Blurb:


A dog named Slipper almost ruined my life.

The uncatchable stray snuck on the patio where I was waitressing and knocked me straight into Lee Powell’s lap.

My fist slammed into his junk.

Then I accidentally flipped his breakfast platter onto his pants.

I thought it couldn’t get any worse, but when I bring my brother to baseball practice, I discover his new coach is none other than Lee, owner and founder of Powell Dog Sanctuary, and he’s not happy to see me.

I try to keep my distance from the hottest grump I’ve ever seen and ignore what it felt like curled against his broad, muscled chest.

But a bad case of the flu changes everything.

He stumbles on to my biggest secret and reveals a few of his own. He can’t seem to stay away from me. He says he’s too old for me, but I couldn’t care less when he makes me feel cherished.

But then his past raises its ugly head, and he breaks our connection in a moment of suspicion.

Lee’s afraid of being hurt again, but I’m the one left abandoned.

My 4* Review:

Abandoned by A.M. Wilson is the first book in her new series set in the Powell Sanctuary world. Nancy and Terrance Powell took in six kids off the streets and adopted them, now the family have all grown up and run a dog rescue sanctuary in Fairview Valley. This is a sweet and steamy small town, age-gap story about Lee Powell and Juniper Kelly.

Lee is the oldest sibling who is a grumpy, curt, no-nonsense kind of guy. He works hard but has abandonment issues due to his traumatic childhood. When Nancy took him in, he had been homeless for a year and been wandering the streets. When Terrance died he helped Nancy raise the other five so is very protective of his family. He is unsettled at the moment and feels something is missing from his life. 

Juniper is still recovering from losing her mother in a tragic accident two years ago. Home life is extremely difficult because her father isn’t coping with his grief. To help support her younger brother Lincoln, she works two jobs and does all she can for him. 

Lee and Juniper first meet at the local diner where she works. He notices how beautiful she is but knows she is far too young for him. A hilarious set of events happen when a stray dog causes chaos and Juniper ends up in Lee’s lap! Her hopes of not seeing him again are dashed quickly and they have some funny interactions. They both go into this knowing how each other feel about relationships but things don’t always go the way you expect. He finds it difficult to trust or let anyone get too close so it’s hard knowing she is keeping something from him. 

We are introduced to all of the siblings and get snippets of information about each of them ready for their books.  Great family dynamics and lots of banter between them all. I loved how much they teased Lee when they realised he liked Juniper.

The friendship between Lincoln and Ollie was sweet and I bet they will get up to some mischief later on in the series. 

This is well written and moves along at a nice pace as they get to know each other and finally give into their feelings. I loved how the story went full circle with Slipper helping the couple again. Although he is worried about the age-gap, they are actually great together and if they allow it, could be perfect for each other. I liked his broody, intense persona and laughed at his jealous streak appearing, but the best was his protective side.  You’ll guess that it’s all going to come to a head but what actually happens is a good twist and gives a more satisfactory ending.