Depth of Focus: Natural Hearts Book 1, JD Chambers

Life has a way of throwing you hard things to test your mettle, and sometimes it seems like it's just doing it to screw you over.  When Whitman goes through a breakup he decides to make a huge change and accepts a job in a tiny town in Oregon.  That change brings him into the bosom of a very nosy, very caring town that seems to have made a place for him, a place that feels like a true home.  But not everyone intends to end up stuck in Slat Creek, as is the case with Travis.  Both men learn about themselves and one another and forge a friendship with yearnings for more.  Yearnings, however, might not be enough to tempt Travis to stay when freedom comes calling.  Travis will have to learn what true freedom is if he wants to find both acceptance and love.

This was a very slow-moving romance.  There were a lot of times it felt like it would move into the "more" part of more-than-friends but then there would be an abrupt abort from one party or the other...mostly Travis.  And when he reiterated his sentiment of living as a young, out, gay man in a city over the "trap" of home I felt pretty disappointed though his feelings were absolutely valid, understandable, and even encouraged when you think about all he "missed out" on because of his family situation.  My personal feelings are that you don't have to sow your oats to experience life, but for others that may be different.  When he and Whitman finally do get on the same page it felt right and organic though it took forever to get there.  I'm not sure I really felt their romantic connection too deeply, however, and that was a let down because this author usually does amazingly when her men finally make their intimate and romantic leaps.

Both characters were sweet, nice, and a little conflicted, more so Travis than Whitman.  The steam was pretty tame, like incredibly tame compared to the Only Colorado series.  I thought there would be more, not necessarily kinky steam, but just ... more.  With a title like we have here I kind of thought there'd be something more poignant about what to focus on in life, the depth of the connections we make when we focus on the people and things that matter, or even something regarding photography.  The first two were there but kind of fleetingly and not really emphasized enough.  While the story was tender and triumphant when all the drama settled, I'm hoping there will be a little more from the rest of the series.  The set-up for other series characters in Depth of Focus was actually pretty good; we get a taste of who they are and what their difficulties might be so I'll definitely revisit this series for more.

*$3.99 on Amazon!