Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Doc Cedarwood
SERIES: Cedarwood Pride #8
AUTHOR: Megan Slayer
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 193 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 19, 2020
BLURB:
Can an accident and a rim job lead to lasting love?
Aiden Connor isn’t looking for a date. Sure, he wants one, but relationships seem to be too difficult to maintain. He’s an ER doctor and doesn’t have time for commitment…that is, until he runs over a curb and needs a new rim for his sports car. The mechanic isn’t anything like he expects, but could be the one man he needs if he’s willing to open his mind and heart.
Matt Phillips equates dating with disaster, but sees himself as an eternal optimist. When he catches sight of Aiden, he wants to give relationships a try. Every cell in his body screams to get the sexy doctor naked and in his bed. But Matt has demons and addictions he’s still working through. Will he fall prey to his past or learn and move forward with the hot doctor?
Reader advisory: This book contains reference to homophobically motivated physical and emotional child abuse of main character and parental neglect. There are scenes of robbery and shooting, hospitalization, and references to past substance abuse issues.
REVIEW:
First of all, pay attention to the reader advisory in the blurb. It’s not a light thing. If it’s a trigger for you, take care of yourself.
I do have to say, I wasn’t as crazy about this book. I love this series, I really do, but this one just threw me off. Even though I know this is a book and fictional, it seems like it could be such a real story, because it happens all over the world. And even this book does. I get bad relationships, heck, I get psycho exes. I’ve got one. But it just seemed like this whole relationship was just an excuse to break up and stay alone and they seemed so wishy washy, if that makes sense. It drove me nuts.
Aiden and Matt both are no strangers to bad relationships. At all. Aiden’s exes all think because he’s a doctor they can live in the lap of luxury and then complain when he works all the hours he does to try to just break even it seems some days. And then they leave when they don’t get what they want. And only return when what they are getting elsewhere doesn’t seem to be what they want. They just use him. Lucky is the worst. Matt’s exes are more lethal. Theo seemed to love the fact that Matt was an addict and alcoholic when they were together, because it gave Theo the excuse to booze and dope him up so he could cheat and do whatever he wanted. But when both Matt and Aiden wised up, in their ways, the exes weren’t happy. And so it’s hard for them to trust. So when Aiden comes in to have his car fixed after someone tried to run him off the road, the attraction between the two of them seemed off the charts. But from the get go, they couldn’t get over being jealous of every little thing, or something would set them off so they were ready to run. It wasn’t healthy. And when Matt gets shot, it seems to get better for a bit, until the exes show up and together. Then Matt realizes who shot him, Aiden is having issues concerning his father, Matt is having issues at his shop, thanks to his business partner and now Matt and Aiden are in trouble because they know who has done what and why. And it’s a question of who is going to make it out alive.
I hate what these two had to go through, I really do. Even fake people don’t deserve the crap they get. But if you imagine this is real life, and it so often is, it’s truly horrifying. I get why they don’t trust easily. I get why they get jealous quickly or assume too fast. I get why they want to run for the hills. But the back and forth with these two was insane. And with so many people trying to talk to them and help them let go or push them in the right direction, there honestly wasn’t any reason for them not to talk and get it out. I get why Matt held back a bit. Especially with Aiden being a doctor. He didn’t want Aiden not to trust him. And I get that AA and NA are exactly that. Anonymous. So it’s not like Matt could say, here go ask my sponsor if I’m still sober. So some things I totally understand. And I hate that Matt was thrown under the bus by his ex for it. But see, that’s what aggravated me. They never stopped getting hot headed and listen. They just flew off the handle or misjudged something and ran. They never gave the other a chance to explain or tell the story behind it all. And it made things with them so much harder because neither would truly stop and listen. Neither. It was a mess.
Like I said, I understood a lot of things and the reasons behind it, but the back and forth was just too much. I understand even more the insecurities that comes with body image and everything else. Believe me. I just had a harder time with this one. I hope you guys like it and see what you think.
RATING: 
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