Rating: 3 stars
Buy Link:
Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel


Otto is heading out of town for a few days and just wants to get there despite the heavy rain. Otto hasn’t had much luck with relationships and with his ex randomly texting him, he’s uneasy. When a deer runs in front of him, Otto’s car slides off the road and a handsome stranger comes to his rescue.

Greg Trainor moved to this small town in Washington to start over and try and leave behind the memories of the family that disowned him. He now owns a specialty kite shop and he helps out the other residents in the small community as needed, and stopping for a stranded motorist is exactly something Greg would do.

The men run into each other again and what was supposed to be one night turns into four, until Otto has to return back home. The connection between Otto and Greg is intense, but after such a short time, neither feels like they have the right to ask for more. But Otto is looking to make some changes to his life and Greg and a small town could be exactly what he needs to build his future.

Sometimes you just know that a book isn’t going to fully work for you and that was the feeling I had here within the first few chapters of Trusting the Elements, as the storyline and the characters did not draw me in. The men meet by chance when Otto gets his car stuck in a storm and then later again at a bar that night. We are told the attraction is heated between the two of them, but for a book that opens with the men hooking up as soon as they meet, I wanted to feel that attraction and heat, and it wasn’t there for me. And, even though they had limited choices at the convenience store, I seriously questioned their decision to use aloe vera gel as lube.

Otto owns a sex toy store and is looking to open a second location, which is the reason he visits the small town. We don’t know why he chose this town in particular and being the owner of a sex toy shop didn’t exactly fit his character. Also, he didn’t do any research for this second store as he bought a building, and was it even a feasible venture for this small town? Greg owns a kite shop and while the weather is warm for most of the book and the town is a tourist location, it was a stretch for me to believe that Greg’s shop was so constantly busy every day that he couldn’t take even a lunch break. The dynamics for a lot of things were off for me right from the start.

The men fall in love quickly; they just know from the start, but they don’t talk to each other much and when they need help, they don’t call on each other. Otto has an ex from years ago that randomly texts him and wants him back and then becomes a stalker and, of course, Otto doesn’t want to tell anyone and it all came off as flat. It felt like drama for the sake of drama, but it read as routine and had just as much emotion as any other scene and didn’t work for me. Greg also has family drama as his parents disowned him and his sister is horrible to him. The drama escalates toward the end of the book and it read as just a lot of characters coming in and out.

The tone overall had a juvenile quality to me and this book and style was not a good match for me. This is a new series by Keaton that is a spin-off from her Accidental Roots series. I was not aware of that when I chose the book and I had not read that first series, but this book would work fine on its own. If you liked Accidental Roots and possibly recognize these characters, this may then work better for you.