DanielI suck at relationships and don’t trust anyone, but there are reasons for that. For one thing, every person I’ve ever cared about has let me down. The only recent exception: O’Leary’s town veterinarian…my new best friend.I came to O’Leary for a fresh start. To pare things down to essentials. To forget about the failures in my past. The last thing I need is complications, and most … complications, and most definitely
Not.
A.
Boyfriend.
Julian
I’ve lived in O’Leary my entire life and learned to fly under the radar a long time ago. I do what’s expected, say what’s expected, and keep to myself as much as possible. It’s a hell of a lot simpler spending my time working with animals than trying to interact with actual people. The one unlikely exception: the gorgeous guy who moved to a cabin just outside of town and somehow became my best friend.
But friendships are complicated, and one morning I find myself accidentally telling the whole town the biggest lie of my life. Which is how Daniel Michaelson, my very straight, very hot best friend becomes my fake boyfriend, even though he’s most definitely
Not.
My.
Lover.
more
The Gift by May Archer is the second book in the Love in O’Leary series. Daniel and Juilian are so amazing… I love their interactions. They are funny, sweet and sexy. The story grabbed my attention and kept my interest throughout. It’s a friends to fake boyfriends to real love story. Definitely a good read.
I received an advanced reader’s copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review and recommendation.
I really loved Julian and Daniel’s story, and hope there will be many more in the Love in O’Leary series!
4 stars but not perfect.
I feel a little bit disconnected with this series. I really do love the small town charm, the gossip mills and the unique characters. They provide a funny, lovely and slightly addictive story to this series and with the promise of more to come it’s hard to put it down and not start the next book.
But at the same time I feel like the individual stories themselves are nothing special and somewhat plain. The first two books were essentially the same. New man arrives in town the other falls for him.. lot of insecurities about leaving and secrets. The communication problem is a constant which I really do not like. Also in this one I really found the catharsis missing. To predictable, little angst that seems like a lot but it’s not.
And still I cannot give less than four stars because the overall story is so good. I hope the other books will be better in the romance aspect as well.
The second book in the series and I enjoyed it as much as the first book. Julien and Daniel make a great couple and I loved how both of them has their problems, scars and fears, but in the end they made it work. May Archer put a lot of thought and effort into their mind and emotion
The whole series grabs you….sweet and fun. Love them
4 stars
Heat Level: 3.5
A contemporary, heartfelt escape, of love, change and finding home.
This was my first story of May’s and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Although this is the second book in her Love in O’Leary series it can be read as a standalone and although I haven’t read the first book I could still follow the story and didn’t feel like I missed anything.
I must say though that, this is a long book and May has a very descriptive writing style. I feel that the story flowed, featured ups and downs and all the emotions caught up in friends to lovers, fake boyfriend and gay for you tropes. I felt for Julian and loved his animal facts!! May is great at injecting real-world humour into her story and I loved the Bear Grylls references!
I enjoyed Daniel’s gay ‘discovery’ and feel like he handled the emotions well and all I can say is I was the characters would talk to each other, there was a lot of miscommunication or no communications and therefore their love story was a little slow to finally be real.
I enjoyed this story and the little town of O’Leary and look forward to who May will write about next!
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I don’t know what it is about the quiet, snarky curmudgeon that gets me every time, but I’m a sucker for it. But in The Gift, Daniel’s aloofness doesn’t stand a chance to Julian’s friendly boy-next-door persona – even if there is so much more to both of them than meets the eye. There is the perfect balance of push and pull, awkward moments and pure steaminess, and interesting plot twists to make this book worth anyone’s while.
This was my first May Archer book. I plan on finishing this review and then devouring the rest of her catalogue. Her writing is hilarious, heartwarming, and wickedly delightful and I can’t get enough.
While Daniel is feeling crushed under the weight of his failures, Julian is feeling crushed under the weight of others’ expectations. Both men are surprised to find a quick, easy, and deep connection with one another and their friendship brings peace to each of them; something so elusive they’d nearly given up on it. As feelings evolve, deepen, develop new facets, they each will have to come to terms with those changes within themselves and the consequences of giving in to its tempting warmth. But they might end up being their own worst enemies as their individual insecurities and history seek to sabotage the possibility of a future together.
Julian was interesting when we first met him in The Fall and his connection with Daniel seemed more romantic than friendly there. But here we’re given something much sweeter with a very slow-burn romance that builds through the course of their interactions. My memory of Julian in the previous book doesn’t really match the person we meet here, but aside from the diminutive stature and internal struggle with pleasing everyone before himself, I quite liked him. He had a slightly neurotic depth that charmed me right away. And for Daniel to see all his sides and find him just as endearing was a win.
As Julian goes off on Nature Channel-esque narrations regarding animal traits and behavior, Daniel is quietly falling in love with him for it. Even though it takes Daniel quite a while to realize what’s happening emotionally between them, he doesn’t throw up roadblocks in their friendship which I truly appreciated.
Daniel vacillated more and because the “surprise” of his past was waiting for the revelation right at the very end, it drew out his situation as well as the reveal that could have been given earlier in his thoughts, especially when Julian’s fanboy status was mentioned more than once. While the moment when he came clean about his career identity is utterly perfect and completely sweet, I was almost to the point of eye-rolling and sighing in exasperation when even Daniel’s thoughts evaded complete honesty. I also feel that we were missing a lot of Daniel’s evolution regarding his family. I agree with the separation because of timing, but without getting Daniel’s familial and career resolution while he was reconciling who he was with who he is, Daniel’s character fell a bit flat overall for me.
The surprise connection between fan and former career wasn’t all that surprising; actually, none of the conflict was. While it was quite predictable, I didn’t think it detracted from the story. Because we got a good sense of who these men are individually and what they struggled with before they forged their friendship, it was a natural progression in terms of their insecurities getting the best of them at times. I did find Julian more mature and forthright than Daniel, however as he took advice and caution with both irritation and introspection. Because it was so honest in the assimilation and follow-through, I found myself gravitating toward him more often despite the very repetitive reiteration of his self-perceived flaws.
I found this story charming, sweet, and humorous. Add in some serious steam and incredible tenderness and you’ve got a total win on your hands. I enjoyed revisiting the well-intentioned yet über gossipy and nosy residents of O’Leary, and getting a good idea of what to expect when we get Parker and Jamie’s story doesn’t hurt either. That one’s sure to be angsty and explosive as well as healing and redemptive. Definitely looking forward to more from this little nowhere town full of surprising characters and so much love.
I love the town of O’Leary, with its nosy but caring citizens, and I was excited to go back there with this second book set I n the small town. Local veterinarian Julian and “outsider” Daniel meet and quickly find that they are able to just be themselves with each other as they don’t seem to be able to do with anyone else. Despite the fact that Daniel is keeping his entire life secret, they become best friends, then slowly more.
This story had me smiling and shaking my head, and it kept me rooting for Daniel and Julian to find their way to a sweet HEA. They were loveable and kind, and I loved all the different versions of Jules as much as Daniel did. I also loved that Daniel and Julian saw each other like no one else did. This book was wonderful, and I can’t wait to learn more about the people of O’Leary as the series continues.
Aw I love love love this couple, the banter, the sweetness the kind of slow/fast relationship. Super sweet friends to lovers and of course the awesome cast of characters in O’leary. Fun and Happy read. Can’t wait for more!
I think that I need to move to O’Leary. The drama in the town would mean that I wouldn’t even have to ever watch TV. All the gossip would just do it for me.
Julian is the steadfast vet in town. He’s quiet, never loses his temper, is a bit awkward, and always does what’s expected. Then one day, he stands up in the diner in the middle of town and tells everyone that he and hermit Daniel are dating, and Daniel couldn’t have done what everyone says he did.
Daniel was a famous best selling author whose last couple books didn’t do so well, so it looks like his life is over. His wife left him, his friends left him, and all he gets from his parents is a lot of static. So he goes off to O’Leary NY and buys 65 acres to live on. One day, he sees a murder of crows attacking a small owl, so he rescues the owl and rushes him into town to the vet, when he meets the stunning Dr. Julian, who tends to make Daniel forget that he is straight. They start spending all the time they can together, and become best friends, with Julian and Daniel both reminding themselves constantly that Daniel is straight. Or maybe he isn’t?
I’m going to come right out and say that Daniel isn’t always likable. He sometimes feels a little too sorry for himself, but I’m going to say that it fits in with the story, I guess. It all fits in with the negative self-talk he has going on. When he isn’t in his way, I do like him, even though he should’ve opened up to Julian so much earlier than he did. I like Julian most of the time too, but he does need to learn to stand up for himself a little more. Altogether, an enjoyable story, and I can’t wait to see the next story in the chute.
Warm, funny, snarky, sexy…this return visit to May Archer’s town of O’Leary is all of those things and more. A fresh take on the straight-guy-as-fake-boyfriend trope, The Gift hits all the right notes. The chemistry between Julian, the animal-trivia-spouting veterinarian, and Daniel, the reclusive author who discovers he’s not as straight as he thought, is off the charts.
While it helps to have read The Fall, The Gift can be read as a standalone. Don’t, though. The Fall is an excellent read, too.