Kristie J’s review of The Vixen and the Vet by Katy Regnery
Contemporary Fairy Tale Romance published by Katharine Gilliam Regnery 15 Jun 14
This author first came to my attention when I read a review of another book she had written. It sounded good, so I did a bit of investigating, something I sometimes do when I try a new author, and saw this book and decided to read it first since it’s a series and this is Book 1. I’ve always had a weakness for the ’Beauty and the Beast’ trope, so when I read the outline for The Vixen and the Vet, I was hooked. Add in the fact that the hero was a wounded war veteran and much of the proceeds for this book were going to a wounded vet charity —– and I knew I had to get it. And I’m so glad I did.
I love it when the characters so resonate with me that I still think of them, letting them roll around in my head long after I’ve finished reading. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does, it’s special.
Savannah Carmichael had a great job as an investigative reporter in New York, but she was betrayed by a guy who she thought she had a relationship with. But, instead, he used her and betrayed her and cost her the job she loved. She came back home to try to regroup and also to help out with her baby sister’s wedding.
She is offered a potential job writing a good hometown story. If she writes it well, she will get the job as a Lifestyle reporter for another paper in Phoenix. She decides to write the story of Asher Lee. He’s the town hermit. Horribly wounded and disfigured fighting in Afghanistan, he keeps almost completely to himself. Savannah is curious about him and persuades him to agree to have an article written about him. He is very taken with Savanah and she with Asher. It takes no time at all for her to see past all his wounds to the warm, lonely person he is underneath. But when her initial idea for the article is rejected, she changes it to become more personal in how they slowly fall in love. She knows she should tell him this new direction, but she keeps putting it off.
Of course, that comes back to haunt her and cause great pain to both her and Asher.
Asher as a hero breaks your heart, he truly does. He’s lost everything in life. His parents died when he was still very young and then he was horribly injured in the war and he also suffers from PSTD. In a very short amount of time, Savanah becomes his lifeline and so when it seems like she betrays him, well, it’s tough not to tear up. But thank goodness this is a romance.
Savanah is a good heroine, though as a reader I wanted to jump into the story and tell her to TELL HIM, JUST TELL HIM. But what she does or doesn’t do is what causes conflict and, of course, every good story needs conflict.
I thought the author such a good one, I’ve since gotten quite a few more of her books, including Never Let You Go, Book 2 of this series. I don’t know if all her other books will be as good, but The Vet and the Vixen is a very good book.
Grade: B+
Summary:
In this modern-retelling of “Beauty and the Beast,” Savannah Carmichael, betrayed by an unreliable source, returns to her hometown of Danvers, Virginia with her once-promising journalism career in ruins. Given the opportunity to get back in the game by writing a patriotic human interest piece, Savannah turns her attention to the town hermit, Asher Lee, a wounded veteran who returned to Danvers eight years ago, and hasn’t been seen since.
After an IED explosion in Afghanistan took Asher’s hand and disfigured half of his face, he’s lived a quiet life on the outskirts of Danvers where the locals respect his privacy…that is, until Savannah Carmichael comes calling in a borrowed sundress with a plate of homemade brownies. When Asher agrees to be interviewed by Savannah, he starts feeling things for the beautiful reporter that he hasn’t felt in years.
Misfits in small-town Danvers, Savannah and Asher create a bond right away, touching each other’s hearts in ways neither thought possible. When a terrible mistake threatens to drive them apart, they’ll have to decide if the love they found in one another’s arms is strong enough to fight for their hard-won happily ever after.
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
Ginger’s Heart – 10 Jun 16
