Serena Carter is passionate about her family, her Navy buddies, and her photography. Zack Sans was far too passionate about his work leading to a failed marriage and disastrous health crisis. When Serena spots Zack''s port wine birthmark it reminds her of an earlier love and she asks to "shoot" the man. He usually refuses all such requests and lives almost as a recluse except when forced into action by his bossy sister or for something related to the family foundation. He agrees and finds himself attracted to the positive, petite woman behind the camera, When Serena accepts an out of state year long contract, he finds ways to see her in Missouri. At first, I was put off by some of the highly detailed scientific jargon from Zack but it is part of who he is--it reveals his passion to us. Parker paints a vivid picture of the beauty Serena captures so you can see what her camera sees. This unlikely couple are old enough to know a slow simmer infuses more flavor into the sauce. Their romantic attraction is tested by hackers, wildlife, distance, death threats, and medical emergencies. But some couples can overcome all that and their inner demons to grab their happy-ever-after. I received a copy of this novel through netgalley with the expectation of a fair review.

I’m from Missouri so was happy to read a novel set in my state. Several state parks were mentioned.

I also appreciate a story about mature people in their 50s. Those are hard to find.

Sadly, that’s what I liked about this book. Unfortunately, I thought the banter was awkward, stilted and mostly confusing. It felt like i was missing a page to explain. What they said and did just didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t get their attraction to each other from the beginning…she was reserved and military and he was secretive. I wanted to like it but it just missed the mark on most levels for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

Slow burn romance with perfectly imperfect characters.
Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.

A love story involving an older couple and a understated hero, hiding a world of secrecy beneath an opaque demeanor, “Morning Tryst”, by Ellen Parker (Wild Rose Press), is a refreshing outlook on how mature people can and deserve to be great romantic leads.
I loved Zack Sans, the aloof hero, and how he and the heroine, retired from the Navy and a photographer, fall for each other.
He’s an unusual male character, and the “perfect imperfection” adds immensely to his elusive charm. It’s really the combination of traits that make this handsome hermit so fascinating, but I’m not going to enumerate and spoil.
Both leads can be seen as a departure from the norm and I loved that, too.
The fact this is a romance between older people is handled in a cool, smooth way, and the main characters are attractive and compelling without much of a fuss about their ages; I thought this was wonderful.
The romance between Serena and Zack is slow, another aspect I enjoyed.
I also enjoyed the way the author elaborated Serena’s initial reason to be attracted to him and how she wrote a love story from that unusual beginning. The candid way Serena explained her sort of fetish was also surprising. The politically correct thing to do would be perhaps to ignore or feign disinterest.
What Zack tries to hide as his “poor side” (repelling, hideous) is, for Serena, an “intriguing profile”, and from the photographer’s perspective, fascinating and memorable.
I felt there was such a promising content to explore in Zach’s character – his oddities, his sometimes awkward behavior, the locking of his heart against “messy emotions” – that I would trade that for the detailed descriptions of Serena’s shootings of the state parks.
I liked how his family shone light in his personality but that happened too late in the story, in my opinion. I was always expecting to have more of Zack but it didn’t happen as fully as I was expecting and I felt a bit frustrated.
I also would have liked to have seen more of the leads’ relationship development, I was left thinking they spent little time together, and sometimes their interactions felt a bit flat.
I appreciated the planning of the shootings and all the intense work involved in the creative process, Serena’s respect for Nature and her passion for the wondrous, unfathomable Atlantic Ocean.

An interesting romance with a hint of mystery. A delightful trek through Missouri, even though San Diego was much more familiar. Strange initial attraction leads to their happily ever after. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.