Earning His Trust

OH my gosh!!! This book will give you a toothache. It was so sweet and sappy and if you can believe it I loved every second of it. It has the perfect mix. You have a great second chance romance. The one thing about it the two main people knew each other before. Not only that toss in a super cute baby. What’s better than a man and his baby you ask? Well, two men and a baby.

Evin is living in his bubble with his 6-month-old son. He lost his husband in an accident and he is trust trying to get by with a broken heart and being a single parent isn’t easy. Shoot I am not single and it is hard. The baby is his world. So while making his own teething cookies for Micah, which he has a ton of allergies so it is easier, he burns himself and has to go the ER.

Enter the sexy doctor, Ben, and former boyfriend. Evin and Ben never thought they would see each other again after Ben breaks up with him after graduation and pulls a runner.

Oh if I knew Ben I would have kicked him where it hurts. Evin doesn't have a mean bone in his body though. He leaves that up to his best friend. Ben took away Evin’s choice, but when they see each other for the first time those feelings come rushing back. Evin is still guarded with reason. Ben has his work cut out for him. Though he tries to worm his way back in and I thought it was cute.

Now with all that I did like: the story and its premise were promising and the pace is ok, and I liked that Even made Ben work for his attention or affection if you will. What didn’t work was that I did not feel there was a pull from both men to each other. Yes, you could read it. It was the chemistry or heat was lacking.

Evin and Ben have history and are both taken by surprise at being reunited. In some ways this is a bittersweet story of opportunities lost in the past and lost of love that opens Evin up to being single. Ben does a good job of taking responsibilities for past actions and being understanding of Evin's feelings. I think Evin is a bit more overwhelmed because of the feelings of being left behind in the past by Evin and everything else that's happened in the last two years. It was great to see him try to open up and sad when you could see him pull back again. This is one book were you are rooting for these guys to move forward and reconnect.

Evin has lost not one but the two men he loved. Now he is raising his 6 month old son alone. Micah has gluten and milk allergies so Evin makes his food and snacks. One day making teething biscuits he burns his hand and goes to ER to find his first love Ben the DR.

Ben hasn't gotten over Evin and seeing him again brings up feelings he can no longer hide it to get him back he has to earn his trust but with a new baby that won't be easy.

Earning his trust is a sweet iif not predictable love story. The characters are all strong even baby Micha and Bens mom adds some comic relief.
If you like second chances, sexy DRs cute babies and sweet sexy romance this is for you

Reviewed by Michael for Diverse Reader

Talk about pulling on the heartstrings! This one does that from the very beginning.

Ben and Evin were together in college, but Ben left after graduation without explanation, breaking Evin’s heart. Evin finds love again, only to have it end tragically and before the couple can witness the birth of their son.

If that doesn’t tug at your heart, I don’t know what will.

Evin is now a single father, raising his six month old son, Micah, conceived by surrogate who happens to have food allergies. Because of these allergies, he makes Micah’s food by hand, and inadvertently ends up burning himself. A trip to the ER, with Micah in tow, and he runs into his ex Ben.

I liked this book. Evin’s hesitancy to become involved with Ben is genuine. He’s been on the losing end of love twice, and doesn’t want to travel that road again. Plus, he now has a son who absolutely must take first priority. For his part, Ben knows he messed up years ago, and finds ways to reconnect with Evin without being pushy. It really is sweet.

I only wish that greater detail had been given surrounding the death of Evin’s husband, Daniel. But that’s an incredibly minor quibble. Based on an incident that happens toward the end of the book, I would assume Daniel died in a similar altercation, based on Evin’s reaction. But as I said, that’s incredibly minor compared to the rest. Don’t let that stop you from reading this.

*Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie by Dreamspinner Press for my reading pleasure in hopes of an unbiased opinion, a review was not a requirement.*

Earning His Trust is a standalone novella by Alicia Nordwell. I think novellas are difficult because you have to get a full story into a short number of pages. Typically, some of the best novellas I have read are a second chance love trope. It's more believable that men with a previous history can find a HEA in 112 pages, at least in my opinion. I liked Evin and Ben and would have liked to have gotten to know more about them. I felt like there was so much backstory that I needed to make me connect with these characters. It sounded like Evin's dead husband was a really good man, and his death was hard on Evin but even though Evin misses him, there's not a lot of information about what happened. We do get a little of the backstory of Evin and Ben, but I just wanted more about them. I enjoyed the time of both men interacting with the baby, it gives a different look at the characters but in this novella, the interactions with the baby take away from Evin and Ben finding love again.

For me, there was just a disconnect to the MC's. I didn't hate their story, I just didn't feel their story. I wanted to feel their reconnection, their love, their romance and their HEA but I didn't. Again, I didn't hate this story, I just wanted more from it.

Rating: 3.5 stars