Packing up his clothes, his collection of Tony Orlando CD`s, and his cat, Sambuca, Simon leaves the hustle and bustle of Philadelphia behind and heads out to live on his uncle Tiberius` farm in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Starting over on the farm where he vacationed once as a child is a going to be just what the doctor ordered, as long as that doctor is the good-looking large animal veterinarian, Gentry Martin. Is a sexy country vet the cure for a love-sick city boy?
This was my first read by this author and I will definitely be reading more. I fell in love with Simon’s character right away. He’s one of those guys you want to be friends with as soon as you meet him on page. He’s snarky, “emotionally vibrant” and just plain funny. He’s not over the top though, he didn’t try too hard to charm me which made me love him all the more.
After having his heart broken, and broken hard, Simon packs up and heads out of town. He leaves his beloved mother behind (I liked her, a lot, and YAY, a fictional mother to get behind) but takes his cat Sambuca and heads to his Uncle’s farm. He stayed with his Uncle Tiberius as a child and has very fond memories of his time there. Of course his mother reminds him how his time on the farm actually went, but who needs reality when you really just need a fresh start. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting much for the relationship between Uncle Tiberius and Simon and I ended up so pleasantly surprised. The two of them quickly fell into a routine and ended up being exactly what the other needed without even realizing it.
As Simon gets his feet muddy in his new life on the farm, he crosses paths with the very handsome and very charming Dr. Gentry Martin. Serendipity shines on these two as Simon is experienced in health care admin and Gentry needs a new office manager in his veterinary practice. The heat between them is palpable and the flirting leads to some seriously amusing and embarrassing fails for poor Simon. Those fails put the problem of dating an employee into stark relief for Gentry and this is where I had my only issues with the story. The romance between the two stuttered repeatedly and I honestly just felt bad for Simon. They were obviously meant to be together and there was just a little too much back and forth for the length of the story for me to fully fall in love with them as a couple. I love Simon, I like Gentry, I just didn’t get a chance to love Gentry alone and then them together.
I was completely charmed with the story of Simon, his family and the farm. I would have actually been totally fine with reading this without the romance, not that I didn’t appreciate it, I did. The characters were just that good though, I would have read about them regardless. For me to have bought into the romance fully I would have just need more. And I would have LOVED more.
So, I really enjoyed the read overall and I chuckled out loud more than once. I will be reading more by this author, no question and I would recommend it for a light and fun afternoon read. Read it for Simon and read it for Uncle Tiberius and you’ll have a guaranteed good time.
For more information on Early to Rise, check it out over on Goodreads.
**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**
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