Reviewed by Louisa
TITLE: The Pick Up 
SERRIES: Up Red Creek #1
AUTHOR: Allison Temple
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 337 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 5th 2018
BLURB:
Kyle’s life is going backwards. He wanted to build a bigger life for himself than Red Creek could give him, but a family crisis has forced him to return to his hometown with his six-year-old daughter. Now he’s standing in the rain at his old elementary school, and his daughter’s teacher, Mr. Hathaway, is lecturing him about punctuality.
Adam Hathaway is not looking for love. He’s learned the hard way to keep his personal and professional life separate. But Kyle is struggling and needs a friend, and Adam wants to be that friend. He just needs to ignore his growing attraction to Kyle’s goofy charm, because acting on it would mean breaking all the rules that protect his heart.
Putting down roots in this town again is not Kyle’s plan. As soon as he can, he’s taking his daughter and her princess costumes and moving on. The more time he spends with Adam, though, the more he thinks the quiet teacher might give him a reason to stay. Now he just has to convince Adam to take a chance on a bigger future than either of them could have planned.
REVIEW:
The best word to describe The Pick Up is cute. The story is happy and flows well making it a delight to read on a Sunday afternoon with a nice glass of wine. Yes, there is sadness in the past, but it doesn’t drag the tone of the book down at all.
Kyle talks too much and it is sweet, while Adam doesn’t seem to like to talk at all. Add in a six year old little girl who is obsessed with a princess movie and it is rather amusing. Kyle’s father was a very strong character. He was supportive and on occasion disapproving and yet seemed to have fun with the mishaps of his son’s life. Adam’s sister, Rebecca was also a good supporting character who’s love of Adam jumped off the page with a sense of sisterly care and sometimes criticism.
There isn’t a lot of angst in this book. But there is plenty of emotion. I really felt for both Kyle and Adam and their pasts. And even though they are both cautious, you always understood their feelings. The two MC’s also had a good amount of chemistry, even at the beginning. My only comment is that often the author tells us what to feel instead of showing us the feeling.
My absolute favourite thing about this book is that Adam didn’t spend time questioning Kyle’s sexuality because he had a daughter. Kyle saw their mutual attraction and went with it. It was a very refreshing change from the books where is it presumed the guy with a kid is straight. I was really impressed with how Kyle’s and Adam’s sexuality was portrayed.
Overall, I was really impressed with The Pick Up by Allison Temple. I will certainly be reading the other books in this series.
RATING: 
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