Aiden Inspired, Blake Allwood

Strangely, I liked the story but not the actual writing.  Descriptions, dialogue, inner musings, all of them felt slightly wrong but I also couldn't help liking where most everything ended up going.  

Devin's personality really grates more often than not and for all the times when he promised himself he wouldn't be like the previous ranch owner he seems to never grasp the moments where he knows he's acting the same way.  Even knowing he's doing or saying something hurtful or super grouchy he refuses to alter his behavior.  He does eventually come around and tries to make amends, but I'm not sure it's enough for me.

Aiden is a little flighty but he's also very simple.  The life he knows he needs is the same one he wants yet when he's asked questions about possible change or thinks about making that happen it's as if he's in denial and that knowledge isn't what he knows at all.  It's confusing and disappointing to say the least.  It feels like the denial is just a way for the author to cause more potential conflict and make the life change acceptance more powerful at the end.  Doesn't work, by the way.  What I do love about him is the peace and the satisfaction we see all over him while he's working in the barn, the stalls, with the animals, and absorbing everything that's country and beautiful about where he's stranded.

Their separation before the reunion felt a bit forced, like that was the only way a "see what you had when it's gone" realization could happen.  When they finally did come back together I don't know if I'm totally sold on their reconciliation.  I would have liked more between the end and the epilogue so the sweetness and "full-circle" feelings could have a chance to settle and warm me to their permanence.  Overall though, this was a nice story that somehow won me over despite not being a writing style I typically enjoy.

*$3.99 on Amazon