Review: Love in Deed by L.B. Dunbar

Love in Deed by L.B. Dunbar
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is another romance featuring older characters, which I don't often read. Jedd and Beverly are both in their 40s and they've both had their struggles in life. Their experiences have hardened them both in different ways over the years. Their flaws compliment each other, and together they make a great team. Jedd is able to draw Beverly out of her protective shell, and she in turn calls him out on his BS. Beverly has been hardened by verbally abusive religious parents, a verbally abusive husband who cheated on her and abandoned her, and a car accident that left her physically disabled. Beverly is hard to like, but as you learn about her life and what she has endured you learn that she has been shaped by the expectations put on her and the events of her life. Some of those events were her fault, while others she had no control over. Enter Jedd, also formed by the events of his life but instead of turning in on himself, he left Green Valley to roam the world and see what he could find. Now he's back to do what he loves and hopefully reclaim his former homestead and only Beverly stands in his way.

Their relationship was a little insta-lusty at first. They were both immediately attracted to each other with a lot of dirty talk and thoughts to go with it, but they are pretty mean to each other in the beginning. I say lust because their love is actually very slow to develop. Jedd takes his time with Beverly, knowing that she has been wronged in the past and that she needs time to learn to trust again and like the horses he works with, she will turn on him at any second if he makes the wrong move. The resolution with Beverly's ex Howard felt a little rushed, but he was such a jerk I don't mind that he didn't get a lot of time on the page. There were also a few plot lines that I felt were either rushed or glossed over. I have a suspicion that we may get more info on the missing pieces in future books so I'm not overly concerned,

In the end this was a sweet romance giving each of the characters a chance at love and the lives they've always wanted. I really loved watching Beverly develop, I think her character while unlikable much of the time was presented as very realistic. What her character suffered is a very real problem with lasting effects. I think it was handled very well. You weren't supposed to like her, you were supposed to suffer with her, and I did. I hurt when she hurt, and I'm happy for her that she found her way back to the world and that she found Jedd. By the end, she was a totally different person, and I really liked her and like the person she transformed into.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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