Rating: 4 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Evin is a single dad to six-month-old Micah, so when he burns his hand baking teething biscuits, Evin has no choice but to take Micah with him to the ER. Of course, the very last person he expects to run into his his ex. Dr. Ben Perez is now a ER doctor in Portland. They haven’t see each other in six years, and Evin’s heart is still broken by Ben walking away, even if he found someone in the meantime to build a life and start a family with. Daniel was taken from him too soon, and Evin’s only focus is on his son.
The moment Ben sees Evin again, all his old feelings come crashing back. Not that Evin has ever been far from his mind. Ben walked away because he thought he had to, but he’s never stopped loving Evin. And Ben is fully aware he’s got some work to do if he can ever get Evin’s trust back. But he just wants to help Evin.
The two agree to try being friends again, and then their relationship moves to more. But just as they are getting started, an event sends Evin spiraling, remembering that the world is a dangerous place. But Ben is not willing to give up what they’ve been building, and he’s determined to show Evin that his trust is not misplaced.
Alicia Nordwell is a new to me author, so when looking for a book for this week’s challenge, I immediately grabbed this one up. I’m not usually one for kids in my romance, but a baby is a different story. And reunited lovers are one trope that always gets me. So I was happy to take a chance on this book and this author. And I’m glad I did.
Right off the bat, we can see that Evin is still grieving the loss of his partner. But we also see that even though he was happy and looking forward to his future, it wasn’t the same kind of love he had with Ben. I really liked that the author made the distinction without ever making Evin’s relationship with Daniel seem cheap or unimportant. I liked watching Evin work through his own feelings. I liked that he wasn’t going to just accept Ben back into his life without explanation. And I really liked that Ben knew he had a lot to make up for, and was willing to put in the work.
The way these guys meet again is creative, and I thought that their first few encounters really grounded the story in reality. As things move along, it gets a little predictable, but not in a bad way. Ultimately, they get to the place we all know they’ve been heading. And while it felt real, I would have liked a little more time and development here. The end seemed to rush a bit, and I was looking for a bit more from them and from the story.
But it was a really nice book, and Evin and Ben were great characters. There were few secondary characters, and that really lent itself to the story. Evin’s best friend was the perfect kind of best friend we all want to have. And baby Micah was the perfect teething six-month old. All in all, there wasn’t a lot of new ground covered in this story, but the author handled it well. With smooth descriptive prose, and shining moments of wonderfulness, I really enjoyed Nordwell’s style. This is a good book, and I’ll definitely be looking for other works by the author.
This review is part of our Reading Challenge Month for New to Me Author Week! Leave a relevant comment below and you will be entered to win a fabulous prize from Riptide Publishing. One winner will win a set of Advanced Review Copies before the books are released (or if it is a non-U.S. winner, an electronic copy of the books upon release). Commenters will also be entered to win our amazing grand prize sponsored by Dreamspinner Press (a loaded Kindle fire filled with DSP books!). You can get more information on our Challenge Month here, and more details on New to Me Author Week here. And be sure to check out our prize post for more details about the awesome prizes!
I read a couple of Alicia Nordwell’s before and I had this a while ago as an ARC. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it as much as you do. But I do like babies in my romance 🙂
Always appreciate a differing opinion.
Thanks for weighing in Ami. 🙂
Babies and second chances, oh boy. I’m a goner.
Then this is definitely a book for you!
This is not an author I’ve read, but the book sounds interesting. I particularly appreciate a romance where the deceased partner is mourned and not reviled. I may give this one a try. Thanks for your review, Kris.
I agree with you there Kareni. 🙂
Alicia Nordwell is a new to me author and i think this would be a fun book to start with. I love a lovers reunited story and i don’t mind kids in my romance novels as long as they don’t take over the story. I also don’t like it when kids in books act older than their actual age but i don’t think that will be happening in this books since “the kid” is a six-month-old baby LOL Thank you for your review
It was definitely a fun read and it sounds like this’ll be right up your alley.
And yep! That’s my biggest complaint with kids in romance too!
Thanks for commenting
Thanks for your review, this is one I might give a chance.
I have one of her books on my computer–a freebie from the Goodreads m/m group – but it was a BDSM book
so I haven’t read it yet. This one sounds like it’s more my style. 🙂
She’s got a nice descriptive style. Hope you give it a chance. 🙂
I’ve only read Alicia’s fantasy stories. I’m not really one for kids in my stories either but like you feel babies are a different story. I appreciate the review.
Baby definitely makes a difference in this one 🙂
Oh, I’ve actually got this book, I loved the concept, and am a fan of kids in books, tho I’ve never read the author before (i thought i had) and am now looking forward to read the books, I could use something sweet and nice and this sounds perfect
This one fits the bill. Low angst and two guys coming together again. Enjoy!
This sounds like a lovely, sweet slow-burn story!
Not too slow, but it has a lovely anticipation:)
I’ll probably check this one out. I like the other books of hers that I’ve read (mostly scifi) and I like it when forgiveness isn’t instantaneous in a story.
I do as well. Ben has to work for it. Enjoy!
This story has a lot of my catnip elements, babies, second chance romance and Portland. Thank you for review.
Second chance and Portland are catnip for me too!
Ooh, if you guys like Portland, read Annabeth Albert’s Portland series!
I like this author a lot, although I usually read her sci-fi. I would be willing to try this because of the author.
I love it when authors cross genres. Enjoy!
Although I recognize the name, I haven’t read any of AN’s books. This one sounds like a nice story, but it doesn’t hold much that I’m looking for right now. I’m glad to know, though, if I do decide to pick an AN book up sometime in the future with a premise that grabs me that I’ll probably have a good reading experience.
Definitely keep it in mind should your interest swing in this direction.
Sounds good. And I really like stories about second chances, so I´m going to add Earning His Trust to my TBR pile. Thank you for the review, Kris
Second chances are a fave of mine and this one fits the bill. Enjoy!
Ooh I do like second chances and babies are cool. Will have to add to my tbr list~
Thanks for the review. I’m not always keen about baby tropes, but this has other ones going for it that sounds like it makes for a good mix – grief, second chances, slow burn … hmm.
I have never read books from her. Maybe I should try this one.
I’ve read most of the author’s books and her sci-fi series is pretty awesome. I already got my copy of this one too. Thanks for the review.