DAY 8

Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love

SERIES:  Daily Dose–Never Too Late

AUTHOR:  Kris T. Bethke

PUBLISHER:  Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH:  61 pages

BLURB:  

As it often does, the bad news comes in the middle of the night.

When attorney Ben Winters’s close friend takes a bad spill and ends up in the hospital, he flies across the country to be there for her. His instant attraction to her brother takes him by surprise. Wanting Zack Anderson is easy; actually having him is a bad idea. While the two connect over concern for Zack’s sister, there are many reasons to fight the attraction brewing between them. Things heat up as Ben’s friend begins to show improvement, but the reasons not to get involved with the younger man remain the same—long distance relationships never work, and Ben doesn’t do one-night stands. But there’s one powerful reason to give in: Ben has never wanted anyone more.

REVIEW:  

Greeting from Pride! As I am writing this I’m sitting under a tree at my city’s Pride festival, eating a smuggled in tuna sandwich (I am NOT paying $4 for a hotdog, thank you very much), and trying to recoup some energy from having walked hither and yon around the area. The sun is shining (probably too much), the music is going, and–as the guy behind me has so eloquently put it–‘this place is full of f*ckin swinging dicks!’ Which to be fair, it was. But that is just part of the joy of Pride, and it makes a rather interesting atmosphere for writing this review.

When Ben gets a late night phone call from his friend’s brother, saying that his friend has fallen and is now in the hospital, he jumps a flight and travels across country to be with her and her brother. It doesn’t matter that he’s never actually met them, it just matters that his friend is hurt and that her brother sounds close to falling apart. He didn’t expect to fall for the younger man, or for their ‘vacation fling’ to mean anything other than a bit of fun. With lives on two sides of the country, there can be little else to it, he thinks. But he never counted on the determination of Zack Anderson–or the meddling of the guy’s older sister.

This is the second story I picked up for review out of Dreamspinner’s Daily Dose collection, and so far I am doing wonderfully. I really liked this story and it was perfect to read during my little lunch break.

Zack, when we first meet him, is having a bit of a rough time–which is understandable in the circumstances–but that is not all who he is. He loves his job as a teacher, and he is fiercely proud of who he is and what he does. I loved how the two halves of his character both fit so well. He is not all one thing or another. He can be strong and a bit broken all at once, and that allows Ben to be both protector and the man who deserves to be wooed properly.

While I tend to avoid stories where there is a time-limit on the relationship, I found that this worked out really well. Yeah, Ben has to go back home, but both he and Zack know this and decide to take what they can have. They might be lying to themselves that a few days of naked frolicking is all they want, but they decide to grab hold of what they can have. It just so happens that what they can have is a lot more than just a few days. They will just have to work at it.

And can I just say that the fact both men were willing to make the change was pretty awesome. I kinda dislike most stories where it becomes obvious that only one partner is expected to change their whole life in order to fit with the other dude. I just don’t like the imbalance that is implied in that.

So, for my second Daily Dose in a row, I must say that I highly recommend it. The story is great, the characters are very well written, and the length is just right for when you are hiding under a tree trying to avoid heat-stroke but don’t want to miss out on all the fun around you.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

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