Only By Your Touch by Cahterine Anderson

Chloe Evans moved to Jack Pine, Oregon to start over with her son after her divorce from her abusive husband. She has a job she likes as a dispatcher in the Sheriff's office and she and her son are quite happy with this new beginning.

Things begin to complicate when she gets a puppy for her son Jeremy and the puppy quickly falls ill. Since the veterinarian in town proved to be little help, Jeremy strikes out to look for Ben Longtree, the town's black sheep who's rumored to have a magic touch when it comes to animals.

Ben has been burned quite a lot in life - from his reputation in town, to his failed marriage and other things - and he likes to keep himself to himself these days, but he can't ignore Jeremy when he shows up in his home begging for help. Nor can he ignore Chloe once she shows up to protect her son (town gossip filling her head and all that).

Out of need, they strike an uneasy friendship that promises to lead them unexpected places. But things have never been easy for either of them. Ben faces his past and the burden of a gift that destroyed his father's life, while Chloe has to overcome her fears (brought by the final months of her marriage) and the unwanted advanced of one of the Sheriff's deputies.

I quite enjoyed Only by Your Touch, it had a lovely blend of the miraculous and the mundane and there are lots and lots of animals in this story (Ben is a vet, after all) and it was fun to read. I did have a bit of trouble with the characterization, though, mostly when it came to Chloe, she was wimpy one moment, then did some stuff I didn't quite agree with and then she just... meh, you guys find out when you read it. Also, I felt it dragged a bit. But, over all, it was a nice enough read.

1/2