Debra E's Never-Ending TBR

Review originally posted at Sinfully.

Grant is 26 and never been kissed, all his prior dates ending in disaster such that a second date has never happened. Some of it is attributed to his personality quirks, but plenty of contributions were also made by the jerks he went out with. Grant has had a lot of changes recently in his life. His job transferred him an hour away requiring him to move out of his beloved mother’s house, leave his best friend behind and adjust to having new coworkers at the job he loved. The hour he has moved away is just enough distance that he feels he is starting from scratch. Grant describes himself as anal-retentive; he needs cleanliness and order or else he becomes anxious and at times comes off as rather difficult.

Tristan is new to relationships as well. He’s had plenty of hookups but after getting out of the Navy he put all his energy into working as an auto mechanic and helping support and raise his now 15 year old daughter, Claire. He hasn’t found anyone worth disrupting his life for until he met Grant. Their first date starts off so well, there is absolutely going to be a second; but one circumstance leads to another and when the mother of Tristan’s daughter unexpectedly shows up things quickly spiral out of control and everyone’s lives are about to take an incredible and almost unbelievable turn. It may be crazy, but if Grant and Tristan can adjust, things just might work out better than they ever expected.

The blurb doesn’t mention it, so I’m not going to give away the plot, but let’s say there are some hasty decisions made and it throws everyone into a tailspin. I have no problem with the decision made in the heat of the moment, bad decision are made all the time especially in fiction, so for me it’s what comes after the decision that makes or breaks the story, and I’m happy with the way this one progressed. There were easy times and hard times as they get to know each other.

While it’s lust at first sight for these two complete opposites in both looks and lifestyle, Tristan falls a bit quicker than Grant. Grant is truly tested, adjusting to spending time not just with Tristan but his daughter and her lunatic mother. Tristan also has to learn to adjust to Grant’s quirks, which definitely made for a few uncomfortable moments. Luckily, Tristan is a sweetheart with incredible patience. From his initial adorable, but seemingly ineffectual, attempts at flirting to the way he deals with Grant’s insecurities and eccentricities and his own new feelings, you can just feel how smitten he is from the start. Grant is a harder nut to crack, but he does learn to relax more, especially when it looks like he’s finally going to get what he’s wanted all these years and not die a virgin. I thought the sex scenes were both awkward and steamy, especially when Grant starts to realize that he might just be a little less uptight vanilla than he always thought he was.

While I could get on board with most of the plot elements even if they were a bit crazy, I did have some issues. The biggest issue may be more me reacting as a parent of a girl the same age as Claire, but I had a lot of trouble with the way the situation with her mother was handled, not just after knowing the dangerous environment she had been exposing Claire to for years, but especially once she became violent. That was one bad decision I had a hard time getting past.

Overall I liked the way both main characters grew in the story and the way all the relationships progressed, not just between the MC’s, but the way the dealt with friends, coworkers and family. I’m a big Wade Kelly fan and have read all her books and this is easily the lightest level of angst you’re going to get. It had a different feel than her other books and I sometimes felt like I was in the middle of a crazy and romantic version of The Odd Couple. You may have to put aside an expectation of complete realism with this one, especially with an at times over the top villain, but the story will entertain you and probably cause you to “aww” more than a few times on the way to a happy ending fit for a princess.