From the Bookshelf of Q&A with Josh Lanyon…

Two Man Station (Emergency Services, #1)

Lisa Henry

Start date: November 1, 2020

Finish date: November 30, 2020

Discussion: Book of the Month Club

Why we're reading this: This will be our November 2020 read!
[close] This will be our November 2020 read!

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Book of the Month Club

* Candidates for Next Month's Read
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What Members Thought

Jan 28, 2018 Meep rated it it was ok

Shelves: showed-promise

Feels wrong low-starring a Henry but this didn't work for me, I barely connected and I'm already struggling to remember their names.

The chapters are short and we never pause long enough to connect. There's some backstory but not enough of the little daily communications that show the characters bonding and make them real. They got up, went on shift, got back - that's about it. Shift rotation meant they'd not spend that much time together and I didn't feel I got to know them either. Their getting Feels wrong low-starring a Henry but this didn't work for me, I barely connected and I'm already struggling to remember their names.

The chapters are short and we never pause long enough to connect. There's some backstory but not enough of the little daily communications that show the characters bonding and make them real. They got up, went on shift, got back - that's about it. Shift rotation meant they'd not spend that much time together and I didn't feel I got to know them either. Their getting together is sudden enough for whiplash, there's no lead up, no tension, nothing to suggest attraction between them, at that point they were barely on first name terms. I thought there'd been more bonding between Gio and the son Taylor than with Jason. Far too much happens off-page.

While Henry is clearly familiar with two-men stations... I'm not. I was confused when they were getting radio calls when the distance would limit where they could respond to and had assumed local problems would be reported directly. It was the same with Australian terms, not all were explained by context and it left me standing back from the story at times wanting more of an explanation.

I had no picture of the town, even on finishing the book I have no concept of how big the place is. I know there's a lot of dust and a river near enough for flooding to be an issue. That's it. The community is kept too distant, a few people flicker by but only two there's enough of a description of to picture. Family members appear to visit and go again within a chapter, it's all too fleeting to have impact.
In fact I have no visual of Jason beyond some freckles and 'strong hands' and by the end of the story was reaching to Henry's fanfics to provide a composite.

The last twenty percent or so was better, there were things happening; then there's a time jump to where we see things appear to be working out for them. I felt they were interesting characters and the story had great potential, but that I was just getting the summary and not really meeting the characters or being allowed to see past their defences. Things to like but then scene change before it could leave a mark. I know Henry is capable of wringing emotion from readers but it wasn't happening here, while there were traumatic stories everything was kept so light that little felt real.

Sadly a miss for me. ...more

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Apr 20, 2020 Silkeeeeeereads rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Well...

This is a bit of a slow read. I think it’s because there is so much description of the town and landscape. The characters were well-formed and really could have had more of a light shined on them instead of putting so much light on the little town, IMHO

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Apr 04, 2022 Allison rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2022

I do love them together and I really like that Jason already knew he was Bi and that wasn't really part of the story. I also liked that everything made sense within the story, responses to things that happened were realistic. I didn't even mind the kid and kids aren't my thing in books. It was unfortunate that Jason believed the lies about Gio for as long as he did. I liked that in the end the town accepted them together in a way that felt right for small town life.

Ha, my biggest issue with this ...more

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Apr 21, 2018 ΛNNΞ rated it really liked it

3.5 stars rounded up ...

I enjoyed this tremendously. Compelling and engaging ... but not without some notable flaws. First, the chemistry relied rather heavily on physical attractiveness but there was still plenty of chemistry ...

This is a lovely slow burn romance ...

What I probably enjoyed the most was the really great setting and the interesting cast of characters. Both are exceptionally well done. There was a heavy focus on the MCs respective exes which is not something I particularly enjoy ...more

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