Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE: How to Catch a Vet

SERIES:  Chester Falls Book 6

AUTHOR: Ana Ashley

PUBLISHER: Self-published

LENGTH: 213 pages

RELEASE DATE: June 19, 2021

BLURB: 

The first thing I learned at Vet school was to always expect the unexpected.

Well, I sure never saw Santiago Torres or his adorable Great Dane coming.

Santi is everything I’m not. Tall, confident, overbearing, and if I’m to believe his advances, he’s also very experienced in…well, you know what.

I always play safe, but it’s time to ditch the v-card. We couldn’t be more different, but that doesn’t matter because this is just a one time thing.

I’m not going to want more, right?

I’m not going to fall for him, right?

How to Catch a Vet is the sixth book in the Chester Falls series and features an opposites attract story between a virgin and a player, a Great Dane with a tendency to rescue – read kidnap- other people’s pets, and a small town like no other.

REVIEW: 

How to Catch a Vet is the sixth book in Ana Ashley’s diverting Chester Falls series.  Each book spins out a charming small-town romance featuring endearing characters and interesting, often surprising, couples.  How to Catch a Vet is no exception.  

Santiago Torres, brother of Luca and BFF of Ryan from How to Catch the Boss, has returned to his hometown of Chester Falls after being discharged from the military due to a devastating health diagnosis.  His life has been upended.  He’s reeling from the abrupt end of his military career.  But even moreso, he’s grieving over the loss of his independence and plans for the future.

Micah Sawyer has also returned to Chester Falls to take over his grandfather’s veterinary practice.  Micah’s shy and awkward, at least with people.  With animals, he’s in his element, confident and at ease.  Due to a confluence of events in high school, Micah became the target of bullying due to his weight and sexuality.  Ostracized by his peers, he folded in on himself and tried to become invisible.  He determinedly focused on his studies and his infrequent attempts at dating sputtered out.  Almost a decade later, Micah is still a virgin and his self-deprecation over that fact, as well as his appearance, remains strong. 

Santi and Micah make an improbable match, but they absolutely work as a couple.  Complete opposites on the outside but kindred spirits on the inside.  Ms. Ashley doesn’t allow this romance to fall into trope predictability because she adds dimension and depth to Santi and Micah’s relationship.  She creates a lovely dynamic between them, with each needing something that the other unreservedly supplies.  

She also uses Santi and Micah’s relationship to weave an important message through the story.  Appearance doesn’t matter.  People should be judged by who they are, not what they look like.  Happiness comes from accepting yourself and your limitations, rejoicing in the things that make you unique and special and believing in your core that you are worthy of love.  Santi’s physical limitations specifically underline this point. 

Ms. Ashley also injects into the story some external conflict with Micah’s high school bullies, likely to further enhance this message.  She didn’t need it, though, to convey her point.  Perhaps Ms. Ashley belatedly realized this, because that thread was resolved abruptly in an unconvincing way.  In my view, it ultimately detracted from the story she wanted to tell, rather than enhanced it. 

On the flip side, though, Ms. Ashley surrounds Santi and Micah with a crazy crew of adorable, charismatic animals which provides a very welcome and appreciated addition to the story.  Santi’s continual, unintentional adoption of animals that his Great Dane brings home is as improbable as it is hysterical.  But overwhelmingly, it provides a heartwarming lightness to the story that balances out the seriousness of Micah and Santi’s personal troubles.

I would be remiss if I didn’t note Ms. Ashley’s clever twist to the title of How to Catch a Vet.  This time the catching goes both ways with Micah the vet catching the attention, affection, and love of Santi the vet. Or maybe it’s Santi the vet catching the attention, affection, and love of Micah the vet.  Either way, it works.

Overall, How to Catch a Vet provides an easy, sweet read with endearing characters and some seriously adorable pets.  The story is low on angst, and while it’s also low on steam, it’s high on found family and imparting its characters, and animals, with a feeling of belonging.  

If you are looking for feel-good stories of love with a small-town vibe and colorful characters, then visit Chester Falls.  You can begin the series at any point;  they are interconnected standalones so you can absolutely read How to Catch a Vet first.  However, they’re all worth reading, so I encourage you to start at the beginning and enjoy the journey.  I’m looking forward to the upcoming culminating book in the series, How to Catch a Happy Ever After, which comes out in December, to see how Ms. Ashley brings it all full-circle and closes the series out. 

RATING:   

BUY LINK: 

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