Take Your Time by V.K. Powell

Take Your Time by V.K. Powell

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I received an ARC of this book from Bold Strokes Books and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the conclusion of a three book series, each book written by a different author, and all three books set during the, roughly, same period of time. The difference in all three books is which specific characters are the lead characters.

The first book in the series, Take My Hand by Missouri Vaun, follows Pine Cone resident Clay Cahill, and Pine Cone visitor River Hemsworth. They meet when River accidentally drives into a hair salon while attempting to avoid driving into an illegally parked horse trailer – which I mention because the horse trailer belongs to Trip (star of book two in the series), who attempts to help her after the accident, and the police officer to talks with her is Grace Booker, star of book three. Clay is the tow-truck driver who drive up to pull the car away from the scene of the accident.

All three of the locals who match up with ‘outsiders’ are best friends. Trip and Clay are on the ‘butch’ side of things, while Grace is on the femme side.

Of the ‘outsiders’, River is also femme, and Dani is androgynous. Jaime, the ‘other’ in book 2, is in other parts of this series, both in book 1 and 3, but, as I’ve not read book 2, I cannot ‘pigeon-hole’ her.

Right, now that’s out of the way, this specific book here.

Grace Booker is a sheriff’s deputy, the . . . a . . .well, she’s also some form of Sergeant. The book opens with her having to deal with the fact that her latest roommate has fled, leaving behind a freaking out parrot. Which is how Grace and the other main point of view character meet – Grace needs help and stops by the local Vet office, expecting to talk to her friend Trip, but she’s out. She has to, instead, ‘deal’ with Dr. Dani Wingate. I say ‘deal’ with because Dani has already come to a negative view of Grace, simply because she wears a cop uniform. It is one of many things the two will have to get over, in the course of the book, for the two to have a relationship.

Dani, see, had ‘previously meet’ Grace when she was in a store. While there the store owner had grabbed and detained a youngster for shoplifting. Dani, while hiding her presence, watched as Grace handcuffed and lead the youngster away. What really happened, and yes what Dani saw wasn’t the whole story, wasn’t explained until after Dani witnessed Grace restraining a drunk man and leading him off.

A cop being a cop, negative vibes being created in the watcher? Dani grew up in a poor neighborhood – her only interaction with the police was when they would come and ‘hassle’ the residents, once even destroying her food when they raided her parents place.

The book unfolds with the two being interested in each other but having reasons to not pursue the other. Dani: Grace is a police officer and Dani doesn’t plan to stick around the small town. Grace: Grace just had one relationship (not really a relationship, but . . .) implode, and is still trying to get over a previous relationship that was an actual relationship in which Grace let her heart be open; plus Dani isn’t planning to stick around.

Somehow or another, largely due to: 1) attempting to deal with the bird issues; 2) living in the same bed & breakfast and therefore running into each other a lot – the two developed some kind of relationship.

I liked the book; though felt that there was a little too heavy focus on sex for my own enjoyment. Ended up rating this one about a half star less, not for the sex, than the first book in this series.

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and now I need to check some more out by them.

Rating: 3.78

July 24 2018




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