Unguarded (Vino and Veritas)
by Jay Hogan
Gay FictionAdded on January 12, 2026
Description
I fled Boston and my cheating jerk of an ex with three hundred dollars and a lip gloss in my pocket. Waking up the next day in Burlington, Vermont, with a crick in my back and a frozen ass wasn’t exactly in the plan. If there was one. Which there wasn’t. Story of my life.Three hours later and I’ve been hired as temporary help in the local veterinary and grooming clinic, which is kind of impressive since I know zip about animals and even less about grooming. But one thing I do know—I’m crushing hard on the sexy, absent-minded vet I work for. My life is a hot mess. The last thing I need is another relationship. Emmett pushes all my buttons, but he isn’t out. He's overwhelmed with a business to run and a son to look after and the kind of domestic life I never thought I wanted.I should walk away.But Emmett believes in me, and I might just be starting to believe in myself. As different as we are, is it possible we're exactly what the other needs?
Reader Reviews
I'm an outlier this time round, because I didn't like this story nearly as much as my Goodreads friends did. What worked for me:- Emmett, the vet, was a caring guy, a good dad, and hid a dirty mind beneath his buttoned-up persona. I liked Emmett a great deal.- I liked that Tai was part Maori and from New Zealand; Tai's spunk and flirty ways were endearing.- The slow burn between the MCs was delicious; we're talking sexual tension galore. - And the fulfillment of that sexual tension .... *fans se
75% and dreading the rest. I’m calling it. Done. Boom. This has two tropes that don’t work well. The “I can’t stay because I need to go rebuild my life” trope and the dead wife trope. So on the one hand, I’m exhausted by Tai’s brain and how he keeps saying he can’t rely on a man, and he needs to go and figure out his life on his own (nothing wrong with that, but then just do it and STFU), and on the other hand I’m exhausted by Lu’s (the dead wife) presence on every page. I loved the beginning. T
Audio - 5++++ Stars. Gary Furlong and Iggy Toma!!! Say whaaattt?!! I was like.....I hope they get cast together again!!Story - 4.25 StarsI have to admit there was a point where the story lulled so much, I was afraid this would be a DNF. Thankfully, the narrators had me wanting to push through, and the story proved to be worth continuing. The MCs were extremely likeable. And I have to give it up to the author for making Emmett perfectly imperfect. He had the beginnings of a dad body and receding
