Reviewed by Larissa
TITLE: Adler’s Hart
SERIES: Brigs Ferry Bay Book 2.5
AUTHOR: Misty Walker
PUBLISHER: self published
LENGTH: 131 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 17, 2021
BLURB:
If you have no heart, it won’t get broken.
Fate sends Adler one anyway.
I’m a loner.
Never getting too comfortable or allowing anyone to get too close.
So when I log onto the hook-up app on my last night in Ketchikan, Alaska,
I assume it’ll be a quick lay before I go south for the winter.
That is until I see the man who shows up at my door.
He’s young, wide-eyed, and perfect.
All I wanted was a one-night stand with no attachment,
I should’ve known things would be different with a man named Hart.
And after the best night of my life, I’m desperate to run.
Except we’re snowed in.
I try to keep him at a distance.
But there’s something about him that has me opening up,
letting him in against my better judgement.
Suddenly I don’t want to be alone anymore.
I want to be with him.
My Hart.
REVIEW:
Adler’s Hart initially released on January 1, 2021 as part of the Winter Wonderland Giveaway. But even if you read it then, I recommend you read this version. It’s double the length and converts Adler and Hart’s HFN into a HEA. It still retains all of the steamy, swoony goodness of Adler and Hart’s hookup turned romance, but does a better job at giving them dimension and depth as characters. It also digs in deeper to their relationship and why it works despite the large age-gap. (47-year-old Adler is more than twice Hart’s age (21).)
Adler’s Hart is book 2.5 in the Brigs Ferry Bay series. Chronologically, it takes place about a year after the end of Book 2, Kian’s Focus. It can be read as a standalone, but you’ll get more context if you at least read Kian’s Focus first. Adler was best friends with Archer and Mason, who were a couple, and the three of them jointly owned a boat catching king crab in Alaska. Mason died in a horrific accident (see Kian’s Focus) that left Archer reeling. Archer then left Alaska to take up residence in Brigs Ferry Bay where he fell in love with Kian.
When we see Adler at the beginning of Adler’s Hart, he’s grumpy, lonely and unhappily drifting through life. No friends, no family, no connections. Adler has not had an easy life. His homophobic, cruel parents beat him and then threw him out like trash. Every person he’s trusted thereafter either violated him or his trust, or both. And those that didn’t, like Archer, still ended up leaving him behind and alone.
Enter young, fresh faced, green eyed, Cali-boy, Hart. He swipes right on his app and agrees to a hookup with Adler. Their connection and chemistry are evident from the first moment they lay eyes on each other. What follows is some smoking hot, slightly kinky sex and it ends up being a lot more than a one time only.
Neither Adler nor Hart expect anything further even though they both feel the magnetic pull between them. But Mother Nature knows better and manufactures a forced proximity stay in Adler’s hotel room for two days due to a severe snowstorm. More than enough time for the two of them to get fully attached and invested in each other, despite all the reasons why they shouldn’t.
In Kian’s Focus, I struggled with the significant differences between Archer and Kian. Adler’s Hart similarly focuses on a grumpy/sunshine relationship with one party emotionally scarred and stubborn. Adler and Hart are vastly different in age and life experiences. They make zero sense together. But here, Misty Walker successfully sells it. She sufficiently develops their connection so I understand why they organically fit together. She manages to authentically bridge the large age-gap through Adler’s emotional immaturity and complete lack of experience with love and relationships. It puts the college graduate, Hart, on even footing. He’s the more emotionally mature of the two, although they still both make mistakes and need some work in the communication department. But undeniably they value each other; despite the instalove, they know each other and they matter to each other.
Note that while this is part of the Brigs Ferry Bay small-town romance series, the story does not show very much of the small town in this one. The story keeps a tight focus on Adler and Hart and while we see some glimpses of characters from the prior books, there’s no small town feel. But that’s ok. It’s really not needed. The story is well-written, a little bit angsty, and altogether hot and ultimately happy forever after. I think there’s more to come in the series, so I’ll look forward to seeing the town showcased more there, including, hopefully, more of Adler and Hart.
RATING: 
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