About Once Upon a Veterinarian
Written by Drew Zachary
137 pages / 52500 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-492-2, 1-60370-492-2
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback
Ben has a good life. Partner in a thriving veterinarian clinic with his best friend Stacey, he has a great dog, a favorite Chinese take-out place and a great DVD collection. The only thing he doesn't have is a special someone to share his life with. When Ben has a number of poisoned animals come through his clinic, he call in the police, suspecting that these aren't random tragedies, but deliberate killings.
Enter Constable Tim Geary. Dog and cat poisonings are fairly low on the priority list, but Tim decides to look into them. The attraction between Tim and Ben is immediate and soon Chinese food and more is on the menu. Life has a way of trying to keep the boys apart, though. Can they find a way to overcome their busy lives and be together?
Review
Kiernan Kelly, author of the In Bear Country books, writes:
Ben is a committed veterinarian in a small town, whose life centers around his practice. He works long hours treating domestic animals, while his partner, Stacey, takes care of the larger farm breeds. Poor Ben has little to look forward to besides fleas, ticks, and the occasional worming.
Things take a serious turn when a string of mysterious pet deaths strikes the small town. Someone, Ben is sure, is poisoning the animals. He reports the deaths to the police, and when Officer Tim Geary stops by the clinic to investigate, Ben's life finally takes a turn for the better.
Tim is gorgeous, fun, and obviously very into the good doctor, and the feeling is mutual. Fate conspires against the pair, though, as one date after another dissolves into a jumble of interruptions, catastrophes, and miscellaneous mishaps. Both begin to believe that they're cursed never to get between the sheets.
Drew Zachary pens a delightful tale of two lonely men who, when they finally find each other, cant' seem to connect beyond a few rushed kisses and touches. Ben and Tim are wonderfully masculine, both capable of great tenderness and gruffness, with the major hots for one another. When they finally get together, the sparks quickly ignite into an all out conflagration, scorching the pages. Add in mystery in the form of the hunt for whoever's poisoning the animals, and a terrific cast of supporting characters, and you'll find Once Upon a Veterinarian a vastly entertaining, fast-paced read.
Sample
Ben sat in his office, staring at the number hand-written on the back of Constable Timothy “call me Tim” Geary's card, debating the pros and cons of giving the guy a call. He wasn't sure if he was trying to talk himself into or out of making the call. On the one hand, it seemed a little ghoulish, making a connection over dead animals. On the other, Harrinton was a small enough town that there weren't a lot of places to go to meet someone gay. Hell, there weren't a lot of places to go to pick anyone up, period.
The rest of his day had gone well and he'd had no more dead pets. He was feeling peckish and didn't really want to go upstairs to his quiet bachelor pad above the practice just yet. A glance at the clock confirmed it was nearly seven p.m. Ben grabbed the phone and dialed the number quickly, before he could change his mind.
It rang twice before Tim picked up, sounding a little out of breath. "Hello?"
"Oh, hi. Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything. I mean. Hi. This is Ben Sauvigon. The vet from this afternoon?" God, he was a dork.
He heard Tim laugh softly, though it didn't sound rude. "You're still there, too. I have Caller ID. And you're not interrupting anything, I was just working out."
Okay, he so didn't need the image of a half-naked, sweaty man doing crunches. Well, he loved the image, but it wasn't doing anything for his composure. "Yeah, I... I haven't eaten yet, I was wondering if you had?"
"Not yet, no." There was a pause and Ben could swear he heard Tim drinking, gulping water or something. "But I'm starving. Do you have anything in mind?"
"I was going to just pick up some Chinese from around the corner. I live above the practice."
"Yeah? Chinese sounds good. I need to shower real fast."
"I could go pick it up and bring it back to my place. You could meet me here?" God, he hoped that didn't sound like he expected anything but dinner to happen. It was just the easiest and he was more comfortable eating at home than in a restaurant.
"That'd be good." Tim sounded pleased, anyway. "I'll be maybe half an hour? Shower and drive. Is the entrance around the side or anything?"
"Yeah, you have to follow the path off the parking lot into the back yard. There anything you don't like?"
"Nosy neighbors. God, did I just say that out loud?"
Ben laughed. "You did. I meant more in the Chinese food line, but I'll remember the other."
"I think I did too many reps on the Bowflex. Um, I like chicken and veggies, sweet and sour more than hot and spicy." Tim was laughing too, sounding a little embarrassed, but not like he was going to bail.
"All right. I'll see you in an hour, then." Ben was chuckling himself as he hung up. He took off his lab coat and hung it over the back of the door, and checked in with Anna, the night nurse. "I'm off for the night. I've got my cell."
"Hopefully it'll be a quiet night." She waved her textbook at him.
"Test tomorrow?"
"Yeah, a big one."
"Good luck." Ben gave her a wave and headed out to pick up food for his date.
His date.
Wow. It had been ages since he'd had one of those.
Maybe his dry spell was over.