Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Starting Over in Cedarwood 
SERIES: Cedarwood Pride
AUTHOR: Megan Slayer
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 195 pages
RE-RELEASE DATE: July 27, 2021
BLURB:
Starting over might just bring them the love they deserve.
Shaun Fallows came to Cedarwood to start over. He wants to be done with dating, but the moment he sees Kevin, the sparks are off the charts. He can’t get the sexy man off his mind. So much for not wanting to get involved. Kevin is the man of his dreams. Can he convince Kevin to give him a try or will the romance end before it gets the chance to begin?
Besides, there’s the small issue of Kevin’s cat…
Kevin Keiser did the dating thing and ended up burned. One of the few bright spots in his life is his cat, Leo. The animal might be a bit prickly, but he’s been a good meter for who Kevin should date and who he should avoid. He wants a boyfriend who isn’t put off by his pet. Shaun sure seems to fit the bill. Is he just another man or the love Kevin’s been waiting for?
REVIEW:
Shaun has started over after a bad breakup with an asshole ex by moving to Cedarwood, where his mother lives. He enjoys the small town and his job at the local paper. He’s in charge of the ads and he likes his work and the expanded role he has taken on. At the newspaper’s employee outing to the local baseball team game one night, he meets Kevin – the guy in charge of concessions at the stadium. Kevin has recently broken up with Kyle, who is in charge of promotions for the baseball team. Kyle is extremely pushy and all over Shaun during the game. Shaun has exactly zero interest in Kyle, but he is interested in Kevin.
Kevin is attracted to Shaun as well, but with Kyle always hanging around, he’s a bit awkward and nervous. Kyle has done a number on his self-esteem and so Kevin is just trying to keep things casual. But Shaun is definitely interested, so he does call Kevin and the agree to get together. Of course Kyle does his best to butt into Shaun and Kevin’s get togethers. Shaun is not having it though and puts Kyle in his place – not that he wants to stay there for long 😉
Shaun really wants to settle down and so he is a little bit fast moving for Kevin at first. Kevin’s still reeling a bit from Kyle and his drama. Then there is the cat. Kevin’s cat Leo is important to him. Kyle never liked Leo and getting along with the cat is a deal breaker. Luckily Leo seems to like Shaun. Kyle keeps trying to come between Kevin and Shaun, but he keeps getting shut out. But he tried to make trouble for Kevin and work too. Everyone sees through him though and while he keeps trying to play both end against the middle, it doesn’t really work out for him – which made me super happy since he was such a jerk 😉
Shaun and Kevin are moving pretty quickly. Shaun wants to buy a house and put down roots and then he gets a call out of the blue from his ex. Jonah was a serial cheater and Shaun really doesn’t want to see him, but Jonah has some of his property and he does want that back. Of course Jonah cannot resist trying to manipulate Shaun yet again. But he’s barking up the wrong tree. Luckily Shaun and Kevin are in a good place and have agreed to be honest with each other as a foundational part of their relationship. So despite really jerky and interfering exes, they are able to see a future together.
Well I really wanted to like this book more than I did. For some reason I just didn’t feel the chemistry at all between these two guys. There was a lot of repetitious headspace dialogue that got old with me pretty quick. It took me days to read this which isn’t a good sign. It just seemed to drag quite a bit in various places. The exes were the ultimate jerks – belittling, cheating, really treated Kevin and Shaun so badly that it made me wonder why in the world they ever got involved with Kyle or Jonah. The dialogue felt stilted to me as well, so the flow of the story wasn’t there. There’s nothing wrong with the story, per se, but somehow the execution was flat for me. Shaun’s wanting to start over was reasonable and I liked him as a character – although I though he pushed things way too fast with Kevin who is coming out of a bad relationship. Kyle, Kevin’s ex is a total douche canoe. I was actually quite pleased with his fate 😀 Jonah was also a total manipulative jerk, so I was glad to see the last of him. I did really enjoy the epilogue and the bright future for Kevin and Shaun, but getting there was a bit too rushed and insta-lovey for my taste. As usual YMMV.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Pride