Cara Bastone has done it! Given me a romance that has restored my faith in old-fashioned, slow burn, storytelling Romance with heterosexual MCs. I'd become convinced that all the good writing had moved to M/M Romance.

It's been a while coming, that a mainstream Romance succeeded in snaring my attention.

Made possible by Bastone's irresistible MC Sebastian Dorner, and the troubled Via DeRosa, Seb's son's teacher.

But the doorstopper is that there is so much story in this. Every part of it is story - as important as the MCs were, they were tethered to, moved along by the steady stream of the story. I think I've missed that in Romance. Often, all aspects of the novel are so heavily dominated by the personality of the two leads and their interactions. I'm not complaining because It's one of the appeals of Romance for me, how character driven it is - but strong story - I'd forgotten how good that is.

Seb is such an appealing man: a craftsman, a devoted father to his small son Matty, so social and conscientious he volunteers at school, he's liked by all, and all women in his town follow him as if he was on Instagram, which he's not.

It's the unassuming, and somewhat damaged former foster kid, Via, who interests him, but he treads so carefully. It takes a while for this romance to leave the ground, but it's not a boring wait - it's a showcase of the storyteller's craft. ( )

This is the second novel by Bastone that I've listened to, and it's another good one. There is some real depth to the story of a widower with a young son and the teacher, who grew up in foster homes, who captures his interest. Grief, loneliness, abandonment, plus some conflict related to the age gap (15 years - this didn't bother me, as I sort of have always had a thing for older men - depsite The Wayne being younger than me ;-) ). I enjoyed the chemistry and the realistic levels and deoths of conflict and angst that went along with it.

3.75 stars ( )

*Heart-eyes* ( )

After the death of his wife, Sebastian Dorner loses himself in grief until his son, Matty's preschool teacher, Violetta DeRosa gently but firmly sets him straight by telling him that he is neglecting his son. She gives him a checklist that guides him as he navigates single parenthood. When Seb and Via meet again, she has taken a job as counselor in Matty's school, which is the same place that Seb spends much of his time when he isn't making furniture for a living. There are definite sparks between them, but Seb thinks he's too old for her, and anyway, Via has a boyfriend, but their attraction just can't be denied.

Just a Heartbeat Away deals with some heavy topics such as loss and depression. Much of the story details Via's experience in the foster care system and how that has affected her. Another large part of the narrative is the loss of Seb's wife and how it has changed himself and Matty. The romance is what brings the two character arcs together, making it almost an afterthought. Many emotions come to the fore, some of which are overly discussed, but overall, Just a Heartbeat Away is an enjoyable romance about two likable characters finding their way in the modern world. ( )

{First of (prequel +) 3 in Forever Yours series; romance, chick lit, steamy} (2020)

When Sebastian Dorner lost his wife it took his four year old son’s teacher gently pointing out that Matty was showing signs of neglect to get him to start pulling his life back together. Two years later he had turned into a good father when he bumped into her again and discovered that he was attracted to her, that she would be joining Matty’s new school … and that she had a boyfriend and was fifteen years younger than him. The story is narrated, in the third person, from both protagonists’ point of view.

I read the prequel to this series - (When We First Met) which is about Cat, another teacher at the school, and takes place a decade before - earlier this month and found it a sweet romance with minimal bedroom scenes, which I appreciated, and decided to continue reading the series.

Just a Heartbeat Away started off as a sweet romance. But then it dragged a little as Sebastian and Via kept throwing imaginary obstacles in the way even though all their friends could see they had the hots for each other. And then, when they finally admitted the attraction to each other, they still took forever to get together. Mind you, once they did get together there was a very long bedroom scene which, to be honest, I tuned out after a bit.

For me, I liked the first half of this book and could relate to the parts about the child and the dog especially but the second half was just okay.

His kid was growing up. Losing those chubby cheeks. Seb knew that Daddy was on its last legs. He was only ever Dad when Matty was around friends. It plucked a bittersweet chord in his heart. Of course he wanted his kid to grow up. And of course he wanted his kid to stay a baby forever.

I know that feeling; I‘m holdin' on real hard. I've had to loosen the apron strings on my 18 year old and my 13 year old is trying to kick over the traces but I'm not letting go yet.

May 2022
3 stars ( )