I recently had the chance to review an advanced copy of Walk Away With Me by Darby Davenport aka Emlyn Chand. Romance isn’t generally my thing but free is. :)
Walk Away With Me is a novella about two people and their dogs: Charlie, an independent commitment-phobe who rescues Rugby, a big Rottweiler, from the pound; and Ethan, a risk-adverse actuary with a golden retriever named Tuck. The two bump into each other at a dog park, and when Ethan reluctantly agrees to give Charlie doggie behavior lessons, sparks soon fly.
This is romance, so of course it’s going to have an HEA. But the author does a good job of keeping the two apart without the typical romantic comedy cliches. The misunderstandings flow naturally based on the characters’ personalities and back stories.
My only criticism would be that we’re flat-out told so much about the characters – for example, Charlie repeatedly tells the read point-blank that she doesn’t want a relationship because it’ll kill her spontaneity, like it happened with mother – rather than letting it come out in the story through character actions and interactions. Maybe because this is only a novella, rather than a full novel?
Despite that, it’s a quick, sweet read, good for lovers of dogs and happy endings.
You can pick up a copy at Amazon, BN, or Smashwords.
