Reviewed by Kimberley

TITLE: Taming Teddy

SERIES: Made Marian #2

AUTHOR: Lucy Lennox

PUBLISHER: Self Publishing

LENGTH: 238 pages

RELEASE DATE: December 11, 2016

BLURB:

Teddy: If there’s one thing I don’t do, it’s commitment. You don’t become an award-winning photographer by staying in one place. I’m always on the road, looking for the next shot, the next award, the next hot body. Which is how I end up on Dr. James Marian’s front porch in the middle-of-nowhere Alaska. He’s known as the Wildlife Whisperer, and I want to photograph him in action. He’s reluctant at first, but I can be persuasive.

Soon enough I have him in bed saying yes over and over and over again, but my ability to shoot and scoot is frozen by a Denali snowstorm.

Jamie: I always thought of myself as the marrying type. Until I got left at the altar. Now I have a new motto: never commit and never fall in love. So when a cocky nature photographer decides I’m the key to his next masterpiece, it seems like the perfect arrangement: the hotshot’s only in town for a brief assignment and then he’ll be gone. No commitment, no strings, and no chance of getting my heart broken again.

There’s just one problem: I think I’m falling in love. Now I’m afraid that maybe I’m the marrying type after all. And he definitely is not.

REVIEW by Kimberley

This is the second book of the Made Marian series and it features the eldest Marian brother Jamie, a veterinarian and wildlife expert living in Alaska. His character made a brief appearance towards the end in the first book in the series.

This is a relatively new to me author, (my first being Borrowing Blue) and I must say that this series is coming along rather nicely. The first book was a debut~ a darn good one at that~and I like this one is even more.

As almost any book, there are things that I liked and some that I didn’t.  She did  a lovely job of crafting her characters, dialogue and storylines that it’s hard to put the book down once you start reading it and the characters stay with you a bit after you finish reading. Goodness knows Aunt stilly and Tristan’s granny will keep you laughing your toukas off long  afterwards.

I liked how Jamie and Teddy’s relationship development was a bit slow. It fit perfectly considering both men were reluctant to enter into a serious relationship for very different reasons. For Jamie, he was betrayed by an ex-fiancé and Teddy’s travels prevented him from forming any lasting bonds with anyone for fear of himself being hurt or hurting anyone else. Neither man was looking to fall in love, but of course, life doesn’t always turn out the way that you plan it to.

Jamie didn’t want any parts of Teddy while Teddy was attracted to Jamie prior to them meeting in person due to Teddy had Jamie’s photo beforehand. When they finally do meet, their attraction to each other is too strong to ignore.

Although I liked the story a lot, there were a couple things that I felt the author stumbled on. The first being the part about Teddy’s encounter with a trans woman. The way it was written made the trans woman the punchline of a joke and I didn’t like that at all. This definitely should have been written with more sensitivity and respect than it was. Never should a trans woman or their bodies be used as punchlines. The other thing was Jamie’s ex showing up unannounced and uninvited with his family in tow. That entire scene was more of an odd ‘who does that?’ type of situation.

Those things aside, I truly enjoyed the book. This author tells a good story; she’s really quite talented. Hopefully, she’ll keep an eye out for and be more aware of the things mentioned above in future work.

In all, this series is definitely worth reading and the author worth sticking with. I’m really looking forward to reading Jude’s story.

This story is part of a series and although it can be read as a standalone, it is part of a series. The first book in the series is Borrowing Blue.

RATING:

REVIEW by Christie

 

While reading Borrowing Blue (and loving the daylights out of it), I found that Taming Teddy was also available for review so I immediately jumped at the chance to get and read it as well. And, oh my stars it was fantastic! The Made Marian series is definitely on my immediate buy list now. Hopefully is or will be on yours as well.

 

Famed wildlife expert Dr. James Marian is licking his wounds after being left at the altar (literally) on his own wedding day. Having sworn off men for a long while, he has immersed himself in his work studying the wild animals of the remote Denali National Park in chilly Alaska. The last thing he wants or needs is some strange man trying to insinuate himself into Jamie’s life. Especially one as persistent as the photographer who wants badly to take photos of him while interacting with the local wildlife, and will not leave him alone.

 

Teddy Kodiak is a famed photographer who has won just about every prestigious award there is, except for one. And, in order to win such an award, he will have to take one extraordinary and extremely rare photo. That’s where Dr James Marian, known all over the world as the Wildlife Whisperer, comes in. But, short of showing up on his doorstep, Teddy can’t find a way to get Jamie to agree to being photographed while interacting with the Alaskan wildlife. And, Teddy should know, since he has essentially tried everything, including making up a fake story about a deathly ill bird.   So, Teddy showed up unannounced at Jamie’s door in order to get the photo of his career.

 

Taming Teddy had me on the verge of throwing my ereader at the wall, out windows, and at my husband’s head so many times! But, y’know, in the best way possible. Okay that last one was actually because my husband kept interrupting my book for inane reasons, but I’m pretty sure you understand, right?

 

Teddy and Jamie are amazing together! It drove me up the flippin’ walls when they couldn’t see it for themselves for so long, but all my tears shed, heart palpitations, and excessive fan use were so totally worth the read. How they kept coming together, then pushing apart time and again reminded me of playing with magnets. The almost cement-like hold of attraction when the magnets are flipped in the right way, and the almost violent resistance when they are flipped in the wrong way. To me, this so totally describes their relationship to me, to a T.

 

But wait! What about the photos Teddy wants to take of Jamie? Does he get to take them? And, what about the prestigious award that Teddy wants to win? Does he finally get the perfect picture? Well, my dear, the answers to these and other questions are in the book. So, please do get it. Then get every one of the Made Marian books that are out. Lucy Lennox knows how to write a fantastic book, and is a brilliant new author that’s for sure. You will want to binge read the entire series many times over, and I highly encourage you to do so.

 

RATING:

BUY LINK:

Amazon