Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Joy
SERIES: States of Love
AUTHOR: C.S. Poe
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 76 pages
RELEASE DATE: April 5th, 2017
BLURB:
Down on his luck is Gideon Joy’s default state. He doesn’t know why he expected anything different on his cross-country trip, but not surprisingly, the hits keep coming—literally this time. Gideon strikes a moose with his car in New Hampshire, not only totaling his own vehicle, but damaging one belonging to local construction worker Silas Bright. He has no choice but to stay in Lancaster and take a job that’ll pay for the repairs. And in a town so small, Gideon’s always running into Silas. What starts as annoyance between them soon blooms into something much more romantic. But when Gideon’s notorious bad luck rears its head yet again, how many disastrous dates will Silas be willing to weather before realizing Gideon’s not worth it?
Despite Gideon’s desire to remain in the quaint community that has accepted him as one of their own, past fears of inadequacy threaten the very joy he left Los Angeles to discover. If he’s to find a happily ever after with Silas, Gideon must learn that sometimes it’s okay to not be the best. And true happiness might be waiting in a small town nestled among the great White Mountains.
REVIEW:
This story was incredibly cute. I like stories that have chance meetings like this one. While reading it I kept getting flashes of In The Middle of Somewhere by Roan Parrish….a chance meeting involving an accident and an animal, a tattooed hottie, a simple quiet country guy…opposites but they go together so well. My only issue was the lack of steam between these two. There was definitely some warmth but I really wanted to see Silas lose control with Gideon. You can feel it brewing but unfortunately it never happens.
Gideon Joy has set out on a cross-country adventure to find himself. Unfortunately a moose finds him first by running out in front of his car while also impacting fellow driver, Silas Bright.
After a rocky first meeting Silas and Gideon find themselves continually running into each other and an attraction slowly starts to develop.
Gideon believes himself to be bad luck so after a series of disaster dates, Gideon toys with the idea of going back home but he’s torn because he likes what he has with Silas.
Like I mentioned I would have liked more emotion and passion from these two. But I did like how it all played out. It was sweet, low heat and quite funny at times. Plus, that cover…AMAZING!!!
Recommend.
RATING: 
BUY LINK:
I like the cover too! Where are guys like that in RL?
I’m shocked and disappointed to see that this is yet another short story basically- 76 pages? And no steam? Cute is ok, if I’m in the mood (which I’m typically not), but without any heat I don’t have the patience. I expect passion in a romance, otherwise it’s a friendship that may someday be more, at least to me. Bummer, but I’m in no hurry for a sweet short story. I’ll mentally file this as a maybe-someday. I NEED the smexy times!
I love C.S. Poe!! I need to read this 🙂