Book-A-Holic Anon

The story of how I got the title & met a wonderful lady:I could start this story in a really cheesy way… There I was getting on an elevator at RT...I'm going to just dive in and tell how this wonderful book ended up in my possession. I might not have the exact conversation correct but the gist is there.So the RT convention was an insane time but I met quite a few wonderful people and got asked the following question a ton of times - "What genres do you read?" My answer was typically "Um… all of them but I don't do overly preachy inspirational romances." Well on one such elevator ride a woman turns around at my answer and tells me she has a book for me then. I wasn't certain who she was but I'm always happy to check out new titles. She then proceeds to tell me that it has an atheist and a pastor. Well… how can one turn a title pitched like that down? She proceeded to give me her card and tell me to send her an email so she could send me a copy if I wanted to check it out. Well I can't remember if it was that night or the next night (early morning) I finally got a chance to check out the blurb for it and saw… Tattooed atheist??? *THUNK* Also I noted that not only was her comment that no one was magically saved during the story correct but that a few reviews I looked at said the same. I sent her an email and the rest as we shall say… was history.The woman on the elevator - the amazing Sarah Frantz from Riptide Publishing. I cannot thank her enough for telling me about the title and then being awesome enough to send me a copy of it just to read. She didn't require a review or tell me to gush over it but here I am doing just that.My thoughts:I'm keeping this review short and sweet. You don't get a true HEA in this story but you do get a more realistic ending than most stories I've read recently. Do I think they are going to be an HEA? Oh heck yes but I liked the way this ended.Seth is an incredible man who in most respects seems happy and healthy but he's missing someone to share this with. He's convinced that he is only a love 'em and leave 'em type but he's really a huge softie underneath the tattoos. He finds himself immediately attracted to the new neighbor but when he finds out the man is a pastor it puts him off-limits. Seth has a major problem with organized religion and this amazing connection he feels just can't be right. I loved watching his interaction with his friends and it was amazing to see how much he helped a character in this story at the church.Darren is an amazing man who just happens to be a pastor. He finds himself incredibly attracted to Seth and when he sees something he wants he goes after it. He's a bit gun-shy in some respects but as you find out more about why he has moved to Tucker Springs it will make you mad at how much people buy in to stereotypes and misinformation. I loved how much he was willing to do to help people and understand that not everyone will be willing to see the person behind the label. He was just an amazing person and I hope that we will get to see him in future stories.Now to them as a pair, they have a ton of stuff to work through but when they combust multiple times through the book you'll have to fan yourself and maybe even get some ice. They have an amazing connection that jumps off the page and how realistically L.A. Witt puts them through the wringer deciding what is best was just incredible to read. While they do have problems you get a great sense of what both characters are thinking and feeling so the decisions they make are reasonable plus there really is none of the stupid big misunderstanding that pulls them apart.