3 out of 5 stars
Ebook. Kindle Unlimited. 272 pages. Published April 1 2018
Blurb:
“I can’t do this without you” Chase Williamson
was never meant to be a dad. Like it or not, though, he’s now the sole guardian
of five-year-old Lyla and terrified of messing it up. He needs help, but who
wants to rescue a high school dropout? Certainly not the gorgeous newcomer in
town, even if he is an ex-Marine.
Hunter Duke is looking forward to a small-town life to drive away his demons.
Maybe meet a nice girl? Adopting a puppy begins to fill the hole in his heart,
but it’s an unlikely friendship with Chase and his daughter that really starts
to make Hidden Creek feel like home.
When social services threaten to take Lyla away, Hunter knows he’ll do anything
to prove that this town is wrong about Chase. Could it be that this is the
family he was searching for all along?
Welcome to Hidden Creek, Texas, where the heart knows what it wants, and where
true love lives happily ever after. Every Men of Hidden Creek novel can be read
on its own, but keep an eye out for familiar faces around town! This book
contains a three-legged puppy with attitude, a long-awaited comeuppance, and
enough kisses to mend any broken heart.
Likes:
- Hunter was a good guy.
- Chase was a good dad.
- The town is relatively open and welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community.
- Puppy.
Dislikes:
- Chase’s low self-esteem, literal hand wringing, and self-destructive habits.
- Lyla.
- No one went into therapy despite obviously needing to.
- The lack of focus on Chase and Hunter’s lives as a whole.
- Chase’s past was only mentioned in snippets despite having a huge effect on him.
- There was no arc when Hunter realized he liked Chase. It was just ‘boom, he’s gay.’
- Started skimming at 70 %
- Overall very cliché.
- Over the top villainous social worker.
I was very hesitant going into this book because I really didn’t like the last book I ready by H.J. Welch, Ashes. But I always try to give authors a second chance because not every book is going to be for me. So I started Storm with an open mind and…it was fine.
I had strong negative feelings about Ashes, so despite giving the books the same rating, I did enjoy Storm better. I was invested in the story, and enjoyed watching Hunter and Chase get to know each other. Unfortunately, once they got together it was all very predictable and I ended up skimming until the end.
Chase is a sympathetic character who suddenly finds himself struggling to deal with a grieving daughter he barely knows. It was nice to watch him gain confidence as a father, and he clearly loved Lyla. I did wonder why he spent so little time with her when they lived in the same town because Chase doesn’t know Lyla’s friends or what her favorite food is.
Unfortunately, Chase has a whole slew of personal problems, including self-esteem so low it’s practically nonexistent. I actually rolled my eyes at him once because he was just being so over the top with how he sucks at everything. Worst of all, in my opinion, is that he never tried to better himself. He didn’t try to get his GED or read parenting books or learn how to cook or anything that would make him feel like less of a screw up, and it’s hard for me to get behind a character like that.
Hunter is the opposite of Chase. He’s a strong, smart, ex-Marine doctor with a new house and an adorable puppy. And he befriends Chase because of intuition. Okay, fine. I liked Hunter’s character, except the part where he
kept ignoring his PTSD and hoping it would go away on its own. He’s a doctor and yet he won’t seek professional help when he needs it? Ugh.
The final two important characters were Lyla and the social worker. The social worker was so obviously evil that he became cartoonish. And Lyla… I usually don’t mind children in my romance novels, but I didn’t care for Lyla. Maybe she was just too young and struggling with the grief of her mom’s death, but a little of her went a long way and she was in the story a lot.
Overall, I feel like this story is held together by threads instead of it being a finely woven tapestry. It was enjoyable when I was reading it but the moment I actually thought about the plot, I noticed all the little things that didn’t quite work.
I don’t know if I’m being overly harsh on the book because I didn’t like Ashes or if Welch is just not the author for me. Maybe a bit of both. I’ll read her third book in season 3 of the Hidden Creek series, but don’t think I’ll read her standalone stuff.
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