Accidentally Hers by Jamie Beck (Sterling Canyon #1)
Contemporary Romance
October 6, 2015
Montlake Romance

Reviewed by Helyce

When ruggedly sexy backcountry guide Grey Lowell moves to Sterling Canyon, Colorado, after buying the ski-expedition company Backtrax, his plans don’t include romance. Still, it’s fun to look—especially across a crowded restaurant at a beauty he dubs “Bambi.” But all his plans change later that night when he’s injured by a drunk driver.

Physical therapist Avery Randall is shocked to learn that Grey’s the man her brother struck with his car, and even more stunned when he arrives at the clinic expecting her help. Despite her reservations and Grey’s silly new nickname for her, Avery agrees to work with him, and passion begins to simmer. Yet with his livelihood at stake, Grey must make tough decisions that could hurt Avery and her family. Before long, Avery’s loyalties are tested, and the choices she and Grey each make may cost them their chance at lasting love.

It was the above blurb that caught my attention for this book and made me curious to see how the author could spin a believable love story between a woman whose drunk driving brother injures a man who she’d end up being the physical therapist for.  Add to that their intense attraction for each other and I couldn’t imagine how it could possibly work.  How do you separate your familial obligations and loyalties from what your heart and your libido want?

Initially, I was drawn into the story as the characters are introduced and I got a sense who was who.  Grey is new to the area, having purchased a company that does outdoor adventure type activities depending on the season. He’s still working out the kinks along with his buddy Trip who is currently working for him until he decides what’s next for him in his life. They are doing okay, but Grey is worried about his bottom line.  He loves the outdoor parts of his job, but not so much the paperwork and numbers part because of his dyslexia.  Anything that he has to read or deal with on the computer takes hours for him and exhausts him.  Sadly, it’s a necessary part of owning a business.

Avery is a Sterling Canyon native and is one of two sought after physical therapists in the area.  She is currently unattached, having ended a long term relationship with her ex, Matt, when he decided he wanted to be with someone else and moved away.  Her heart still hurts and she is really not interested in finding a man at the moment. Avery has her two best girlfriends, Emma and Kelsey, to hang out with.  She doesn’t need a man.

The author does a good job of setting the scene up to this point-Grey and Avery see each other for the first time in a restaurant.  Avery is having dinner with her friends and Grey is picking up some takeout. Their eyes meet across the room–and you can feel that there could be something there. But before these two ever officially meet, Grey is hit while riding his bike home by Avery’s brother Andy.

And then everything changes…

Grey is injured severely enough that he requires surgery and then physical therapy.  He meets with and ends up choosing Avery to be his therapist because she’s very good and he needs to give himself the best and fastest chance of recovering.  Their attraction to each other is exciting but causes problems, mostly for Avery, who drove me nuts with her inability to grow a spine and stand up for herself.  I could totally understand the fact she was caught between a rock and a hard place with respect to her loyalties to her family, but I began to dislike her in spite of it.  Not everything was her fault-she had a strange relationship with her parents and found it difficult to stand up to her father who was a pretty manipulative bastard. While Avery is trying to keep things separate, as is Grey, outside factors continually work against them.  Add to it all the fact that Avery’s ex, Matt, returns to create additional stress for all and you have a ridiculously epic shit-storm.

Money is truly the root of all evil in this story. But I found that Grey, who had the most to lose in my estimation, continued to be a likable character who truly tried his very best to explore every single avenue before he needed to do anything that would potentially hurt Avery or her family in an effort to secure his business and his future. Avery, on the other hand, tried and failed and in some respects I found her to be exactly the type of woman she claimed she didn’t want to be.  She frustrated me to no end.

This is the first book in this series by Ms. Beck and while this one just didn’t sit right with me on many levels, I’m not ready to write her off.  Grey’s buddy Trip, for example, intrigues me a lot.  His sense of humor and “player” attitude make me want to see what kind of girl might be able to make him settle down.  Avery’s two girlfriends, Emma and Kelsey were quite interesting and there is a hint at who Emma might end up with.  I’m not sure that would be a good pairing-but I’d like to see if I am guessing correctly.

An interesting premise that just didn’t pan out with a too weak heroine had me too frustrated for too much of the story to forgive her even though she finally gets her act together at the end.

Rating: D

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