Ami's Hoard

2.5 stars

I read this preparing myself for the upcoming M/M novella in this series (with Ryan the cowboy) -- thought I needed to read the story of all four men of Wallaby Ridge. This time is Evan's turn; a scarred-helicopter pilot with guilty baggage over a crash five years ago that killed his co-pilot.

Now, I knew going in that it would be a novella length, but I couldn't help thinking how the dynamic of Evan and the woman from his past, the reporter who was also his ex-wife's ex-best friend would be more effective and compelling for me if it lasted longer. If they didn't quickly fall into bed and declared the forever-after kind of acceptance only after, what, a day or two? Sure Evan knew Jenna from six years ago, but they had never had contact since then, not like Evan and Jenna had 'history' (in the-one-who-got-away trope).

THAT haste just ruined the book for me. Because other than that, I thought the psychology of Evan with his scars or the reason why Jenna stepped back from the friendship with Evan's wife were interesting and would be wonderful to explore. At least in book #1, I could still give it my 3-stars because Matt and Tash had been working together for weeks. So even though if their story also happened fast -- but it was a culmination of attraction that had been built for quite a while. This one left me cold.

It was definitely NOT a memorable read in terms of the romance. Now, I could only wish that Ryan's story would be better.