I chose this from an ARC program because I was looking for a short romance read with all the feels and the synopsis looked promising.

The Premise

After running from an engagement when she was a teenager, chef Carrie has no intention of settling down into married life with children. Twenty-five years later, after raising her nephews, she still feels the same way: as though love and romance are far behind her. That is, until she meets Dr. Ben Murphy, the new head surgeon in town — who is practically royalty, as his family is well known and respected in their community. When he comes by to compliment her food, he soon becomes interested in far more than her cooking. As their relationship blossoms, Carrie wonders if it’s all moving too fast, and if she can give Ben what he needs, or if she will just run from love again.

The Pros

This was a quick read that I blew through in under an hour, and it held my interest for that short period. The characters are likeable, particularly the supporting characters that work with Carrie, and the relationship between the two main characters builds beautifully. I also appreciated that there was a slight age difference with a younger man and older woman, and that Ben did not want all the trappings of parenthood either. It’s a good message that shows love is for all ages, and that not everyone needs to follow the status quo of getting married and having children.

The Cons

While I enjoyed this story, I would not recommend it to others if you like an “all the feels” type of romance, as it’s just far too short for that. By the time I was getting into the characters, the story was already over! It felt like there wasn’t enough character development or depth, but honestly given the short length I don’t see how there could have been. It needed a bit more tension than its overall simplistic premise to really have the romance readers’ hearts pounding.

Conclusion

This was a short romance read, but it was missing the bang-for-your-buck that I prefer from my short stories. It was a nice intro to a story, but not enough meat for a full story itself. I can see it ticking the boxes for a quick story to knock off while perhaps waiting on an appointment or a flight, but not to curl up with on a cold night. Nevertheless, I would be interested in reading more by the author, as the writing was excellent and showed promising talent, and it was a good story that held my interest… but perhaps next time around, I’ll just pick a longer book!

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