Heidi Champa

Reviewed on Hearts On Fire... http://heartsonfirereviews.com/

This was a sweet "grass is always greener" story. Derek Owen fell in love with his best friend Luke McLeod back in high school but Derek hated the small town he grew up in and moved to Austin as soon as he was able to. His break up with Luke was a nasty one because Luke loved Cedar Bluff and dreamed of owning a ranch. Derek is now living in Austin and working for a prestigious accounting firm. Derek has his big city life but no one to share it with until he gets a new boss in Ben Dickson. The two start what is referred to as an office affair but it is really emotionless sex in a storage closet. Their relationship is soon discovered and Derek is soon shipped back to Cedar Bluff to audit the books for a major rancher. Totally dejected, Derek begins work on the Dalton Ranch's books and hiding in his sister's house. It's hard to hide in a small town with a pushy sister and Derek finally runs into Luke. The two men have changed over the years since their breakup but they soon find that the spark is still there. Derek doesn't plan on staying in town any longer than possible until he is asked to put his already tarnished scruples on the line. I found Derek to be a real whiner through most of the book. A lot of this could be because the story was told from Derek's POV and he was unhappy with his life. The so called relationship with Ben was nothing more than whoring for a pig already in a relationship with his boyfriend. Ms Champa did a great job of creating Ben as a total slime who was only interested in himself. Both Luke and Jenna were very well developed real feeling characters. Only with Luke was Derek a decent guy which was the point of the story. This was a simple read with a fairly predictable HEA ending with one small plot twist thrown in. I'd recommend this quick moving story for a good beach read.… (mehr)

This was an extremely well written short story by an author new to me. The Acres is a GLBT resort, although it seems predominately gay, where all the cabin owners know everyone else and the gossip grapevine runs at full tilt. Scott is still suffering the hurt of a three year old break up and feels the need to sell his cabin. Word hits the grapevine that some new, young blood will be staying in the cabin behind Scott's. It turns out that one of the three hot, young men, Gavin, is one of Scott's former students. A summer romance blooms but jealousies, misunderstandings and insecurities get in the way.
The characters and the homey feel of the Acres are well developed for a short story. I felt like part of the gang as I read along. The story line flowed very well and the relationship between Gavin and Scott evolved nicely. Ms Champa has a gift of bringing her characters to life and keeping them interesting. Even Scott's dog Stella was adorable. The romance was fun and not sappy sweet like so many are. The book is definitely worth reading.… (mehr)