Harper left her hometown for Denver long ago due to their conservative ways and trials that small town high schools can bring. Now a veterinarian, she and her 16-year-old daughter head back to her hometown to cover for her dad at his animal clinic after he suffers a heart attack. Addison, a studying vet tech, grew up in the same small town and works for Harper’s dad. She never plans to leave her hometown and has mixed feelings about Harper’s arrival. How will they handle all the change?

Reading the synopsis of this book was exciting for me. I thought this was a great premise for a book about heading back to one’s roots. It had lots of potential to be a great book. However, Dena Blake came up short for me. This novel went from one direction to the next with little to no warning. It was repetitive and was filled with a lot of information that was no relevant to the story itself. Then it would loop back around to the same issues repeatedly. This could have been a cute book had Blake kept it as a simple romance and not tried to insert a lot of issues and angst. It has the characters and background to really thrive. It unfortunately fell so flat I really wanted to stop reading it.

I gave this book a 2.25 because I feel that the writing itself was good. No huge grammatical errors or problems in that area. The problem lied in the story itself and the arrangement of the book. With better editing and the exclusion of the extra information that seemed to be added unnecessarily…this could have been an easy 4-star book for me.

I received an ARC by NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.

Hummm...what to say. I liked the premise of home, family, loss love, should I stay or should I go but as the story unfolded, it failed to click for me. Dr. Harper Sims, veterinarian, bullied in school and left her hometown as soon as she could. She also left a possible love behind. Addison Foster, lives a life that she thought was good enough but when Harper returns to town to help her father while he recovers from a heart attack, she begins to think differently. One of the positives of the read was their daughters Eden (Harper) and Brook (Addison). Both were likable and Brook did a good job of helping Eden adjust to various challenges and issues.

The romance was nice but maybe a little more angst would have been good. Miscommunication and not talking to each other just did not seem like enough to pull the story along.

I’ve loved all of the Dena Blake’s books but not this one. Harper left town after high school and never looked back. Our book began when she returned home after her dad’s heart attack to help run his vet clinic. Addison, a classmate of Harper’s worked at the clinic as well. I didn’t understand where this hatred between the two came from. The back story was that they spent seven minutes in heaven back in high school and really never talked again. Needless to say I just didn’t find this whole deal believable and was only able to get through about 40% because I couldn’t connect with anything going on, which is a shame. I do, however, look forward Ms. Blake’s next book because I am a big fan of hers.

Not a bad story...not a great story...

The books starts off strong...then gets a little wishy-washy then finishes a little anti-climatically.

The characters are pretty great to start, strong, take action type of women, then they get a little weaker and don't seem to be the same characters, by the end you are left withe questions about unresolved plot points that seemed a big deal earlier in the story.

Next Exit Home by Dena Blake sounded like a great second-chance-at-love romance with a small town setting and an “angsty” theme. I know that Ms. Blake writes angst really well, so I settled down to read this worry-filled love story. The book started off great. The pace of the story was good, the main characters (Harper and Addison) seemed real and mostly likeable, and I connected with them pretty quickly. The romance was progressing nicely too. I really liked where the story was going.

Then I hit the middle of the novel, and everything seemed to fall apart. The pace of the story slowed to almost nothing. Harper and Addison became flighty and changeable. They suddenly seemed unable to make any decisions about themselves or each other. Harper, especially, became quite unlikeable in how she treated those around her. This continued until near the end of the book. I almost quit reading a little over halfway, but kept going, and I’m glad I did. The last part of the book was more like the first half, and Harper and Addison became their “first half” selves again; the ones I had connected with and could see growing together.

I liked the first half and the very end of this novel. Those two sections I could give a rating of four stars, but that middle section and a few unanswered questions at the end pull the rating down to three stars. While I did have trouble with this book, I know Ms. Blake is a very capable romance author, and I will be looking for more of her work in the future.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

So-so
Harper left her small home town hoping never to return. She has a teenage daughter and a vet practice she shares with her ex. That part is not ideal but what can she do? When her dad, also a vet with a thriving practice, has a heart attack, she needs to go back and run it for a while. Addison loves her town where she is raising her teenage daughter but has dreams to go back to school to become a vet. Currently she is a vet assistant and has been running the rural clinic, doing all that she is able to while the Doc is out. When Harper blows in, she’s all aloof and business, wanting things to be just so. Things are not all smooth sailing between the two but darn if there isn’t something special waiting to happen between them….

Well written and technically sound, I didn’t love this story. For some reason I could not emotionally connect with the characters making it hard to really get into the tale and devote myself to it. I just found it hard to muster any enthusiasm for the tale. There seemed to be a lack of strong emotions, the situation with Harper’s ex wasn’t resolved, there was no real reason given why Harper hated her hometown so much…..just a lot of little disconnects, at least for me. The whole timing of the daughter’s conceptions and why they were conceived also made no sense to me either. (Harper would have been in school so why get pregnant on purpose and raise the baby alone then?) It just left a whole lot questions and disconnects for me which is not usual for Ms Blake’s work.

𝗕𝗹𝗮𝗸𝗲'𝘀 𝘄𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲.

The main thing that struck me was how uncommunicative Harper and Addison are. They grew up together but their relationship was superficial despite Harper's crush. Harper was a victim of bullying but Addison never stood up for her for fear of outing herself and losing popularity. They shared one secret kiss and spent the rest of their lives ignoring each other even after becoming step-sisters. Harper returns to town 18 years later as the town's temporary vet and when they meet again as family and colleagues in their family vet clinic, they are plain rude to each other for no real reason. But Harper has a complete attitude change when she discovers Addison is a lesbian too which means she has a shot with her and suddenly they are both chummy and in love. And then there are so many logistical issues to work out and nobody compromises so they make plans behind each other’s back. So I'm wondering how they can have a solid relationship moving forward with such poor communication.

On top of that, what I found appalling was the way Addison dismissed her 'girlfriend' when Harper came into the picture. The term ‘girlfriend’ is used loosely as Addison didn’t label their relationship. But even so, she and Nicki hooked up for years and Nicki clearly thought of Addison as a romantic interest but Addison strung her along and when the time came to end it, she simply avoided her without making a clean break.

I was also disturbed by how fearful Addison was to come out in her 30s given that nobody in town, her own family and teen daughter included, appears to be conservative. Yes, Harper was discriminated against but that was 18 years ago and in high school. Honestly, the only homophobic person still in town is Addison’s bff Gemma, which brings me to question Addison's choice of friends.

This was the first book I have read from this author. The story was good but, there was a lot of back and forth between the main characters that became frustrating at times throughout the book. It became kind of annoying at first but seemed to get better towards the middle of the book. Harper and Addisons relationship was really sweet and cute and you could tell that the family dynamic was what kept them grounded even when they had problems in their personal lives. Loved the kids and parents both brought sensitivity and humor to the story. Would love to read more from this author in the future. I would definitely recommend this author to my friends and family to read.

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

I’ve read two or three of this author's previous books before and really enjoyed them but for me this one is an average read-only. In fact, if it wasn’t an ARC copy I probably wouldn’t have finished it.

Addison is a Vet tech and Harper is a veterinarian. Harper co-owns a veterinary practice with her ex Vanessa in Denver. Addison is a Vet tech and is helping to keep Harper’s father’s (also a veterinarian) practice running smoothly until he recovers from a heart attack. He asks Harper to come and help out Addison until he is able to go back to work.

Both knew each other at school but never got on even then. When Harper returns and they both meet again they still hate the sight of each other. In the first half of the book, they were always disagreeing on this and that, doing the opposite of what was asked of them in the workplace. The second half was only slightly better but even when they were supposedly together it felt like they couldn’t care less whether they were in a relationship at all. In my opinion, the book just doesn’t work. The MCs have zero, zilch, nada chemistry between them. I just do not feel any chemistry, none whatsoever. The storyline had promise, there were some great secondary characters but for me, I wasn’t really invested in the main characters.

Sorry Ms. Blake, but the book just wasn’t for me.

Veterinarian heads home and finally falls for her teenage crush sums up the story, but there is also a lot more nuance to this book. The vet stuff, animals, procedures etc is handled well, with a realism that I like as it’s not overly sentimental. The teenage daughters are very good, with believable dialogue that fits with their age. So many authors write dialogue for children that reads badly and jars because their age range and vocabulary is just not right. The relationship between the two leads develops well and again it’s decently written, but for me there’s no particular spark. I think it’s because it was all very realistic, by that I mean it gradually felt a bit mundane and sadly I started to lose interest. It needs some energy from somewhere.

3.5 stars. Harper Sims left her hometown for college and never looked back. She went to Veterinary school and started her own practice and ignored her home town until her father gets ill and she decides to come home and help with his practice until he gets better. Harper has a lot of feelings about being home, her father has remarried another woman after Harper's mother died, and Harper thinks the town is too small and hates everyone knows each other. Addison Foster is working as a vet assistant at Harper's father's practice. She is just trying to raise her daughter and try to become a vet after her life not turning out how she wants. Harper and Addison start out butting heads on everything, especially since they both secretly have a crush on each other. Can they work together and not drive the tother one away.

I enjoyed this novel. It was pretty solid storyline and the characters seems to evolve well and change throughout the novel. I also enjoyed their interactions and how they both started to talk to one another. They had a lot of tension in the beginning of the novel, which I enjoyed. This novel is pretty well written and I enjoyed reading how they relationship evolved and seeing how it would end. I would definitely recommend this novel.

There are two main characters in this novel Harper, and Addison. When they were 16 years old at a birthday party and on a dare the two kissed. The kiss had long lasting affect for both women but neither of them ever acknowledged it. And 20 years later they find themselves in an awkward position of working together in the veterinary office in Harpers home town which Addison seems to be running. The author does a good job in the beginning of the book building wonderful tension between the two women until they eventually start to see one another in a different light and actually become friends. What I found disturbing about the story is how the small town where the story takes place seems to be full of incredibly bigoted people to the point of inhibiting Addison from ever coming out as a lesbian. As the relationship between Harper and Addison intensifies Harper knows that she cannot stay in the small town with the bigotry and Addison is afraid to move on. Will there ever be hope that these two can get themselves together and in the same town? The story had some interesting points and subplots however it fell short during the second half of the novel.

Veterinarian Dr Harper Sims was forced to return to her hometown as a stand in at her father’s vet clinic while he recuperated from a heart attack. She had not planned to stay longer than necessary with her history in her hometown until she met her childhood crush Addison Foster again.

Addison Foster not only knows Harper Sims, she remembers something that happened in the past between them. Forced to work together in the clinic, the pair faced off and took off with a bad start until they set aside their differences which led to them being caught in wanting something more but unsure to go for it.

I have read many of the author’s books but this is not among my favourites. Could not really connect with the pair as their history appeared rushed yet feelings were able to carry over to years as grown women and each with a teenage daughter. I do appreciate the support they lent to each other as strong and independent women but can’t really feel the depth of their relationship.

I just reviewed Next Exit Home by Dena Blake. Thank you NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for the ARC.

I read a few book by this author that I really liked and a few that I wished could have been better for all different reasons.

Harper, a successful veterinarian, went back to her hometown to help take care of her dad’s veterinary practice after he had a heart attack. Unbeknownst to her- the girl she had a crush on in high school, the one who kissed her in the closet during the 7 minutes in heaven game-was also employed there. Addison had feelings for Harper in high school but was not strong enough to acknowledge it to herself or her popular group of friends. The same was true of Addison as an adult.

This storyline started out good, but I felt a deeper level of depth never materialized to make it an overall better read. I especially found this true with certain conversations. For example, Harper’s daughter went to a party without her mom’s permission. She lied to her, was drunk, and almost lost her virginity. The conversations between mother and daughter about the seriousness of this incident were never explored on a deeper level. That scene could have added so much more to the story.

There were also inconsistencies and many unanswered questions that also made it difficult to enjoy. For example, at one point the author wrote it was Harper’s birthday party when Addison kissed her, then a few chapters later it was referred to as Addison’s birthday. I also didn’t understand why Harper’s parents were not involved when she decided to have a baby after she graduated from vet school. They seemed to have a good relationship. But only her vet friends and her donor/best friend were around to give her support. The timeline was also a little confusing. For example, Harper said she was running her dad’s clinic for a couple of months. Her daughter was a sophomore in school but there was no mention of her attending or taking online classes.

Most importantly, confrontational scenes were missing such as Addison coming out to her judgmental friend, who also happed to be the same person who bullied Harper for being gay in high school. This was a crucial part of their past. The author opted to tell about this confrontation in a very matter of fact way. I was also waiting for Addison to end her casual relationship with Nicki; she was seeing Nicki for a couple of years. But the final closure between the women never occurred.

This story had so much potential. I could see the direction the author wanted to take her readers, but unfortunately there were too many problems. I couldn’t enjoy this read with all those inconsistencies and unanswered questions. But hopefully others will like it.

An ARC was given for an honest review.

Dr. Harper lives in Denver where she co owns a Veterinary clinic. When her dad has a heart attack she goes home to work at his clinic until he's well. Addison is the Vet tech who is currently running the clinic.
Harper and Addison had a brief encounter in high school and are reluctant to be around each other.
I enjoyed the story and thought the main characters were ok. However I did find myself wondering why the clients were allowed to hold their pets during their procedures. 3 stars


I received An ARC via NetGalley from the publisher Bold Strokes Books Inc for my honest opinion.

Dr Harper Sims co-owns a veterinary practice in Denver, CO with her ex. Her father, also a veterinarian, has a heart attack and needs someone to help Addison Foster run his practice in Harper’s old home town. Addison is working on her veterinary nursing associate degree while raising her teenager daughter. When Harper returns home, Addison promptly becomes irritated with her way of doing things. However, a kiss between them in high school opens the door to the feelings both could never quite get over. Can Harper and Addison compromise to find a happily ever after?

I continue to be used by my friends as the guinea pig for yet another veterinary medicine romance novel. The experiment is sadly failing. This one was another miss for me. The narration seemed abrupt enough to feel incomplete at times. The characters can be stiff and unforgiving, and for lesbians, incapable of discussing things. Sometimes I fall in love with the setting and become charmed by it, the town in Jae’s ‘Paper Love’ and Radclyffe’s Idaho forest in ‘Firestorm’ come to mind. This town felt a little claustrophobic and unremarkable for a character to be so inflexible about leaving it.

The biggest issue I had was the veterinary medicine in the book. I felt like calling the Colorado board and reporting them. Let me start with I never call my owners ‘customers’. They are clients, and their pets are patients. A veterinary clinic can not be open without a veterinarian, let alone with a student seeing patients on their own and doing things beyond the capabilities of their degree. A rabies vaccine can not be administered without a veterinarian on the premises. An owner should not be holding their own pet by themselves, and absolutely no owners are allowed in radiology because of something called radiation (and a badge needed to keep track of such radiation issued to each member of the medical team). I will stop there, but I can not say how much I wanted to stop reading just because of these inaccuracies.

The chemistry between the mains was good. I also liked that both characters had adolescent kids as it added a layer of normalcy/realism, and was handled well without making them a hindrance to the story. There was also the small town pressure to stay in the closet for Addison and move away for Harper. On the downside, the need to keep old high school friends happy by hiding things is just always lost on me. At some point I expect the characters to grow up and live their lives unless there are extenuating circumstances. And then to make the town so receptive, it almost negated Addison’s fears. The pull for Harper to keep her hospital in Denver was a bit confusing too with how the ex was handling her role as co-owner. Also, the story with Addison’s previous relationship was never wrapped up and left me wondering what happened to the poor woman and when it would become a conflict in the story.

Overall, another disappointing novel for me. If you are looking for a good veterinary medicine story, Anna Burke is the author to read right now. 2 stars

ARC generously provided to me by BSB via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was the second book I read by Blake and I like her writing style which made it easy to read, but there were also a couple of issues. In the end it was an okay read for me.

This book can be seen as a very light second chance romance as the mains Harper and Addison were in high school together. I say very light as there was a stolen kiss but no more than that, they even weren’t really friends back then. Many years (~20) later they meet again.
Harper lives in Denver with her 16-year old daughter and she owns a veterinary clinic. The last things she wants is to go back to Blueridge, where bad memories haunt her. After her dad has a heart attack she returns temporarily to help out in his veterinary clinic. As it turns out, Addison works at the clinic as a vet tech, and Addison is one of the people Harper wanted to avoid.

I enjoyed the romance between Harper and Addison during the first half of the book. We get some history and there is a bit of an enemies-to-lovers theme going on, it kept my attention and I flew through the pages.
Unfortunately, during the second half the two mains lost me. They seemed to go from hot to cold, one moment confessing their love, the other moment (back to) being friends, or even thinking about a casual relationship. Here, the writing got repetitive causing the pace to drop. They also seemed not willing to make any concessions for their relationship, which at some point made me wonder how much they wanted this relationship.
As their career plays an important role in their decision making I also would have liked to see what happened in their ‘professional’ future besides their romantic future in the epilogue. In fact, during the entire book, so many questions popped up, I won’t go into specifics, but the details just didn’t add up in all places.

Another issue I had was that I found Harper difficult to like. She has a strange sense of family values and her behavior rubbed me the wrong way on several occasions. Her mother died several years earlier and her father remarried not long after. She’s is still morning her mother, but because of that she’s an absolute ass to her stepmother and indirectly to her dad (now and in the past). Her stepmother is a really sweet woman and her dad is obviously very happy with her and I can’t understand why you wouldn’t want to see your father find happiness again even if you’re still morning your mom. She also has a distant somewhat strained connection with her daughter and, well, she’ll not win the mother of the year award. Towards Addison she could be very sweet, but she also made several rather selfish decisions. So, I wanted to like her, and in parts I did, but it was hard to root for her.

Blake is known for high angst in her books, which I have to say was not very high in this one. She has a way of writing that I like, which made me still enjoy this book despite its issues. I can’t say this book is one of my favorites, but I will happily read more books by Blake in the future.

Harper Sims lives in Denver, Colorado, owns a veterinary clinic with her ex girlfriend, and has a sixteen year old daughter, Erin. Harper's father is recovering from a heart attack and she returns to Blueridge, Colorado, to run his veterinary clinic for a few months. Addison Foster works as a veterinary assistant at that clinic and has an eighteen year old daughter, Brook. Harper and Addison shared a brief past in high school so both are hesitant to see each other again.

Sparks immediately fly when they see each other again at the clinic. The ties are even stronger though since Harper's dad is now married to Addison's mother, Patty, following the passing of Harper's mother. So they not only see each other at the clinic, but also at their parent's home.

I thought the romantic build between Harper and Addison was good, but Addison struggled to come out of the closet in their small town. This caused some tension as did Harper's need to ultimately control most aspects of their relationship. 3.5 stars

I received an ARC from Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an okay book for me and I have to agree with most reviewers that went before me. The inconsistencies in the plot took away from enjoying the romantic pairing to the fullest. I did like Harper and Addison together and since my childhood dream was to become a vetenarian I always like books where that's part of the plot.
Yet the bullying was glossed over for having a such an impact on Harper and how can Harper and Addison not recognize eachother when their parents are married together? Another big dislike was how Harper dealt with her daughter...for someone who really chose to have a child it felt like she hadn't invested in that relation at all. This is a really subjective opinion though, but as one of those women who had to plan children as well since they won't be conceived after a hot night it felt off to me. So overall, the romance and the conflict were okay, but that part of the plot that should have added depth to the story was severely lacking in my opinion.

***An ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review ***

This has been a romance that in a way is about a relationship resumed between two women who have known each other since high school. But it is not quite like that, or at least it has certain inconsistencies, since at the beginning of the book the two women do not recognize each other, which is unlikely, being from a small town and related in more than one aspects. Because Harper's father married, in a second marriage, Addison's mother. So now both women are stepsisters. And they also have a teenage daughter each, stepdaughters to each other too. A bit tangled up maybe. But strange things do not end here, because Addison's group of friends, it seems, were Harper's bullies in high school, but this issue is treated very superficially even though it seems to have had a lot of influence in Harper's behavior since leaving her hometown. So the story has enough plot flaws.

As for the relationship between the two protagonists, they make a good romantic couple and I really liked it. Harper is a woman who lives her sexuality openly and has done so since she was a teenager and Addison instead, although she has assumed she is gay, is still afraid of not being accepted by her circle of friends and family. So there is some conflict in this regard. The other big conflict is whether Harper will be able to leave her whole life in the big city to return home or whether Addison will be able to live her life, parked when she had to leave her dreams to be a mother.

So as a story it has a lot of flaws and the romance is pretty good, but the inconsistencies have ruined it quite a bit.