Design: 3.8

Mmmm, what a delectable specimen of a man that graces the cover of this book – that much is evident. It makes your mind start racing and wanting to get to know who this hunk is. The pairing of this manly man with the font choice and the pink color choice actually works though… Most often a font like this and a pink color choice will make it feel very feminine, but these two choices coupled with the cover image and its colors helps balance this cover out and just makes it enticing. The book’s interior design is nicely done, pretty standard (not a bad thing), but it has nice spacing, a good font choice that is nicely legible and makes the narrative and conversations flow well.

Review: 3.7 hearts

A sexy, brooding, Canadian army / fireman / EMS / single dad hero who every woman – secretly or not so secretly – deep down – wants to be “the one” to break through his rough exterior. Oh, if that isn’t the way to grab every woman’s attention – and take the lead in her fantasies – I don’t know what is. And that’s exactly what Zoe York has done in this book. Owen Kincaid is the man you just want to swoop in – and have him sweep you off your feet – right into his bed. Did I just say that outloud?… You want to break through that rough, jerky hard shell of an exterior into that gentle and sweet interior that you JUST KNOW is right under the surface despite his grunting and acting like a neanderthal, and that interior is only to be discovered by one woman. *sigh.

Even though there were so many parts of the book, the story and the characters that I truly enjoyed, here’s my one critique and complaint resulting in my 3.7 hearts rating: Owen’s setup in the story made it hard for me to like Kerry… that’s right, I didn’t love her – and this caused a little bit of a problem for me. I mean, I liked her just fiiiiine, but there was something off about her character for me. I got the attraction between the two and both of their characters, and I even saw how they could be a good couple and match, like the first time that Kerry saw Owen in the bar and the attraction was instant… buuuut at the same time I found parts of her character to be not perfect enough for Owen – and that’s where I had a problem with her.

Is that jealousy on my part, that I was so wrapped up in the attraction to Owen’s character and I wanted something just a little more for him? Someone maybe a little more suitable, in my opinion, for him? Someone who maybe matched his attractiveness a little more? Maybe. So was my bias against Kerry a personal one, because I wanted something a little more for Owen’s match? Yes. Yes, it was. #sorrynotsorry

Diving into the “whys,” perhaps I found some of the details about Kerry’s character and looks a little lacking compared with how well Zoe York described Owen… I felt that I could so easily envision Owen, but Kerry felt almost slightly… sometimes I felt maybe frumpy? Sometimes I felt she was too different from his character to make them a good enough match? And so I felt she wasn’t quite at Owen’s attractiveness level – and that level is not just his physical looks, but the attractiveness of his character as a person, too. Although Kerry’s soccer playing and dance moves made me question this presumption that I had about her – her athleticism and body were described more when it came to those activities (because, again, I felt torn about her physical description at times). But here was my conundrum and the part of the story that I was struggling with.

**Spoiler alert**

That said, I so respected Kerry’s decision towards the end of the book, that she realized that breaking it off was the best decision for her – as well as for him. Even though it was hard and hurt like hell, and by that point you saw why they made a good match – and here is where she gained my respect and I started warming up to her character.

But aside from my struggle with loving Kerry, this was a nice mid-speed read for me. I enjoyed flipping through the pages and experiencing the story. I wasn’t on the edge of my seat per se, but I enjoyed the family dynamic that explained why Owen was how he was, and how his past experiences and circumstances dictated so much of the storyline and his life trajectory. Likewise, Kerry’s (shorter) story also explained her character and life’s decisions, and are important to include when explaining why a single person like her would relocate to a small and somewhat isolated town like she did. But with that said, Kerry’s presence in Owen’s life and in his town threw his life’s trajectory off kilter – and it wasn’t a bad thing! I really enjoyed that aspect of the story, along with the family angle, that mixed with the whole Canadian “thing” which was fun – it made me go “eyh” a time or two. The writing was terrific, and made you feel for the characters as well as laugh with them. I would definitely recommend this as a good read. Have that blanket ready for some warm snuggling with this book, because you’ll be transformed to the Canadian tundra in no time at all!

Excerpt from Amazon

He’s a grumpy silver fox who’s about to become a grandfather, and she’s the sunshiny young midwife who wants babies of her own…

Owen Kincaid knows how hard it is to have a kid when you’re still a kid yourself, and eighteen years after the fact, the paramedic watching his daughter go through the same thing. The last thing she needs is him falling for the new woman in town—her midwife.

Kerry Humphrey finds her new client’s father…unsettling. He’s tall and brooding and always there, hovering in the background of appointments. And then there’s the crackle of off-limits chemistry every time they’re alone. She hates that, too, but Pine Harbour is a tiny place, and avoiding the young grandfather-to-be in a town of six hundred people and a single Main Street proves impossible.

Everything about their attraction is ill-fated. But it won’t go away.

Fall in love with the Kincaids of Pine Harbor in this sizzling start to a brand-new small town romance series from New York Times Bestselling Author Zoe York.