{"id":23012,"date":"2024-01-27T13:41:41","date_gmt":"2024-01-27T18:41:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=23012"},"modified":"2024-01-28T20:51:08","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T01:51:08","slug":"stubbed-toes-and-dating-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23012","title":{"rendered":"Stubbed Toes and Dating Woes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stubbed Toes and Dating Woes<\/em> (2023) Dahlia Donovan<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Stubbed<\/a>Niclas Ruiz loves his archeological work. He also has a huge crush on his brother’s best friend.<\/p>\n

Falk \u201cGrizz\u201d Evensen is content with his life. He has his own business (which he runs with the help of his best friend) and is successful. But his life is perhaps a little empty–it’s hard for asexuals to find partners–and even if his crushed on Nic for years, he’s just Nic’s brother’s best fried.<\/p>\n

Right?<\/p>\n

This is the third book in two weeks I’ve read with one or more ace characters. I didn’t necessarily mean to, but I wanted books with little or no boinking.<\/p>\n

It’s also the second book in a row I read with a neurodivergent character. <\/p>\n

This makes it extremely difficult not to compare the two stories.<\/p>\n

First, Nic has dyspraxia.<\/p>\n

\u201cFairly confident most people don\u2019t trip over their own feet at least once a day or bash themselves into the sides of door frames and furniture on a regular basis.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That, is me.<\/p>\n

Second, Nic loves language and old words.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy do you love old words so much?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s history. Words mean something. We forget them like the items I find buried in the ground and rivers. There are some magnificent ones.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I adore words that perfectly suit what I am thinking.<\/p>\n

My issue with the story is there was almost no tension, and the story kept shifting in a direction I wasn’t expecting.<\/p>\n

For instance, I assumed Izan was pushing Falk to spend time with Nic because he wanted them to recognize the feelings they had for each other.<\/p>\n

Nope. <\/p>\n

The bit of drama there was to the story–the horrible Charlene– dissolved into nothing.<\/p>\n

This isn’t bad per se, but with both characters talking about their feelings and being honest, this felt more like a vignette rather than a fully fledged story.<\/p>\n

It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t much of anything.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Hot Tree Publishing<\/p>\n

Rating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stubbed Toes and Dating Woes (2023) Dahlia Donovan Niclas Ruiz loves his archeological work. He also has a huge crush on his brother’s best friend. Falk \u201cGrizz\u201d Evensen is content with his life. He has his own business (which he runs with the help of his best friend) and is successful. But his life is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[189,30,292,207,608,196,148,26],"tags":[508,254,544,212],"class_list":["post-23012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ace","category-british","category-ebook","category-mental-health-rep","category-neurodiversity","category-novella","category-queer","category-romance","tag-asd","tag-dahlia-donovan","tag-mm","tag-ptsd"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5Za","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":17754,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17754","url_meta":{"origin":23012,"position":0},"title":"Not Even a Mouse","author":"Michelle","date":"September 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Not Even a Mouse (2015) Dahlia Donovan Kat is a shifter. (T)he feathertail glider shifter\u2014 not a mouse, thank you very much. She has also been in love with her older brother's best friend for years. Not that she'd ever tell him. Declan has spent his adult life studying genetics,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Not Even a Mouse","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Not-Even-a-Mouse.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18468,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/18468","url_meta":{"origin":23012,"position":1},"title":"Pickled Petunia","author":"Michelle","date":"November 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Pickled Petunia (2021) Dahlia Donovan (Motts Cold Case Mystery) The third Motts mystery finds a young woman at Motts' door, asking for help in finding her mother. It also find the London detective in charge of the cold case from Motts' childhood worried that the person who killed her best\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pickled Petunia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/Pickled-Petunia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14087,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/14087","url_meta":{"origin":23012,"position":2},"title":"Grasmere Cottage Mystery","author":"Michelle","date":"March 12, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Grasmere Cottage Mystery (2018) Dahlia Donovan This is actually three novellas, but since I read it as one book, I'm going to review it as such also. Dead in the Garden Dead in the Pond Dead in the Shop Valor Scott and Bishan Tamboli have been best friends since their\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dead in the Garden","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Dead-in-the-Garden.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":20567,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20567","url_meta":{"origin":23012,"position":3},"title":"Purloined Poinsettia","author":"Michelle","date":"August 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Purloined Poinsettia (2022) Dahlia Donovan (Motts Cold Case Mystery) Motts has been fascinated by cold cases since her childhood best friend was murdered and no one every caught. Recently, she's discovered that the majority of girls she went to school with have been killed in the interim. Now, as they\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Purloined Poinsettia","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Purloined_Poinsettia.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17575,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17575","url_meta":{"origin":23012,"position":4},"title":"Pierced Peony","author":"Michelle","date":"July 18, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Pierced Peony (2021) Dahlia Donovan (Motts Cold Case Mystery Series) When an inspector from London comes to visit Motts about a cold case from her childhood, the two unexpectedly discover another body--opening another cold case. \u201cYou\u2019ll never guess what I\u2019ve learned.\u201d \u201cMarnie.\u201d Motts was amused at how everyone around her,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pierced Peony","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Pierced-Peony.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17557,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/17557","url_meta":{"origin":23012,"position":5},"title":"Poisoned Primrose","author":"Michelle","date":"July 11, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Poisoned Primrose Dahlia Donovan (2020) Poisoned Primrose (Motts Cold Case Mystery) Motts is a 39 year-old asexual, biromantic autistic who is living on her own for the first time in a house left to her by her aunt. Unfortunately, when digging up the untended garden, remains are discovered, which causes\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Poisoned Primrose","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/Poisoned-Primrose.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23012\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}