Hold Me Instead by Andrea D’Alessio

Charlie Harris knows she’s more than her vaginismus. That doesn’t erase the fact that she’s technically a 32 year-old virgin who can’t use a tampon—and not for lack of trying. If anxiety and humiliation keep her from telling her best friend, how can she explain it to a partner? Romance seems inconceivable, so she devotes herself to judgment-free animals and her career as a veterinarian, preparing to take over her mentor’s Elmwood Falls practice once he retires.

Zachary Lee moved away from Elmwood Falls for love, but it left him divorced, unemployed, and estranged from his father. When his dad has a heart attack and faces a long recovery, Zachary returns home and steps in as the temporary veterinarian for his dad’s animal hospital. He’s ready to prove he’s needed. Wanted. Somewhere. Except he’s not the one in charge—that would be Charlie, the complicated fixture from his past.

It’s been years since they worked together as vet students, but that doesn’t stop Charlie’s old crush on Zachary from resurfacing. Nor does it stop Zachary from being charmed by Charlie and her pet-festive scrubs. As they pour their hearts into the hospital, their dormant friendship returns, igniting a passion that surprises them both. When the practice is at risk of slipping away, they must weather their feelings and find a way to save it—together—even if it means never getting to hold one another again.