Brought to you by OBS reviewer Marianthi

The one time you step out of your comfort zone and it comes back to haunt you.  This is what happened to Emily Stevens.  She steps out of her safety zone at a vet convention and has a mutual one night stand.  Now it comes back to haunt her.  Remember the “what happens in Vegas line”? It doesn’t actually extend to Reno. Guess who her new co-worker/mentor is?  Yeah, that guy, Dr. Wyatt Stone.

Emily is a veterinary intern that must spend exactly one year in Idaho in order to pay off her school grant.  Yes, Idaho, not Los Angeles, like she wanted.  She is a tightly controlled person who must have a plan for everything.  She has a plan to stick it out for her 365 days, then hightail it back to L.A. where she can pursue a relationship with a steady guy (that doesn’t even know she wants a relationship, since all they were to each other was a study partner).  She wants a life with financial stability and a chance to not have to be the responsible adult in the relationship.  This wish extends to the relationship with her father and her sister.

Wyatt Stone is a vet at the animal clinic that has had all the major choices in his life made for him by his globetrotting parents.  He just wants to spread roots and settle in the one spot that he felt he had some stability, his Grandparents’ home in Idaho.  Both he and his two sisters are living together in the family money pit trying to form a home. Wyatt wants someone that puts him before their career and not someone with one foot out the door. Though they want different things, they can’t stop love.

I have both good and bad points about this book, starting with “the I want you, but I can’t” theme of the book.  It was actually starting to wear thin: it started early in the book and only seemed sillier as the book went on since neither character could keep their hands off each other. Secondly, the book was slow to start. I was finally picking up speed until I got distracted by editing errors (I counted at least two very obvious errors). There was also a thinly veiled (so easy to guess) criminal side plot that really had nothing to add to the story. I am still not sure why it was even introduced, but hey, I am not the author.

What I did like about the book was that the author is an established author that can write a consistent product for her consumers.  Your money is not wasted. It is a good, beach read.  It has a story arc that revisits, briefly, previous characters from the earlier books, and it starts an arc for the next book. Is it going to win awards? No.  Will it entertain you while you are at the pool or lounging at the beach? Yes.  I recommend it for that reason alone. This book is a chance to unwind and snack on “mental popcorn” for a while.  You know what mental popcorn is? A light/airy, covered in butter and salt treat that is delicious and satisfying.  It is for these reasons that I give it a solid 3 out of 5 stars.