and I even liked Isaac's pride and occasional grumpiness but I thought the book could use a bit more passion and intensity.
The relationship felt rather muted and a bit one-sided. Carter always seems to be the one to instigate, cajole and decide, while Isaac just goes along for the ride. They are really sweet together and all that, but it was just all a bit too careful, too soft for me.

I also thought the book got a bit obnoxious on pointing out how brave, awesome and independent Isaac is for living a normal life even though he's blind. If Isaac is just a normal person, regardless of his eyesight, that shouldn't be such a big achievement, should it?

So, it's not a bad book or a bad story. It's romantic, sweet and not too saccharine. There is just a little drama when Isaac gets into one of his moods, but other than that it's a pleasant, heartwarming read, lots of couple interaction and cute dogs. Not a lot of sex though, but what there is is sweet and caring rather than explicit and hot.

Nathan is unhappy at his job as a Doctor in Boston. He just works all the time, has no hobbies and no interest in sex. When he sees an open position for a small town hospital, he decides a change of scenery might be in order.
His new job comes with a house, and in that house he finds the wandering painter and handyman Trent who's fixing it up.
The attraction is immediate, and Nathan is overwhelmed with the new situation, but also determined to go with it and allow himself to feel for the first time.

Huh, a N.R. Walker story I did not love to bits and pieces, how rare.

That's not to say I hated it, but I felt the beginning especially was very repetitive and not very engaging. I thought Nathan's reaction to Trent was just a bit too much, too often. His internal debating also felt like the same thoughts over and over. It got boring.
Also, all that "Fuck". I don't usually mind people saying that, but it was really overused in the book.

It got better when the relationship got going. There is a lot of sex, and I thought the sex scenes got a bit to similar at times too, but I did not mind it too much. They where pretty hot and enthusiastic for the most part. But the book really gets best when the feelings get mixed in with the sex and there's banter, flirting and just more couple interaction in general. When Trent brings Nathan lunches and coffee to the hospital and they do more hanging out. It's enjoyable and sweet.

I got annoyed at them in the beginning, because they just do not communicate. Trent is all closed off and diverts any serious talks, while Nathan doesn't even wants to put himself out there. But it is really good when he finally does. I really liked that Trent expressed himself through paintings and that Nathan didn't quite know how to decipher then, since they are too abstract. It's very adorable.

The ending was again a bit long for me and I lost interested a bit. I thought from about 80% on the book could have been done better with a short epilogue, instead of a few chapters a few month out and the additional epilogue.

The writing was a bit inconsistent. There where some errors, and the style feels a bit clumsy in the beginning and gets better around the middle.

Cameron and Lucas work at a big advertisement agency. They don't get along all that great until their boss (and Cameron's dad) sets them onto a pitch for a potential client. Just one weekend to pull something together for a condom and lube producer.
Cameron starts to thaw and sparks start flying, but there's still work to be done.

This was awesome, I loved it. To think this was just fanfiction? I've read serious novels worse than this. A lot worse.

Granted, most of it is just gratuitous fun, but that's what I want when I read escapism romances, so it's a plus rather than a complaint. ;)

So yeah, the whole ad stuff is probably entirely wrong, but I don't know, so I don't really care all that much, and the book might actually be just a bit too high energy all the way though, that I hoped for a little more quiet sometimes, to switch it up, but other than that, I really have no complaints.

I loved the characters, I thought they where really well portrayed, sympathetic and adorable. There's enough depth to make them believable and interesting, they have their foibles and weaknesses (loved the socks).
But the chemistry is really the best thing about this book. The banter, the tension, the dancing, the sex. Damn, the sex is hot and plentiful too.
Sometimes books with too much sex get a bit stale, because it's just always the same with slight variations. Not here though, I enjoyed all the scenes, they do switch things up well enough. I loved the sexy montage where they try out the different products. There's not enough laughter during sex in romance novels.

The book has plenty funny moments too, though, and is not at all light on the feelings. It's pretty much all positive and welcoming, though. Little angst, no drama, all happiness and sunshine.