Michael:
Two years ago I made a mistake—a big one. Then I added a couple more just for good measure. I screwed up my life, but I survived. Now I have the opportunity for a fresh start. Two years in NZ. Away from the LA gossip, a chance to breathe, to rebuild my life. But I’m taking my new set of rules with me.
I don’t do relationships.
I don’t do commitment.
I don’t do white picket fences.
And I especially don’t do arrogant, holier-than-thou, smoking-hot K9 officers who walk into my ER and rock my world.
Josh:
One thing’s for certain: Dr. Michael Oliver is an arrogant, untrustworthy player, and I barely survived the last one of those. He might be gorgeous, but my daughter takes number-one priority. I won’t risk her being hurt again. I’m a solo dad, a K9 cop, and a son to pain-in-the-arse parents.
I don’t have time for games.
I don’t have time for taking chances. I don’t have time for more complications in my life.
And I sure as hell don’t have time for the infuriating Dr. Michael Oliver, however damn sexy he is.
Title: First Impressions
Series: Auckland Med: Book One
Author: Jay Hogan
Release Date: November 1, 2019
Category: Contemporary Romance
Amazon
Okay, first impression? Hot cover!
Anytime you give me a hot man in uniform, it’s going to give me pause. Throw in a hot doctor, uhm, yes, please! Make one of them a dad? Just take my money…. Take all of it!
In this one, we have Michael, who I’ll get to first. I didn’t care for him in the beginning. He’s arrogant and slutty and no matter what his reasons were, I just didn’t connect with him. After the death of a patient had hit him hard and lead to a multitude of problems in his life fueled by alcohol, guilt, and anger, he tucked his tail and ran away to Auckland, NZ, to take a job there. That’s where he meets K9 officer, Josh something or other and his dog.
A drug sting lead him and his team to the club where he finds Michael in a compromising position in the backroom of a club. He’s unapologetic but he knows Michael’s type, having had his heartbroken by a player of the same type. He wasn’t far off, Michael admits later to have purposefully cheated and though it’s off-page, I just never got over that either. I get the why’s, kind of, but it just wasn’t a good excuse to me. I didn’t like the way he treated Josh one second and then flipped the next and their banter wasn’t fun in the beginning.
So, after a scene at the club that left one officer dead, another injured and Michael a witness… Josh had to put his feelings away for a bit and tolerate Michael. He was insanely attracted to him, but he knew it would only lead to heartbreak. That’s all guys like Michael were good for, right?
Somehow or another, their angry banter turns sexual, which was hot. I hate the friends with benny’s thing, but anyone who saw them together knew how they were lying to themselves because you could tell that even from the beginning, even though they didn’t want to, they developed feelings for each other. I adored how vulnerable Michael let himself be with Josh, and I loved seeing Josh take charge and give Michael what he didn’t know he needed. I loved the relationship with Josh and his sister and his relationship with his daughter. It may have been a secondary storyline, but, it was real and sweet and he was protective and smart when it came to her and her safety and the strained relationship with his parents… who are horrible, by the way. I actually thought they’d be a bigger problem than they were, but I was glad about that.
Of course, with any relationship that starts out casual with one or the other constantly reminding each other that it’s casual, it’s bound to get… messy. And it did. Again, I couldn’t stand how Michael used all these different things to push Josh away and I couldn’t stand how Josh just let him. I didn’t like that even though it was Michael that needed to do the groveling and the growing, that Josh was the one who went after him. To fight for them. Michael should’ve been the one to realize how stupid he was being and stop running for a change. I also didn’t understand the unlikely friendship with the ex and his new fiance, especially a touchy feely one at that.
I dunno, when I adored it, I really, truly adored it but Michael really need a slap or two upside his head to maybe knock some sense into him. The dialogue between them was a little….eeeek, but, only because I didn’t see Michael as the person he let himself sometimes be. It was hard for me to connect with him throughout. I wanted to, ooooh, how I wanted to… it just sadly never happened.
It definitely kept me interested though and I was glad for the happy ending, but my goodness, did it take a while to get there. I’d be really interested to see who’s next. I loved Michael’s makeup wearing charge nurse, Cam and Josh’s bestie, Mark… I’ll definitely be looking forward to the next one!
Even though my review miiiight seems ranty, it’s a solid 4 pieces of eye candy from me
