Review of ‘Veterinary Partner’ by Nancy Wheelton

I thought this was a good story but it wasn’t really to my personal tastes. This is a debut and while I thought it had some debut bumps, I did see potential in Wheelton. I think with a different storyline it would have clicked better for me. There were parts I really enjoyed and some that drove me a bit nuts. I have a feeling that other readers may like this more than I did.

I’m an animal lover so I was excited to have a vet main character and also a main that owned a farm. I liked the large animal vet scenes and thought they were well done. The romance is very slow-burn which I normally love, but these characters didn’t have the chemistry spark I was hoping for. There were too many times I was questioning myself if I thought that they should be together.

I think my biggest issue was the characters’ personalities. They were acting too passive (which I hate) to the point where one MC even admitted she was a coward. The other one was too prideful to ask anyone for help so she didn’t go to the police when her best friend was a Mountie and the main character actually worked for RCMP part-time. It just made no sense. And when the Mounties finally got involved, they ended up being basically useless. This whole mess made me frustrated and not in a fun angsty way.

The good part was once the book was about halfway, the story really improved. For me, the writing sometimes didn’t feel very smooth in the beginning. The flow felt a little stop and start but, as the book went on, the writing seemed to click and it got much better in the second half. Not only did the writing improve, but there were also some good exciting scenes that made the book more entertaining. Unfortunately, the actual ending was a little anticlimactic for all that the characters went through, but up until that part, the second half was pretty well done.

I’m not a fan of when women don’t try to help themselves. I like strong women, not passive ones. This didn’t feel like my kind of book because both characters kept making stupid decisions. But when towards the end the leads actually showed some growth and backbone, I found myself enjoying the story much more. So, while this story wasn’t really to my tastes, it might be much more enjoyable for you. For me, it was an average lesbian debut book but I do see potential in the author and I would read her again.

P.S. What is up with the cover?! I actually like how it looks but it has nothing to do with the story. They are in Canada in below-freezing weather in the winter. Wearing that little amount of clothes on the cover would kill one of the characters from the cold. Again it is a pretty cover but I’m guessing it is a mistake. 3.25 Stars.

An ARC was given to me for an honest review.