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"Keep calm and call a handyman." - Anonymous

Tobias Gale is surprised to receive a call from a certain Ryan Forrester who informs him that his mother Gladys Gale had a stroke. Tobias immediately rushes home and learns for the first time that Ryan, a handyman, lives there too in exchange for doing renovations around the old homestead. But nothing shocked Tobias more when he finds out from his mom the truth about his origins.

Thanks to Gale's stories about her son and the contents of Tobias' diary, Ryan fell in love with Tobias and knew everything he wanted to know about him long before actually meeting the guy in person. Ryan stays by Tobias' side and helps him face his demons as Ryan himself  deals with his own.

Considering that I have not read the previous books in the series, I found myself liking Ryan and Tobias' story. Background information regarding Ryan's past was clearly explained that I did not find myself wondering about certain details nor was I wandering around in circles trying to get sense of it all. Author Jordan Ashton's clear, crisp writing and engaging storytelling skills made reading this short, sweet romance an enjoyable experience.

I could hardly believe that 99 pages could contain so much and even if it was evident at the end that there was a sequel in the pipeline, I did not feel shortchanged at all. Although Ryan and Tobias' story is far from over, book #7 for me is somehow complete in itself. There were a lot of occasions marked by joy or pleasure which took place that they somehow overshadowed the  gloomy and pressing ones. Of course, the latter are yet to be resolved but for the moment I am satisfied with how well things turned out to be for Tobias, his mom Gladys and Ryan, too.

If what I have read and enjoyed here in the seventh part mirrors the contents of the previous books, then I look forward to reading the Shifters of the Claiming Kind series from the very start.

*received a copy for review