BOOK BLAST & REVIEW - Daisy, Yellow (Paw Prints #1) by Angelique Jurd

Book Title: Daisy, Yellow

Author: Angelique Jurd

Publisher: Small Black Cat Media

Cover Artist: May Dawney Designs

Genre/s: Contemporary Gay Romance

Length: 177 pages

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Blurb

Just months after breaking up with his boyfriend, Noah Jenkins inherits his grandfather's farm and he decides it's time for a change of scenery. He packs his bags, buys a dog, and moves onto the property. When his Labrador puppy Daisy gets hurt he meets local vet Hunter Ross and life starts to look interesting again.

Hunter Ross has always lived in small, conservative Newton, in rural Illinois. At 39 he's never been in love and never had a lover and mayhave neglected to tell anyone he's close to that he's gay. It's never been a problem - until Daisy, Yellow and her owner, Noah, show up.

Is Noah's love enough for Hunter to risk everything? Does Hunter have the strength to make the hardest choices he'll ever make and survive?

REVIEW

My Rating  - 5 Stars!

Daisy, Yellow is an amazingly sweet, yet sad romance by Angelique Jord.

This story contains so many wonderful things - a precocious pup, a small town vet, and a former city man now turned farmer. It also centers around the small town's bigotry, homophobes, and their absolute inability to accept something other than what they know.

When Noah arrives in town, Hunter feels the attraction, but is unable to allow himself to come out. Not even for Noah. The town's folk are homophobic and had previously run Hunter's gay cousin out of town. Hunter fears for his business, as well as Noah's.

But they can't stay hidden forever, and choices will need to be made.

Hunter and Noah are both alluring, realistic, vulnerable and sweet.  The writing style is fluid, tender and compassionate.

I highly recommend Daisy, Yellow to any M/M fan who's looking for a tender love story that ends with a HFN and I can't wait to read the next book in this sweet series!

Excerpt

The great thing about small towns it turns out is that delivery is free and it’s quick. His new furniture will arrive tomorrow morning, which gives him time to get the living room ready. The parking lot in front of the clinic is empty but Noah can see Hunter’s truck parked further back and, on a whim, he follows the driveway down. He parks, unbuckles Daisy from her harness, and clips her leash on before he gets out of the car. When he turns around, Hunter is leaning against the doorway, wearing low slung jeans and a threadbare tee-shirt, arms crossed over his chest.

“Hi.”

“Hi,” Noah croaks. His mouth and throat have gone dry and when Daisy pulls the leash free from his grasp, he barely notices. Hunter pushes the screen door open with a bare foot and she rushes inside.

“Shit, sorry!” He leaps after her, but Hunter doesn’t seem concerned, only amused.

From the depths of the house comes a volley of high pitched barks followed by an angry hiss.

“Sounds like she’s found Rosie.”

Noah trails behind him as Hunter goes inside, taking in his surroundings as walks. The cluttered living room is small with plain, simple furnishings in faded colors. In contrast, Noah notices, the sounds system, hooked to a laptop and a flat screen television, is state of the art. In the middle of the room stands the cat from the clinic, back arched and tail puffed up. Daisy bounces forward with a yip only to be met by a grey and white paw that smacks her nose three times in quick succession and sends her scuttling back to Noah with a yelp and a whimper.

As he picks her up he spots two scratches across her nose, both beading with blood.

“Hey, your cat scratched my pup.”

“Your pup tried to chase my cat.”

Annoyed, Noah clutches Daisy to his chest and braces his shoulders. She’s bleeding.

“You should control her better.”

The statement is met by laughter. That he likes the sound of it annoys Noah even more than the laughter itself.

“She’s a cat. How do you propose I control her?”

“I don’t know but you’re a vet, you should be able to think of something.”

Hunter steps over and peers at the scratches on Daisy’s nose.

“She’ll live. You can trust me on this, I’m a vet.” The mocking tone makes it very clear what Hunter thinks of Noah’s reaction. He bends and gathers Rosie up and puts her on the back of an armchair. She immediately jumps off, flicks her tail at the room and saunters down the hallway.

In Noah’s arms, Daisy quivers and whimpers.

Noah is about to protest again when Hunter leans forward and brushes a kiss over his mouth. It’s brief and rough, over before Noah can even register it’s happening. Stunned, he runs his finger over his bottom lip and hugs Daisy to his chest as he watches Hunter walk away, calling over his shoulder as he goes.

“Do you want coffee?”

About the Author 

Author, acafan, Buddhist. Angelique is owned by four cats, three adult children, two temperamental computers, and a very patient boyfriend (not a partridge in a pear tree).

A former print journalist and editor, she has over the years, written about a wide variety of topics from politics to duck breeding to rock concerts. Her interest in fandom studies was sparked in 2015 when she watched Supernatural for the first time and she has been fascinated by the intersection between fans and creators ever since and is currently completing an MA (Media Studies) in the subject.

She likes cold champagne, hot coffee, neat whiskey, loud Springsteen, and the Winchester brothers kicking butt. When she's not writing she likes to color, watch movies, and get more tattoos.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website

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Twitter @AngeliqueJurd 

Instagram: angeliquejurd

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Jesse's Smile by Angeligue Jurd

Amazon

Blurb:

Jesse Peterson is 26 and loves his job at a pet store. He loves the cats, the dogs and Sniffles the rabbit. What he doesn't love is the way people assume that he can't look after himself, that he's isn't a man. So, when the store's newest customer, buying supplies for his kitten, asks him out, Jesse has trouble understanding why. Jesse knows he's not stupid, but nobody else seems to know that. They just see a good-looking young man whose smile seems to be the brightest thing about him.

Drew Oliver isn't other people. A high school teacher with a history of bad relationship choices, Drew is patient, loving, and doesn't care that Jesse is different. He just cares about being able to make him smile as often as he can.

Everyone seems to have an opinion about the differences between Drew and Jesse, few notice the things they share. Can their relationship survive the scrutiny and judgement passed by everyone around them? And when one of Drew's bad choices shows up, will love be enough to help them survive the aftermath?



REVIEW:

Wow.  What a great book!

This is the first time I have heard of this author, and I was completely wowed by her writing style, the depth of her characters, and all the layers to this story!  It is just amazingly well written and had so much content, so much detail.

Jesse works at a pet store, and meets Drew when he comes in to buy cat supplies.  Drew immediately notices that Jesse is different, but he sticks up for him when there is a rude customer.  Drew asks him out on a date, which just confuses Jesse, who doesn't know why someone would want to date him.

Drew is a high school teacher who has not made good decisions with his love life in the past.  He is just so unique.  He is patient, understanding, loving and kind.   He doesn't care at all that Jesse is different.  

As they spend time together, Drew learns about Jesse's issues. Jesse has ID (Intellectual disabilty), autism, Dyslexia, OCD, and anxiety. And Drew does not care.  He doesn't look down on Jesse.  He doesn't think Jesse is less worthy of his love.  Instead, he wants to love Jesse just as he is.

Both families struggle with their relationship.  Drew's family doesn't understand why Drew would want to burden himself with someone like Jesse.  And Jesse's family are afraid that Drew will get tired of Jesse, leave him, and they will have to try to pick up the pieces.  They are also just afraid of letting him go.  They have spent their lives taking care of him and don't know how to let someone else do so.

In the world we live in, we don't often see a relationship like this.  It was so beautiful to witness Drew's acceptance and love for Jesse.  He sees him as his equal, explaining that Jesse just learns differently and interprets things differently than most people.  Jesse's parents have always treated him like he needed help all the time.   Drew tries to help him without ever implying that Jesse needs his help. Drew wants to learn more about Jesse's issue so that he can better understand him and to help Jesse better understand things.  The most beautiful thing of all is that Drew loves Jesse as he is.  Drew does not want to change Jesse.  He just wants to love him.

There are just so many wonderful moments in this book.  One of my favorites is when Drew convinces Jesse's mom to tell him how to help Jesse instead of rescuing him herself.  It was so touching that Drew truly was invested in this relationship and finally started to break through to her that he truly wanted to be with her son.  

Another touching moment is when Jesse himself starts to convince his parents that he belongs with Drew.  He makes them realize that someday he will be alone when they die, and he doesn't want to be alone.  He wants to have someone to love.  And Drew really does love him and just wants Jesse to be happy. It was such a heart-felt moment.  I just felt everything Jesse was feeling at that moment and it was heart-breaking to see him verbalize such a fear.

Overall, this is just an amazing story, about two amazing men.  They have to fight people's reactions to them. They have to fight for acceptance from their families.  They also have to deal with Drew's awful ex, who cause them a lot of trouble.  And then they need to find a way to heal Jesse after he is hurt by Drew's ex.  Finally, they need to help Jesse move on afterwards.  

I can't imagine anyone reading this book and not falling in love with this couple.  They are remarkable and their journey is remarkable as well.