Reviewed by Lily
TITLE: Depending on You
SERIES: Dating in Denver
AUTHOR: J.E. Birk
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 103 Pages
BLURB:
A prequel to The Twinkie Ignition
It all started with a diabetic kid who wouldn’t stop eating cookies. And a best friend who’d just announced his bisexuality and hit on everything that moved. And a kind pediatric nurse with an amazing rack, a lying ex-boyfriend, and a nasty case of the chicken pox.
But mostly, it started at table 42.
When Benjy Moreland almost collapses during his restaurant shift, Dr. Kyle Penners wants nothing more than to take care of him… but if there’s one thing former foster kid Benjy values, it’s his independence. A dying man and a sick little boy force Kyle and Benjy to work together, and both of them have to make some important choices about what it means to depend on someone.
REVIEW:
Benjy Moreland studies and works very hard to the point that he goes to work sick. He needs every single shift to pay for his living and studies. As a consequence, he collapses during his shift at the restaurant and drops beer all over his customers, who happen to be two very attractive men. Luckily, one happens to be a doctor and the other one is a nurse. The doctor, Kyle, still in his beer stained clothes, examines Benjy. He orders him home because his illness is highly contagious. Belligerent as Benjy may be, he eventually accepts the doctor’s orders and leaves his shift. As Benjy is waiting at the bus stop for the bus to arrive, Kyle finds him and decides he needs to offer more help. He takes him to a medical centre and then to his own home.
I found the story line easy to read, as it didn’t have strong angst elements. Although the story also involves a diabetic little kid and his sick grandfather, the main focus of the story is Benjy and Kyle. Particularly Benjy.
Benjy is a wounded hero who grew up in several foster care homes. Benjy’s experience in foster care taught him to rely on only himself so he is fiercely independent and also defensive. He comes across as socially awkward but I also found him to be very belligerent, to the point that, somewhere during story, I lost any empathy towards him. I thought he was rude and inconsiderate towards Kyle. For example, on several occasions when Kyle appeared beside Benjy, for whatever reason, Benjy’s response was “What the hell are you doing here?” I felt that Benjy was unnecessarily hostile towards Kyle and spoke to Kyle harshly about being a “rescuer”. I felt it became a little repetitive that Kyle was told several times by several people what a rescuer he was to the point he was told off.
The one thing that I truly agree with is how Benjy’s one and only friend saw Benjy, as an emotionally stunted individual. The way Benjy ended his relationship with Kyle at one point just left me unbelievably angry. He appeared callous and cold, and I struggled to find something to like about Benjy.
Kyle, the doctor, was a very likable guy, if he only stopped calling Benjy “kid” The fact that he was lusting after Benjy while calling him that was a bit creepy. OK, in the story this was part of the bantering between Benjy and Kyle, but I still found it very off putting and condescending. Mind you, even the restaurant’s manager was calling Benjy “kid”. This title appeared, to me, rather too repetitive in the story.
The way Kyle and Daniel spoke with each other came across as rather juvenile to me and a bit uneducated, especially when they were at the restaurant around the time when Benjy dropped beer over them. “You’re the charismatic dude at the hospital. And whenever the two of us go out to eat, you take me to fancy-ass places like this, so I can’t imagine where you take people who might actually give you some action. Why aren’t you getting laid at least five nights a week?” I found these kinds of comments rather immature, maybe because I do work in health care settings and have never heard medical people talking like this. Or like this (This part is after Benjy dropped the beer and Daniel was upset about the mess. This is Kyle talking with the restaurant manager.) “Hey, no big deal. We’re pretty used to people getting sick all over us. And Daniel’s not usually an ass about it, either. He was just really looking forward to collecting on a free steak I owe him from a while back”. I know, I know, it was bantering between Kyle and Daniel but still so tacky. I think this kind of rough chatter from supposedly very educated men sounds very unrealistic.
At the end Benjy was suddenly sweet but I couldn’t buy that because all the way through Benjy was belligerent, judgmental and entitled. I am just grateful that he was a sweetheart with the little boy and other patients.
RATING: 
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