Title: In Broussard’s Care
Series: Yearning Love #3
Author: Amber Kell
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novella
ISBN: 9781781849743
Publisher: Totally Bound Publishing (February 7th 2014)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥2~2.5Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb:Sometimes the deepest wounds are the ones you can’t see.
Dr. Jean Broussard hasn’t been lucky in love. The only men who interest him are either taken or end up wanting him for his money. When Detective Ryan Calloway appears in his emergency room, he thinks he’s found the perfect man.
Ryan had spent his life alone. Enjoying his independence, he’d always preferred one-night stands to anything longer. However, lately his friends’ relationship has left him feeling lonely for the first time. When he ends up being stitched together by a sexy doctor, he thinks he might’ve found the guy to break his solitary streak.
They’ll have to overcome a killer and threats on their lives before they can get on with the task of healing Ryan.
Purchase Link: https://www.totallybound.com/in-broussards-care
Review: This is yet another story that had a very nice idea yet failed in the end result. My main issue with this one was the hasty feeling it left me with. Everything, and I do mean everything, was rushed in this one. Plus, the blurb leads you into a very different mindset and expectation that the story doesn’t deliver.
Let me start with the instant lust/crush/love that occurs between the two men. Their entire relationship is one big BAM, with everything happening in a fast-forward fashion. The Doc meets Cop; instant lust is followed by a lightning speed date that has the two men sending the afternoon, night, and morning together. During this time Doc comes out as a possessive, bossy, overbearing person (I truly disliked his personality) and he’s just one step from literally putting a leash on the Cop, who in the meantime has every gay guy they stump upon drooling over him and trying to gain his attention, which brings out the cave-man inside Doc even more. In addition, the gentle doctor we first meet turns quickly into a very aggressive man, making a blatant come-on on Ryan and having literally no patience at all. A doc without patience… Yup, I disliked him all right.
Moving on at the erotic part of the novella, I have to say it was bland, uninspiring, and detached. The banter between the guys wasn’t good enough, but what was even worse was the fact that the act itself was so fast, you don’t get the chance to grasp what happened. Any chance of emotions reaching the reader was killed on the spot and sensuality went amiss in the chaos of the “don’t seed my sheets” afterglow. Very off-putting.
The mystery itself was lacking as the author pretty much reveals who the baddies are from the beginning. Suspense? What is that? The only surprising thing was one of the baddies’ personality that had us “tricked” at the beginning, but even that couldn’t make up for the transparency of the plot. Just so I don’t forget to mention this, it all happened so damned fast with the end coming so abruptly it made my mind reel.
I’ve said this time and again; While I do love Kell’s ideas, I really dislike the lack of development and plot finesse. This story needed space and time for development, a heavy look at the characters’ personality, and a great deal of revision/proof reading.