Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: They Met in the Woods
SERIES: Meet Cute Chronicles
AUTHOR: Nell Iris
PUBLISHER: JMS Books
LENGTH: 70 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2021
BLURB:
Måns Elemander had A Plan. A researched and well-thought-out one, devised to help him avoid getting lost while foraging for mushrooms in an unfamiliar forest. But his cell phone battery didn’t get the memo, died unexpectedly, and thwarted The Plan, leaving Måns with a basket full of mushrooms, but no idea where to go. Until the sounds of someone chopping wood reaches him.
Måns follows the sound and finds a quaint cabin … and its owner, Viggo Moberg. Viggo is kind, understanding of the situation, and willing to help. He’s also smoking hot and their connection is instant, threatening to ignite and burn down the woods. Will the sparks burn fast and fizzle out, or will the attraction grow roots, just like the trees in the forest?
REVIEW:
NOTE: While this is the third story in this series, it’s completely unrelated to the previous story and is a stand alone.
Måns has recently moved from the city and he’s looking forward to his first foray into the forest to gather mushrooms. He’s loving the fresh air and he’s collected a whole basket of carefully selected fungus. But when he goes to return to his car, his phone has died and he has no idea which way to go. He tries to retrace his steps, but when he comes to the proverbial “fork in the road” he has no idea what to do. As he listens, he hears what sounds like someone chopping wood so he tries to follow the sound.
Viggo is spending a nice quiet weekend at his cabin. He’s renovated the crumbling cabin and he loves spending his weekends out in nature. He’s chopping some wood when a stranger happens upon him. The man, Måns, tells him that he’s unfortunately lost and needs direction back to where he’s left his car. Viggo can see that Måns is a bit tired and has travelled quite some distance on foot, so he offers refreshment and to share his lunch. Måns agrees thankfully – he is quite tired and famished. When he steps into Viggo’s cabin he is completely charmed and can tell that Viggo has done a lot of work to lovingly restore the cabin. Then enjoy lunch and as Måns is getting ready to take his leave with Viggo, an unwelcome visitor shows up 😉
Once they get rid of the visitor, Måns and Viggo give into their mutual attraction and agree to see each other again back in town. Both acknowledge the chemistry and how comfortable they feel. It’s clear that they would like to get to know each other better and are on the same page on seeing where this might lead. While all is not completely smooth sailing, they figure out a way to forge a path forward.
Once again, I am in awe of this writer’s ability to present a well written and complete love story in a minimal page count. Despite the number of pages, I felt like I really knew and understood Måns and Viggo – where they were in life, what they were looking for, their family backgrounds, their motivations, what made them happy. Måns has moved on the stage in his life where he feels the freedom of being out of the city centre and he wants to enjoy that and take advantage of nature. Viggo has already felt that pull and he’s acted on it and his little haven in the woods is perfect. This is I think completely relatable – probably now more than ever given the year we have all just been through 😉 This seems to be a lot of folks default setting and desire to get away from the crowds. I loved the secondary characters – both the described ones and those we meet on page. As a bonus, there are also some pretty humorous moments too 😛 Just a lovely and sweet story with an HEA that left me with a smile on face. Brava Ms. Iris! Nicely done.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
JMS Books
Amazon