Last updated on May 31, 2024
I’ve been meaning to do a book rec post for these book for months. They’re currently on sale for $1.99USD for Pride Month, so now seems like a good time. I believe they’re regularly $4.99USD so this is a good deal.
I don’t think they’re marked down on Amazon other than Amazon.com, but they are on sale at other retailers or you can get them from the publisher website. Scroll down for the pile of links.
I loved both these books. They’re not quite fluffy, but they are sweet and lovely.
Better Than People features a neuroatypical main character. One of the reasons I love Roan Parrish is how well and respectfully she writes neurodiversity. She never cures them, or presents them as lacking. The other main character doesn’t try to “fix” them. Very realistic mistakes, misunderstandings, and assumptions might happen, but they’re just…people that are loved as they are, and that’s so appreciated.
Better Than People is also full of quirky animals. What’s not to love?
Best Laid Plans hits one of my trope weaknesses. The desperate out-of-towner rescued and wooed by the townie. *swoons* One of the main characters in this one is the brother of a character from book one, and we also see both those characters again, which I thought was nice.
Here’s the blurb for Better Than People:
It’s not long before their pet-centric arrangement sparks a person-centric desire…
Simon Burke has always preferred animals to people. When the countdown to adopting his own dog is unexpectedly put on hold, Simon turns to the PetShare app to find the fluffy TLC he’s been missing. Meeting a grumpy children’s book illustrator who needs a dog walker isn’t easy for the man whose persistent anxiety has colored his whole life, but Jack Matheson’s menagerie is just what Simon needs.
Four dogs, three cats and counting. Jack’s pack of rescue pets is the only company he needs. But when a bad fall leaves him with a broken leg, Jack is forced to admit he needs help. That the help comes in the form of the most beautiful man he’s ever seen is a complicated, glorious surprise.
And the blurb for Best Laid Plans:
A man who’s been moving his whole life finally finds a reason to stay put.
Charlie Matheson has spent his life taking care of things. When his parents died two days before his eighteenth birthday, he took care of his younger brother, even though that meant putting his own dreams on hold. He took care of his father’s hardware store, building it into something known several towns over. He took care of the cat he found in the woods…so now he has a cat.
When a stranger with epic tattoos and a glare to match starts coming into Matheson’s Hardware, buying things seemingly at random and lugging them off in a car so beat-up Charlie feels bad for it, his instinct is to help. When the man comes in for the fifth time in a week, Charlie can’t resist intervening.
Rye Janssen has spent his life breaking things. Promises. His parents’ hearts. Leases. He isn’t used to people wanting to put things back together—not the crumbling house he just inherited, not his future and certainly not him. But the longer he stays in Garnet Run, the more he can see himself belonging there. And the more time he spends with Charlie, the more he can see himself falling asleep in Charlie’s arms…and waking up in them.
Is this what it feels like to have a home—and someone to share it with?
If you read these and love them, book three is currently on pre-order.
There’s also a free read in this universe available on the publisher website. I haven’t read it yet because I’m waiting for the last chapter to be posted, but here’s the link to that.
Buy Links
Series page on Roan Parrish’s website with links to all retailers
Being with Jack—talking, walking, making out—is a game changer for Simon. And Simon’s company ceRRrRtainly…eases the pain of recovery for Jack. But making a real relationship work once Jack’s cast comes off will mean compromise, understanding and lots of love.