Review: "Delivered Fast" by Annabeth Albert (Portland Heat #3)


Note: This ARC was provided by Kensington Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Café owner Chris O'Neal hasn't been a serious relationship ever since his last one, which lasted over a decade, ended. He and his ex still share ownership over the two locations they own and he refuses to sell his half, no matter how persistent his ex may be. Chris is beginning to turn into the stereotypical grumpy, old man, even though he's actually only in his thirties, and it could have something to do with the loneliness he so denies he's experiencing. So, when the new delivery guy from the bakery shows up, Chris refuses to acknowledge the instant attraction he feels for the guy, no matter how good looking he may be.

Lance Degrassi is a young man in his senior year of college, but he has a dream of furthering his studies and is working hard to get into one of his top choices for schools with excellent programs in physical therapy. Of course, he still wants to be able to kick back and have fun and he's certainly not immune to a good looking man like Chris. After much flirting (on his part) and rejecting (on Chris's part), the two agree to keep things loose and casual if they were to pursue something. They both know what they have comes with an expiration date, so even though their feelings deepen, there may not be a forever after for them.

Delivered Fast is the third book in the Annabeth Albert-penned Portland Heat series. Each of the books can be read as standalones, but characters from the previous books do make appearances so I suggest you check out the first two books, Served Hot and Baked Fresh, too. Here we have Chris O'Neal, a tattooed thirty-five-year-old coffee shop owner who has spent more time managing the People's Cup than dating, and Lance Degrassi, a twenty-two-year-old college senior who works and plays hard. This may have a similar thirtysomething and twentysomething falling for one another theme as the second book (the lead characters there had a ten-year age difference), but the issues that the couple here face are different. Chris is also more stubborn and has an ex and Lance isn't dealing with any past demons or evil ex-boyfriends. 

I have this thing for stories that involve the lead characters going into an arrangement or agreement that whatever they're about to engage in is purely physical and temporary because, more often than not, feelings begin to get involved and then what was supposed to be simple becomes all the more complicated. Chris and Lance are both aware that Lance is set on leaving by the end of the summer to pursue his post-grad education and they do try to maintain a friends with benefits kind of relationship but the time these two spend together was bound to make them become even closer. Goodness, Lance was an irresistible guy, what with his good looks, a functioning brain, and a good heart, and Chris couldn't have remained immune to someone like him for much longer, especially since Lance was quite persistent in his pursuit of Chris.

This book had a good story about friendship, falling in love, and learning that the choices you make to attain happiness for yourself shouldn't be seen as sacrifices for those you care about the most. Lance's character also proves that maturity has nothing to do with age and that he had this innate ability to view things from a positive perspective. Everyone has plans for their lives and making changes to those plans don't necessarily mean that you've downsized or are going for the lesser dream. After all, there isn't supposed to be a set path to achieving the dreams we have. I really liked Chris and Lance and how they were able to bring the best out of one another and having characters from the two previous books were pluses as well. I've enjoyed the Portland Heat series and I'm happily giving Delivered Fast 4.5 stars. ♥

Release Date: 26 May 2015

Date Read: 16 May 2015

Learn more about Annabeth Albert here.

Pre-order Delivered Fast on Amazon | B&N | Kobo.

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