Guest Reviewed by Morgan
Title: A Gentle Kind of Strength
Author: Kendall McKenna
Heroes: Ray Lerner/Damien Federov
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 57,000 words
Publisher: MLR Press
Release Date: November 5, 2015
Available at: Amazon and Barnes & Noble
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: A police K9 handler believes he’s lucky when a romance starts with the local veterinarian, but then his canine partner is injured in the line of duty.
Sergeant Ray Lerner is a veteran sheriff’s department K9 handler. Damien Federov is the veterinarian caring for Harley, Ray’s canine partner. When taking a man as a lover, Ray’s always been confident. Around Damien, Ray becomes uncharacteristically shy and tongue-tied. When Damien begins their romance, Ray knows he’s lucky.
His obsession with a past tragedy blinds Ray to everything he has with Damien. When Harley is injured on duty, his life is in Damien’s hands. As Ray sits vigil, he has one final chance to allow Damien in all the way, or risk losing everything important, in a single night.
Review: Ray is a K9 handler for the local Sheriff’s department in San Diego. He’s been hiding a crush on his dog Harley’s veterinarian for the last 18 months. When Dr. Damien suddenly begins to give off some pretty clear signals that he might be interested, Ray is almost too afraid to take him up on it.
Damien has been interested in Ray almost from the start but is afraid that an aggressive pursuit will put off the Alpha male. When he realizes that Ray is a bit insecure and shy, he heats things up to make it clear he’s interested.
The relationship between Ray and Damien builds slowly but steadily over the coming weeks but comes to a head when Harley is in a near fatal accident. Will Ray lean on Damien and let him in, finally? Or will he put walls around himself that Damien won’t be able to breach?
**
This is a story with almost no angst. It is a relationship slowly building and finally resolving in a resounding HEA.
There is a lot of really interesting stuff about raising and training a K9, some pretty accurate medicine portrayed and a bit of hot sex.
I liked this story a lot because it was just a straight-forward “getting to know you” romance without a lot of drama.
There was next to nothing “to worry about” and that was a refreshing change of pace.
If you’re in the mood for a nice romance featuring two dog lovers – give this a go!
Overall Impression: I liked it
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for a fair and honest review.*
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