I held off on reading this one because I didn’t want to read something that contained sad animal stories, fortunately most of the storyline involving animals has a happy ending.

Callie has been taking taking care of her late father in law’d cattle farm, with no experience having any live stock it is a struggle. She struggles with the workings of the farm, the finances and a stalking, creepy neighbour. After losing her wife five years ago Callie started a make a life of her own while raising their daughter. For the first time she is make the important decisions and she might just be ready to open her heart to someone as well. Lauren left her wife and her kids in the city, she was never cut out for big city life. Her children froze her out and she is looking for a quiet life in solitude in a small rural town. When she repeated get called to Callie’s farm she starts to get annoyed with the farmer and her calling her out on giving her a lecture. But she can’t deny that that Callie has something special. Both women have insecurities about themselves and about stepping into a new relation, and the package they both come in. The constant harassment of Callie’s neighbours takes on threatening tone and becomes rather dangerous. Callie is afraid to admit to somethings until the neighbours son pulls a “prank”. The shit hits the fan and there is some major angst and drama there, I really liked. The character slowly warm up to each other and the bond between them gross stronger with mutual understanding, acceptance and love for family and animals. The supporting characters are great, Becky, Callie’s daughter has a heartbreaking scene with her mom, it’s really well done and not being handled as one time thing that is handled with a kiss and a hug and all is good.

I liked how the story between the two main unfolded, I also liked that you just seemingly in the middle of something in this book. It really sets the tone. All the vet/ cattle stories are pretty good as well. The one thing I would say I didn’t like is I lost the sense of time a bit in the book, I have no idea how much time passed during the course of the story. But the one conclusion I did come up with that it wasn’t a lot, which means to me the ending/ closing chapters felt a bit rushed.. This book made me picture being in Saskatchewan in winter freezing my ass off but having tons of good times and enjoying life. So overal it was good, I could have done with 3 more chapters, maybe have Lauren’s family show up in those, but you can’t have it all I suppose.

This is a decent book, with a lot of story to accompany the romance. The plot can be quite menacing at times, but it’s kept reasonably light; possibly a bit too light in places. Although that kind of works too, in terms of some of the men issuing threats that are insidious where the women know are there, but can’t prove. They know it feels menacing but it all relates as a bit innocuous when they try to explain it. Similar to gaslighting. The romance feels real, especially as both women are grappling with how they felt in previous relationships and wanting this time to be different. More true to themselves.
I learnt far more than I ever expected to learn about calving, which was actually pretty interesting. The kids were pretty accurate with age appropriate dialogue. I hate it when the kids sound like grown ups.

Veterinary Partner is the story of Callie, a young widow trying to make a go of her family farm out on the Canadian prarie and Lauren, the new vet in town who has kind of a tragic past.

So firstly, I now know a lot more about cattle farming in Canada than I did before. That sounds dreary, but it was actually really interesting! The extreme weather, small town setting and the immensely hard work of running a cattle and arable farm are all described really well.

I thought the story itself was pretty good - Callie is faced by difficulties at every turn due to her inexperience in farming, including dastardly neighbours who are trying to force her to sell her land and Lauren is trying to patch things up with her children and not get involved in any new romantic liaisons. This is a romance novel, so obviously there is an HEA, but there are plenty of obstacles along the way.

The biggest problem for me was that I didn't really get the chemistry between the two MCs. They start off by not liking each other then they became friends and then lovers, but I just wasn't feeling it. Their path to romance seems to be littered with passive aggressive comments and hurt feelings. When I read a romance I like it when it's obvious that the two people should be together but they're kept apart by outside influences, not their own sulkiness. It almost seemed like they got together because they were The Town Lesbians, not because they were MFEO.

Other than that, it was totally readable. The writing itself flowed well and the author obviously has a talent for description. The dialogue could be a bit forced in places, but it wasn't disastrous.

This is a debut novel and I'd be interested in seeing what the author comes up with next.

I received a copy of Veterinary Partner from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley.

When I requested this book on Netgalley I did it because I found the description as a really interesting and romantic novel. And didn't disappointed me!!! It has so many twists, I got mad, stressed, I started feeling romantic and then got mad again haha, just a rollercoaster of feelings. I wanted to slap both girls and tell them c'mon you serious? I like how realistic the characters are, I liked how the author show the feelings a woman have after a failure or after grieving, after a big loss. And what had me in love was that it isn't just a super corny romance but in also has intrigue, fights, friendship... I really had a good time reading it

I just couldn’t get into this book at all. I finished it but I didnt enjoy it. I didn’t feel like the main characters had any connection. One minute they were fighting, the next madly in love. The Krüger storyline was better but again felt a little all over the place.

I really liked Becky, Gwen and Val but Mitch and Janice were introduced as though they were a big part of the story and then nothing came of it

I think the book could be good with some tweaks here and there.

Okay, so I did enjoy the premise of the book, and the fact that you have two people reluctant to take a risk on a relationship despite their obvious attraction to each other. I even liked that the Kruger's are such jerks about their feud with lead character Callie. It feels like a small town feud that got taken to extremes. I even liked both lead's uncertainty to an extent, but some of the commitment to that uncertainty and how it manifests is off putting.

So you have veterinarian Lauren who basically is helping out new cattle rancher Callie. Callie's daughter, Becky inherited the ranch after her other mother passed away. Lauren and Callie butt heads because of Lauren's lecturing and Callie trying to regain a sense of control over her own situation. Then there's the Kruger's a bunch of bullies who own land next to Callie's ranch and are trying to take over the property and presumably her livestock. Callie and Lauren must learn to work with each other and communicate through their growing feelings with each other to stop the Kruger's bullying.

There's a lot of little details in this book that are great. Descriptions on how to take care of different animals, specifically the cattle are lovely. Lauren's daily work at her practice reminds us that she does take care of all kinds of animals. There's the mentions of driving into the city of Saskatoon from their small town for some fun. I also liked that the setting was mostly in the winter (despite what the cover says), because Canada's winters in some provinces are unforgiving.

What I didn't like, and this is what hurt the book for me, is that Callie and Lauren don't really grow. Callie is trying to reclaim her control, especially with the double whammy of learning how to be a cattle rancher, and knowing that she was too passive in her previous relationship. That leads her to make some really reckless decisions near the end of the book, that would have worked better near the beginning. Callie even admits that she needs to understand that asking for and receiving help isn't giving up control, but she still makes poor decisions with regards to that. Lauren is a big old mess and her insecurities don't really get revealed until the mid point. Like we don't get a lot of her motivations up until that point, so is seems that she is being a waffler for the sake of being a waffler. Which is a huge disservice to her character - she was emotionally damaged from the break up of her last relationship, and that messed her up a lot, but we don't know that until that midpoint, so it just feels like she is using her breakup as an excuse, and not the cause of her waffling on Callie.

So this is a debut, and it does come with its debut author hiccups, which I get. I think people will enjoy the romantic tension between Callie and Lauren to a point, but I think it was strung out a little too much. I honestly think that people will enjoy the scenes with the vet stuff and even the scenes with the menacing Kruger men more than the developing relationship. It has the hallmarks of a great small town romantic drama, but its just missing on building the romantic plot.

I received an ARC copy of this book from the Publisher via Netgalley and voluntarily leaving my review.

Callie and Lauren has a lot of baggage. Callie is a young widow with a daughter who is struggling to keep her farm but is determined to succeed. Lauren is a vet and she stills hurting over her family rejects that she has walls up that keeps everyone at arms length. I’m a bit annoyed because Lauren with her self doubt comparing herself to Callie wife Liz and pushing Callie and Becky away also was annoyed because I’m sorry Lauren children even though we only read a glimpse of them to me is selfish because they seem to blame her more then their mother TJ just because she move didn’t mean Lauren was abandoning them and hate that characters kept saying that also felt that to me it was easy to blame Lauren because she isn’t really their mother because it takes two to end a marriage and I felt TJ didn’t really fight to tell their children it’s was mutual even though we have that one glimpse of her.

As they get to know each other they have to stand together when danger comes but what they didn’t expect is falling for each other.


For first debut it was ok read. I mean it took me time to warm up to the main characters because
I was getting annoyed with both of them I get it you don’t want to ask for help but it doesn’t means your weak it means your strong because you had the strength to ask.

Callie Anderson has so far had a tough life.  Her wife, an RCMP, was murdered and she now has to bring up their daughter Becky alone. On top of that she was just learning how to run the family farm with her father in law when he suddenly died and she is now on a very steep learning curve into how to look after cattle and is unfortunately in over her head. Dr Lauren Cornish, the local vet, has run 3000 kms to get away from her old life and that has meant having to leave her children behind, the emotional scars run deep and she is reluctant to let another person in but slowly Callie starts to break those walls down.
I found this book to be a rollercoaster where occasionally I enjoyed it and other times it just angered me.  It was really difficult to read about intimidation, harassment, bullying and even kidnapping without seeing any consequences and that kind of behaviour just didn't sit well with me. No one should be subject to that kind of behaviour. I also didn't feel any connection to Callie or Lauren nor did I feel any chemistry between the two while some of the dialogue was quite bland. I'm glad I made an effort to finish this book, if for no other reason than to find out what happens to the Krugers but it was a difficult read.

I was psyched when I saw this. I'm loving any and all the Vet lesbian romance books these days. I enjoyed it mostly, but, I do wish I'd enjoyed itmore.

It's about Callie and Lauren. Callie is the owner of a beef cattle (I think it's not a milk one) farm, and, is quite out of her depth when it comes to it. Still, she's giving it the best shot she can while her next door neighbors the Krugers, are breathing down her neck in a horrible, horrible way, wanting her land.

Lauren is a Veterinarian who is running from some of her problems (well, that's how it felt to me). She is called out to Callie's farm over and over because Callie is a newbie. Their relationship doesn't start super well, and, seemed very uneven as it went along, at least for awhile.

The villains were a bit too over the top, and, the thriller part didn't really hold my attention either (hey, I learned when I was 11 or so that, if you're a character in the opening credits 9,8 times out of 10, not matter how much jeopardy you're put in, you're gonna be okay...)

Um, also, at times, the whole 'Callie's so dumb' part sorta felt forced, which seems weird as I write it, but, really?? Some of the things she did. Really?

But, I loved the other characters, they were all unique and each stood out (and I now want a book for each and every one of them, alll of them) and that's what kept me reading.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.

Widow Callie Anderson is in the fight of her life to save her farm not only for herself, but her daughter. She makes mistake after mistake, but many of those mistakes come from inexperience and the next door neighbors who want her property and will do anything to get it. Callie calls in the local veterinarian to help with some cattle and things really get off to a rocky start with Dr. Lauren Cornish, but quickly turn to spark between the two. And so the story builds.

I must admit that I did not connect with this one. I do think the book was well written, but I found the story to be slow. I would have loved if the book focused more on the romance between Callie and Lauren instead of focusing more so on the Kruger's next door. There was so much drama there that I could not focus on the connection between the mains. It took me longer than usual to get through this one because I detached myself. I do think there might be some out there who would enjoy this one, but it wasn't great for me. 2.75 stars

Quick impression: some fun details about vet practice and Saskatchewan, but I was frustrated by the main characters and didn't feel their chemistry.

I love a story about single parents finding love. And this story had two such characters! Unfortunately I didn't really like them so much. They were stubborn and terrible at communicating. The ranchers next door were harassing them and neither asked for help, which I found foolish.

I was engaged enough to see how things worked out so I read till the end, but it didn't hold my attention solidly. The middle felt too long and the ending felt rushed. And while the ranchers were truly terrible, did they do enough to warrant prison?

I'm interested to see what Wheelton writes next. This was a great start, and I'd love to read more about vets in super cold places.

2 Stars.Callie Anderson is a widow who is trying to run a cattle farm and her daughter. When she has problems with her cattle birthing, she turns to Veterinarian, Dr. Lauren Cornish. Lauren is attractive and single, but has been divorced and abandoned by her teenage children. Lauren is unsure if she wants to get involved with another woman with children. Lauren and Callie cannot help but meet time and time again and cannot help the growing attraction to each other.

I thought this book was okay. I thought it was a little too technical and I did not like how much of that was described in the book. I thought their chemistry was okay and it definitely evolved throughout the novel. It was kind of an average novel that I read but thought it was just okay. I could not get past all the technical terms in the book and it went right over my head. I would not recommend this book and I am not sure it was a great read.

more than 3 less than 4 stars rounded up
A nice debut slow burn romance with an interesting plot and setting and some well done characters. One of the leads was kind of a pain to deal with though. A very easily provoked and unnecessarily stubborn person who doesn't want to go ahead no matter what. The two villains were kind of cartoonish. Regardless of that I'm pleasantly surprised with this debut author and am looking forward to more books by her. Recommended.

What an educational read. I now know so much more about how calves are born. It was almost more interesting than what was happening with the leading ladies (smile). Catherine Anderson is a widow with a young daughter, Rebecca. Callie has inherited a farm and she is determined to keep it going even though she is challenged by insecurities, experience, and mean guys that want her farm. Dr, Lauren Cornish, veterinarian, divorced and dealing with the separation from her two children, William and Sammie. Both women are protective of their heart and it shows through with the back and forth.

While reading, I thought this is an interesting slow burn. With the character personalities, bad guys, children and friends, I thought there would be more intrigue. It was not the case. the story is much more enjoyable toward the end.

This is the first book I have read by Wheelton and I think it is her debut. When I read the description of the book I was pretty excited to read it. However, the book failed to hold my attention and I found myself skimming to finish it instead of savoring the journey.
First of all, the main characters were not very likable and never got to the point where you actually like them. I didn't think they grew at all throughout the book. The children were more exciting to read about.
Second, the evil next door ranchers were a good addition but they came off as the villain in like the Disney movie The Robinson. I kept picturing them with long mustaches and a weird looking face. I could not take them seriously. They were just too over the top
I can deal with most of that but what got me was how all of the place the book felt. At one time the characters were arguing and not talking to each other then in the next page they were dating? When did that happen? And this happens at least twice in the book. Also, there a key events that were never flushed out. For example the scene with Mitch in Callie's kitchen. That was big moment, like I think the best scene in the book, and after it happened...nothing. I mean absolutely nothing. It was never mentioned again.
I felt this book had so much potential to be more but got lost in trying to do too much and therefore didnt really do anything. The silver lining is that i think this is a debut which means the author has room to grow and I look forward to seeing that in her next book

This is an excellent example of a well written book with romantic suspense. The characters and the plot is realistic and kept me on my toes throughout the entire book.

Callie: Callie is a young single woman who was dealt a bad hand. She lose her wife early, and is left with a young daughter to care for alone whilst trying to deal with the grief. They move to her father-in-law, and in the beginning of the book it's been a year since they lost him too. She's determined to keep the family farm for her daughter.

Lauren: Lauren left Toronto after a bad break-up, leaving her children with her ex. This loss weighs heavily on Laurens mind and heart. Lauren is a veterinarian who loves helping animals, but has little patience with owners who don't treat their animals right.

Pro:
Romantic suspense with perfect balance between the two - The suspense progress very naturally throughout the book, and it feels realistic.
Realistic portrayal of finding someone new after the loss of a spouse - Wheelton have described the insecurities of being the new partner after a loss very well. The mental comparisons and the feeling of not being good enough Lauren tremendously. The insecurities of with moving on is also very well written. I really like how this is handled throughout the book.
Animal centered - Being a book where a veterinarian meets a farmer means it's centered a lot on animals, which is always nice. I like that the book doesn't glorify either the hard work required to make a farm run or the tough sides of a veterinarians job.

Con:
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This review is based on NetGalley ARC provided in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

The book starts off slow and there were many times that I got frustrated with Callie because there’s a difference between being independent and being stubborn. But halfway through the book I saw Callie lower her guard and start to trust. And that’s what makes it perfect because life is a journey and hopefully we all grow and learn from these experiences. I wasn’t a fan at first but I loved it by the end of the book. Because I could relate to her journey. Nice job

This was a great farm lesfic romance. I enjoyed the descriptions of farm life and veterinary life. I was a bit perplexed by Callie's character. She felt a bit juvenile to me but maybe I just didn't get her like I should have. There were the bad guy antagonists that add necessary drama and help to bond the main characters. The book includes lots of animals who help to enrich the entire storyline. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Dr. Lauren Cornish, divorced from Tanya, and the veterinarian at Prairie Veterinary Services (PVS) in Thresherton, Saskatchewan;

Callie Anderson, owner of a five hundred acre farm and cattle ranch called Popularcreek. She is the widow of Liz, and step-mother of Liz's nine year old daughter, Becky.

This is a simple story of the complex issues around heartbreak, fragility and the surety that there is a reason to put heartbreak in its place.

Dr. Lauren becomes involved with the birthing of calves on Callie's ranch. She advises Callie that the heifers are too young to give birth, but there is a good reason the heifers are giving birth so young. The dastardly neighbor's bull got loose and impregnated the young heifers. And there starts the problem.

The Kruger family wants Callie's land and they will stop at nothing to get it, including trying to scare Callie off her land, land that has been in her family for generations. Callie struggles to keep her land, pay her bills and keep a roof over her daughter's head.

Lauren tries to help, but her attraction to Callie and her fear that she will break Callie's heart get in the way of her doing anything practical. And Callie and Lauren can't seem to stop getting in their own, and each other's way. If it wasn't sad, it would be a comedy of errors!

""All right, but dizzy." Callie rose as far as her knees. She vomited and would have fallen into it, but Lauren caught her and yanked her away in time.
That was sexy", Lauren said. She was ecstatic to have Callie alive and didn't care if she sounded foolish.
"Gross." Callie mumbled before fainting in Lauren's arms."

This is the kind of story I would write, if I could write stories and I learned about calving, knowledge I'm fairly certain I will never put to use, but I'm glad I learned it!

Nancy Wheelton has written a great book. Callie is a widowed farmer who looks to veterinarian Lauren for help in treating her animals. The book explores how difficult it can be balance working and family, along with those who are greedy. I don't write reviews where I give away too much of the plot, but rather focus on elements of the story. Overall Veterinarian Partner is well written. The ending felt a little rushed, but overall it's a good story about having to make peace with our past, and coming to embrace the present.