Series: Sweetwater Springs, #7
Traits & Tropes: second chance
Publication Date: 01.26.21
Genre/Setting: Contemporary; North Carolina, USA
Heat Level: 1/5
Rating: 3/5
Sophie Daniels has her hands full running her boutique and definitely had no plans to adopt a dog, especially not a puppy with a broken leg and lots of energy. But since she’s the one who tapped the pup with her car, she caves when the vet, Chase Lewis, asks her to foster him. Chase also happens to be the high school sweetheart she never quite got over so frequent contact with him seems risky for her heart too.
Chase has just returned to take over the veterinary clinic in his hometown so he can be closer to his young nephew. He loves the small-town life, but it means confronting the feelings he still has for Sophie. Since she needs his help with the puppy, Chase is hoping she’ll fall in love with them both.
This premise was so cute, and the second chance aspect was different here as it was the heroine who ended the previous relationship which seems rare. The first half of this really worked for me and the latter sadly didn’t. I kept rooting for Chase and wound up feeling like he deserved better from Sophie. He seemed to give more than she did, and she refused to meet him in the middle, pushing him away out of a misplaced fear. This made Sophie seem rather disingenuous to me as Chase had always been there for her and she was the one to push him away, but he never gave her a real reason to doubt him. I adored the small-town setting and Chase as a genuinely good guy hero struggling with painful emotions, but the actual romance here fizzled out for me and I didn’t really get it until the very end. This aspect wasn’t helped by the lack of steam, but the main issue was how Sophie seemed to blow issues out of proportion or create them from nothing, seeking to blame Chase for things that weren’t his fault. She insisted she wasn’t a victim despite her accident, but mannerisms she exhibited, like hiding her scars, even from Chase, said otherwise and undermined their relationship. This was a cute setting but for me not much happened and there were many cyclical arguments and repetitive inner monologues that had me struggling to stay interested and invested in the story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3814445666
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1300416220
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