Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Pawsitively in Love
AUTHOR: M.J. O’Shea
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 4th, 2016
BLURB:
What Austin Lloyd lacks in academics, he makes up for in his love of the animals who frequent his pet salon. He’s not lucky in romance, though, and his family would like him to settle down with a good man. Austin—and his golden retriever, Maggie—couldn’t agree more.
Evan Partridge isn’t good at letting people in. His messy family life and the past that’s shaped him aren’t worth bringing up. But his pug, Dexter, sure likes the pet salon owner.
Austin and Evan get off to a rough start, but being friends soon turns into something more. Unfortunately, Evan’s secretive behavior nearly does the relationship in, and the budding love affair almost crashes and burns when Evan’s troubled sister shows up on his doorstep.
Not speaking to each other is killing them both, but Evan doesn’t know how to keep Austin and help his sister at the same time. He just knows he has to try. Winning back Austin’s trust back, however, is going to take a whole lot of work.
REVIEW:
Puppy! I want a Dexter….
Evan is a teacher, puppy owner, brother, loner, and a hot mess. He’s recently moved to Tacoma Washington, really to escape his sister, and gotten a job as a professor. He’s also recently gotten a pug puppy named Dexter who he takes to a little local dog grooming salon owned by Austin. Unfortunately Evan is late to pick up Dexter from his grooming appointment, and Austin is in a crap mood. Austin takes it out on Evan, insulting him, and sending him packing. Austin, who has worked hard to get his salon open, is surprised at his own idiocy and feels bad about his reaction, not only was he rude to a cute man, but a potential long-term customer, a stupid thing to do as a new business owner.
Conveniently the two run in to each other at the store and Austin has the chance to apologize. Then he calls Evan to ask if he’d like to join a group of friends for a game of volley ball one afternoon…. this gets our two guys together. But not as a couple, only as friends. Evan has issues, and isn’t willing to get involved with anyone. Eventually we find out what his issue is, namely, his bitch of a sister Della. Meanwhile, poor Austin begins to fall in love with Evan and Dexter. Of course the two do eventually go from friends to lovers, with some drama along the way.
I liked the basic plot of this book very much. At first the two are friends hanging out, we get to know them fairly well, and Austin’s friends and family, as Evan is drawn in to Austin’s life. I liked it when they transitioned to more than friends, there was a touch of drama that sparked that transition, and that worked for me. But I didn’t care for the introduction of Della, she was too over the top bitchy for me, and I don’t think that Evan’s reaction worked. There is a whole thing that happens between Evan and Austin that just pissed me off, and pulled me out of what had been a sweet story up until that point. Then the ending….. it literally just ended. I knew I was about at the end, but I came to a point in the middle of a conversation, and there was no more. I was at 100%. At first I wondered if my copy was short a page, or something was goofy since it was an ARC, but I really think it was the end. I was left very unsatisfied. Yes, the drama between the two was resolved, but there was sooooo much more unresolved.
Evan was hard for me to like, I got past that though since he had a PUPPY! I loved Dexter the pug! I liked Austin quite a bit, and his dog Maggie. I liked the interaction of Austin’s friends and family, and Evan’s neighbors. All of the characters except Della were great. Especially the dogs. Did I mention there was a pug puppy? There was! I loved him! I liked the connection that grew between Evan and Austin, up until the big thing that happens, then I was just pissed off. I wish there had been more sex, there is only fade to black sex, and a bit of on page nooky would have been nice. Overall I liked the writing, MJ knows Tacoma, I am a Washington girl myself and appreciate her attention to detail. Obviously I liked the introduction of the dogs, there is even a neighbor child that I liked, sometimes dogs and kids can detract from a story, but that wasn’t the case here. I could see that Austin and Evan were developing their own little family, including Austin’s friends. I really was very happy and just enjoying a nice story, up until Della. I’m just not sure that was the best way to take the plot….
So I liked 3/4 or so of the book just fine and would have totally given it a higher rating if it had kept going on the sweet path it had been on, before Della fucked it all up!
RATING:
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