Source: Goodreads
Length: 79 pages
My rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars
Callie Lassiter is something of a dog whisperer. A dog trainer by profession, she has a successful business and a perfectly trained Great Dane named Jack. But no amount of training was enough to stop the pull of love! And Jack ended up getting Callie’s neighbor’s Great Dane, Jill, pregnant. So maybe it’s love for the two dogs. But it’s throwing a monkey wrench into Callie’s plans of staying away from Jill’s owner, Owen McKay who also happens to be the incredibly hot owner of the city’s most happening night club and one of the city’s greatest playboys. Callie has sworn off bad boys like him, even if she has to tie herself to her bed to keep that promise. So why is she doing everything that she knows will only spell heartbreak for her?
Owen McKay likes his Casanova status and has never been a fan of getting in too deep with any woman. But then again, he’s never met anyone like Callie before. With Jill pregnant, he’s forced to spend time with his wholesome yet unbelievably hot neighbor. And the closeness is driving him out of his mind. But succumbing to the attraction that sizzles between Callie and him can be the worst decision he ever makes; because he knows that she wants more than he’s ever given. So why does he do everything that his logical thoughts warn him against?
With fate pushing them together more often than they’d like, Owen and Callie have choices to make. Can they give in to the chemistry they share without putting their hearts at risk? And where does Callie find herself when the bad boy decides that it’s time to move on?
My take:
Leashed is a contemporary romance novella that spans 79 pages. As a novella in the genre of romance, it has everything it could need to be a good read – romance, sex, chemistry, drama, conflict, the hunky hero and gorgeous heroine. It even has dollops of humor that add to the charm of the book.
And yet, the novella comes a good amount short of being interesting. The story is one that has been done time and time again. It brings nothing new to the reader and is altogether too predicable, right down to individual scenes. Now I’m not saying that there’s something wrong with a conventional story. But it can get a bit annoying when there’s so little depth to it. You get a peak into the characters’ pasts and the reasons for the way they are what they are, but it’s an extremely uninteresting past. It fails to evoke any true sense of association because of the been-there-done-that feel you get as you go through it.
The only new thing about the book was the extensive information about dogs. But that got a bit annoying too as it expected a lot of tacit knowledge on behalf of the reader. I’m a dog lover (one of the prime reasons to pick up the book), but the dog related information was written on the assumption that the reader knows everything about training, breeds and breeding. That actually made me just go through the words and the conversations in many places without really paying attention to it. I think that hampered, to a minor extent, the ability to associate with every aspect of Callie’s character.
Then there’s Owen McKay. He’s as typical a bad-boy-who’s-vulnerable-deep-inside as they come right from his attitude to his back story. Nothing really new in his character even though there was a lot of potential for it. Added to that were Callie’s friends. While the camaraderie was shown quite well, the way they thought simply seemed crazy and not in a good way. There was more than one time where I was forced to wonder who thinks like that!
The one great thing about the book though, is the humor. It really helped me get a better look into Callie and Owen and made for some really good reading. It made me laugh out loud and fell nicely in place, giving the story great direction. The chemistry and emotion is shown well too and allows you to really feel their bond and conflicts.
All in all, I would give Leashed 2.5 stars out of 5 because I can’t think of it as anything except for a quick, average read. If you’ve read tons of romances and are now looking for romance stories that go deeper than the basics, then you can give this one a pass. But if you’re a die hard fan of romance and can read anything about love, then Leashed will be a good addition to your list.
– Rishika
The Book Review Station 