This review will post 10/10/17

Single dad romances are becoming one of my favorites, so I was excited to request Saving Shelby Summers for review. According to the blurb it should be a great read and one of my favorites, sadly, it’s not a book I feel comfortable recommending.

I wanted to connect with Shelby and Nathan, but I just couldn’t. Both have had traumatic experiences and I wanted to feel for them, however Shelby came off a tad immature for her age and she was so down on herself that I felt like she was the equivalent to a human Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh). Nathan, oh man, he just came off as cold, I wasn’t even sure how much he loved his daughter and by the end of the book, I was convinced he only “loved” Shelby because he needed a mother figure for Caity.

I think a huge part of the reason I didn’t connect is that during most of the book I felt like the author was telling me what happened, I didn’t get to read it. For example, when Shelby finally tells Nathan about her past, we are told about the conversation but didn’t “witness” it. There is also no intimacy displayed between Shelby and Nathan, I’m not saying I didn’t like it because there were no sex scenes, it’s just that I never felt a real connection between the two.

Based on other reviews I’m in the minority, but Saving Shelby Summers just didn’t do it for me.

Saving Shelby Summers by Margaret Sutherland

This sweet romance set down under sees a widowed father and young woman saving one another – in more ways than one.

Shelby had a traumatic event in her teens that has made her fearful of men. While riding her friend’s horse one day she falls into trouble and is saved by a stranger. That stranger shows up later as the locum veterinarian for the clinic she is receptionist in. They get off to a rocky start but she eventually ends up working as nanny to his young daughter. As they deal with Caity’s acting out, contend with their interest in one another, deal with work upheavals and get to know their neighbors their lives eventually come together and a HEA is found for everyone.

This was a story of people finding support in friends, making new friends, what family means all wrapped up in a bow that leads from romance to love and a fairytale ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and The Wild Rose Press, Inc. for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

I found this book to be poorly written. The plot was good & I wanted to like it, but it was hard to connect with the characters. I only parts that I enjoyed were with the animals.

Shelby is rescued by a stranger who prevents a near drowning of her and her horse. Come to find out her rescuer was her new boss at the vet clinic who lost his wife recently and is trying to raise his young daughter. They have many obstacles to overcome in order to become the family they both deserve.