Perfect Distraction

By: Allison Ashley

Narrated by: Charlotte Claremont

Lauren Taylor isn't thinking about love, especially not with the impossibly attractive man she accidentally spilled coffee all over. He's out of her league, and she's focused on finishing her oncology pharmacy residency. She's sworn off men who are too handsome for their own good, anyway.

Andrew Bishop can't stop thinking about the gorgeous redhead who crashed into him and then disappeared, even though he should have way more on his mind - like dealing with his Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosis and finishing out his last year in law school. When Andrew and Lauren run into each other at the cancer center where she's working and he's being treated, they try to keep it professional. They can be friends, and nothing more.

But sometimes life has other plans....

Contains mature themes.

©2020 Allison Ashley (P)2021 Tantor

Really good

I enjoyed this so much !! I binged and didn’t fast forward at all. Sweet story and characters.

Annoying pronunciations and story issues

I like the author but not this story. Couldn’t get past the ethics of this clinician’s personal decisions on the job. Narrator was annoying and over pronounced soft vowels—Couldn’t take another “Dr. Paaa-tellll”.

Least favorite book by this author

It wasn’t terrible, it just felt forced. Predictable. I didn’t prefer the way the narrator enunciated very carefully. Something about her inflection ground on my nerves.

Heartwarming story about falling in love while dealing with cancer. HEA guaranteed! ❤️

Perfect Distraction
4 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
0 / 5 🌶️

Andrew (MMC) and Lauren (FMC)

So I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of this book, pretty much until the third act breakup when it all started to go downhill imo.
I listened to the audiobook, and this story is told from a 3rd person narration 😩🙄🤨, which is my least favorite as it feels impersonal and distant.

I found the plot to be original and not your typical, lighthearted, breezy romance novel. 'Perfect Distraction' covers heavier topics such as dealing with illness, going through chemotherapy, experiencing the struggles of the side effects of the treatment... It's realistic and doesn't have unnecessary fluff, which I appreciate.

The story is about a good-looking MMC called Andrew, who has cancer and how he falls in love with Lauren, who is a pharmacist at the clinic where he gets his chemotherapy treatment. She tries to fight her feelings for him at first because she thinks that it would be unethical to date him, as he's a patient at her workplace. Eventually, they overcome the hurdles and get together.

Things that I didn't like:
- How Lauren is so insisting about wanting to be secretive about her relationship with Andrew. Hello? You are two grown-ups, consenting adults who don't even directly have a patient/pharmacist relationship at the hospital... grow up, Lauren

- I really disliked the third act breakup, and how she basically emotionally and physically removes herself from their relationship when Andrew needs Lauren's support the most and is in the middle of rounds of chemotherapy to treat his cancer. Especially when his previous girlfriend left him because of him having cancer. Not only is Andrew not angry at her for agreeing to break up (to "protect her from heartbreak"), but he's like a lost pitiful puppy moping around, with 0 pride or self esteem 😩😩😩.

- At one point, Lauren tells Andrew about a common patient that they both cared about who had just passed away, and she STILL somehow makes it about her 🤷🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

- There's basically no spice, just lots of s*xual tensión between the two MC's.

Overall, it was an entertaining read that I'd recommend, but pick up again.

Happy reading! 📚

Warm fuzzies

I enjoyed this book! Full disclosure, I was also a pharmacy resident in the KC area and met my now husband during that year, though a different premise. I appreciated the genuine love story with realistic concerns and challenges woven in.