First review of Almost Paradise

The original review from Valentina Heart can be found on Goodreads here 


This review was originally written for Hearts on Fire Reviews and can also be found there. 


Almost Paradise drew me in with its interesting cover and intriguing blurb. Most of us, when we see the main character is a parent, jump right into the story, and lately we just hope for the best. This one also has shifters and financial trouble that in my experience tends to make things interesting, so I pretty much had to read it.


As the blurb says, Travis has been through a lot as he fought for the custody of his daughter, and after two years, with no money to his name and no place to stay, he still has his daughter in his arms. When looking for a job he meets Liam, a Shifter who sees something appealing in the desperate father and offers him a chance he needed.


This is a sweet and short story with one of the cutest kids I’ve read about. Hannah is just adorable and fit into the book much better than the two main characters. Liam came off as cold and bossy for the bigger part of the story. His pushy attitude and the lack of any background made it hard for me to know him let alone like him. But Travis seemed a rather nice man in the beginning. Dedicated father who only wanted what was best for his daughter and who needed some loving. He disappointed me toward the end, where this story sort of lost any romantic tone it had for me and turned into a business arrangement.


I could have swallowed the lack of sex, something I do look forward to in m/m romance, if the actual relationship between the two characters ended up being strong enough to keep me interested. How that didn’t happen and the ending seemed more like a beginning of something greater, I’m left to wonder if the sequel will continue this story or move on to the other men in Pine Hollow. After all, they are Pine Hollow Wolves.


I liked the charming side of this book I don’t stumble upon often enough and while the characterization and the plot needed some work I do hold high hopes for this author’s future work.