I Heart Boston Terriers

By: Rick R. Reed

Narrated by: Tom Askin

When Aaron finds Mavis, an emaciated and shy Boston terrier, at a pet adoption fair, his heart goes out to her - completely.

When Christian, manning the adoption fair for the Humane Society that autumn Saturday, finds Aaron, his heart goes out to him - completely.

This is a story about embracing love, whether it’s for someone who walks on four legs or on two. Mavis' journey back to wholeness and finding her forever home parallels the story of two men discovering each other at the perfect moment - a moment that defies logic, propriety, and common sense. But when did love ever follow a rational course?

©2017 Rick R. Reed (P)2018 Dreamspinner Press

The dog is a cutie

Aaron just got out of a bad relationship and is living with is sister in a one-room Studio apartment. They are at the pet store to get her weekly cat supplies when they see some pets for a pet adoption drive. A sweet little Boston Terrier takes to Aaron and his sister convinces him to take it. The volunteer is cute and flirts with Aaron.
Updated for Audio Version. The Audio was just Ok. It is short and sweet. The narrator was new to me and the narrations were passable. I would have liked different voices for the characters though.

This story had so much potential and I love Rick R Reed stories. This one fell flat for me. Aaron's sister went from likable to awful. Her about-face really threw me off. I know a dog chewing your shoes is frustrating but the dog was her idea in the first place so why weren't those shoes put up. I highly dislike people that adopt and then want to give them back. It would be like taking your kids back to the hospital because they disobeyed. Enough said about the sister.
I never really connected with any of the characters I think because the story was so short and went from the pet issues to sex then ended before we got a good build up. Christopher's actions, using personal private information for personal use was a bit weird and stalkerish. Aaron falling in love in like a day after a bad breakup was unbelievable as well. then the story ended so abruptly. I would have liked to see this as a full story. There was a lot of potential and Mavis was so adorable.

If you like short stories, cute dogs, Insta-love, and hot man-sex this may be for you.

1.5 stars

This story did not work for me on a lot of levels.

First, the narration by (new to me) narrator Tom Askin was almost painful to listen to. Askin began by over-enunciating words, which created a staccato rhythm to speaking that is just not normal. Eventually he settles into a somewhat normal cadence rhythm, but his vocal style, tone, and pacing weren't good either. Further, Christian is described as having a deep, velvety voice "like dark chocolate", but that wasn't even close to the voice Askin used for the character. All in all, the narration simply wasn't pleasant to listen to.

Second, I didn't like the story. I didn't like how Aaron's sister pushes him into adopting a special needs animal and then turns on him as soon as everything doesn't magically come up sparkles. I didn't like how Christian stole Aaron's personal information in order to contact him - which bothered me because it's stalking behavior. I thought this was a romance, but didn't find a single thing romantic about it, and it ends so abruptly that it barely has a glimmer of a HFN.

This is a second edition. I don't know how re-worked this was before releasing it again, but I just don't understand how Becca's turnaround in attitude, how Christian approached Aaron, or that ending wasn't changed.

I cannot recommend.