2018 Book #30 – Third Son’s a Charm by Shana Galen

Posted in 2018, Book reviews, Bookish 2018 Reading Challenge, Historical Romance, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: Third Son’s a Charm
Author: Shana Galen
Date finished: 4/20/18
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date: November 7, 2017
Pages in book: 418
Stand alone or series: #1 in The Survivors series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Ewan Mostyn thinks a job as a duke’s daughter’s bodyguard will be easy—but Lady Lorraine has a few tricks up her sleeve that spark an undeniable passion

Fiercely loyal to his friends and comrades, Ewan Mostyn is the toughest in a group of younger sons of nobility who met as soldiers and are now trying desperately to settle back into peaceful Society. Ewan trusts his brawn more than his brains, but when he’s offered a job watching the Duke of Ridlington’s stubbornly independent daughter, he finds both are challenged.

Lady Lorraine wants none of her father’s high-handed ways, and she’ll do everything in her power to avoid her distressingly attractive bodyguard—until she lands herself in real trouble. Lorraine begins to see Ewan’s protectiveness in a new light, and she can only hope that her stoic guardian will do for her what he’s always done—fight for what he wants.

My rating: 3.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This is from my 2017 Backlog list, I read this for the 2018 Bookish Reading Challenge for the “a book with the moon or stars on the cover” category, I originally requested this book because I just loved the cover. The starry night / purple background is beautiful and I loved the dress featured on the cover as well!

This was a good book. There wasn’t anything that I would say was overtly thrilling about the story line but it was a solidly built romance and the plot line was interesting. The main characters had good chemistry and it was interesting to see their relationship develop. I was satisfied for the most part with how it ended, although I think I would’ve maybe liked to hear more about how miserable Francis turned out, he was a jerk. The hero in the book too was very interesting, he had dyslexia and was considered an imbecile by most of his family and could barely read. It was an interesting change from other books in the genre. The heroine was a bit impertinent and most definitely willful but I liked (for the most part) how headstrong she was and how passionate she was. This was a good book and I’d recommend it, I’d be interested to read more in the series.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

13Apr2018

2018 Book #28 – The Bride Who Got Lucky by Janna MacGregor

Posted in 2018, Book reviews, Bookish 2018 Reading Challenge, Historical Romance, Reading Challenges by rebeccabook17

Title: The Bride Who Got Lucky
Author: Janna MacGregor
Date finished: 4/12/18
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: October 31, 2017
Pages in book: 364
Stand alone or series: #2 in the Cavensham Heiresses series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

He would do anything to protect her. Even marry her…

The son of a cold-hearted duke, Nicholas St. Mauer isn’t one to involve himself in society…or open his own heart to anyone. But driven by honor, the reclusive Earl of Somerton feels obliged to keep a watchful eye on Lady Emma Cavensham. She possesses a penchant for passions unbecoming a woman that finds Nick in constant peril of losing his well-structured solitude. She even dared kiss Nick once—an utterly unladylike, and delightful, lapse…

Emma can’t deny the appeal of the earl’s attention, and occasional affection, but she has no need for a man. There are worse fates than spinsterhood, as Emma knows too well. She still mourns the loss of her dear friend Lena, and is determined to prove Lena’s husband responsible for her death before he lures another innocent woman into a brutal marriage. But as Emma pursues her prey, a compromising moment upends all her plans. Now, with gossip swirling and her reputation in tatters, Nick may be the only man brave enough to join in Emma’s cause. . .and fight for her heart.

The Bride Who Got Lucky is a sweeping Regency romance from Janna MacGregor in her Cavensham Heiresses series.

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. This is from my 2017 Backlog list, I read this for the 2018 Bookish Reading Challenge for the “a book you regret not reading last year” category, I especially regretted not reading it since I ended up signing up to review the next book in the series in May!

I always love it when I get to read a historical romance with a really strong and fierce female lead. In a day and age when women were not at all encouraged to think for themselves, Emma Cavensham rises above the rest with revolutionary ideas about women’s place in society. I especially loved that Emma’s character was so strong-willed and opinionated in this book, although she lost a tad of her luster as the novel went on. I also really was a fan of her wanting to be a career woman and her efforts to make a difference in the world. I also loved that Nicholas’s character encouraged Emma in many ways, although he wasn’t quite prepared to let her make her own decisions (partially because she was making bad ones). Nicholas and Emma ended up being a tad too stubborn when combined for my tastes, I started to grow weary in the end that we’d ever be able to reach a compromise. There were a lot of interesting family characters mentioned in the story and I’m looking forward to potential additional books in the series featuring them. I already am lined up to read the next book in the series, which will be out in May.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

6Apr2018

2018 Book #26 – My Lady’s Choosing by Kitty Curran and Larissa Zageris

Posted in Book reviews, For the love of books, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

Title: My Lady’s Choosing
Author: Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris
Date finished: 4/6/18
Genre: Historical romance, choose your own adventure
Publisher: Quirk Books
Publication Date: April 3, 2018
Pages in book: 352
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Edelweiss NOTE: I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

The romance novel that lets you pick your path, follow your heart, and find happily ever after

You are the plucky but penniless heroine in the center of eighteenth-century society, courtship season has begun, and your future is at hand. Will you flip forward fetchingly to find love with the bantering baronet Sir Benedict Granville? Or turn the page to true love with the hardworking, horse-loving highlander Captain Angus McTaggart? Or perhaps race through the chapters chasing a good (and arousing) man gone mad, bad, and scandalous to know, Lord Garraway Craven? Or read on recklessly and take to the Continent as the “traveling companion” of the spirited and adventuresome Lady Evangeline? Or yet some other intriguing fate? Make choices, turn pages, and discover all the daring delights of the multiple (and intertwining!) storylines. And in every path you pick, beguiling illustrations bring all the lust and love to life.

My rating: 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I used to LOVE those choose your own adventure novels from when I was a kid, so when I saw this book being offered that was a choose your won adventure ROMANCE novel I was shocked. Who even knew such amazing things existed! Not me, well until now. I do have to say that I tried to read it on my Kindle Paper-white at first and I don’t know if its just because I had an older version but I couldn’t get the page numbers to show up, which if you’ve ever read a book like this you realize would be a problem. I obtained a paperback copy of the book though which made things a lot easier. And I diligently mapped out each story line in the book to make sure I covered all the different twists and turns that the story could take. What a creative and fun idea this was! I found intrigue and adventure in every path I took and the book really made me feel like I was a part of the story line.

Basically there were 4 main paths you could end up with in the book: Sir Benedict, Lord Craven, Captain Angus, or Lady Evangeline. There was a lot of tongue-in-cheek and sarcastic humor, I was laughing out loud through the whole book. The authors did a great job of just making every detail of the story comical and fun. The plot lines are simple and straight-forward since there are multiple stories all included in the one book but the authors write with such a blunt, no nonsense manner that the reader can’t help but enjoy themselves the whole way along. In all the stories there is obviously some graphic descriptions (this is a romance novel) but again the authors make it very lighthearted and fun. One of the funniest lust-worthy scenes to me was the one where the reader ends up with a post man and this “path” ends with “Some might say the postman sends you, Oh he sends you, indeed!” and there are other postman related sex-puns and its just really comical.

I really can’t say enough good things about this book, it was fun and comical and light-hearted and interesting. I really enjoyed it so much and I think everyone should read it! I am sure a LOT of work went into this, it can’t be easy to map out where everything goes and get the page numbers exactly right for flipping back and forth. I would love to see these two authors come out with another similar adventure sometime in the future!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

6Apr2018

2018 Book #25 – The Duke of Ruin by Darcy Burke

Posted in Blog tour, Book reviews, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

Title: The Duke of Ruin
Author: Darcy Burke
Date finished: 4/3/18
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: Self-published
Publication Date: March 17, 2018
Pages in book: 304
Stand alone or series: The Untouchables series Book #8
Where I got the book from: Social Butterfly PR
NOTE: I received this book for free from Social Butterfly PR in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

With her betrothal to a duke in tatters and scandal imminent, Diana Kingman has two choices: live in certain ignominy or flee into obscurity. Diana wants solitude. She never wished to wed in the first place. However, her father will stop at nothing to betroth her to one of the finest titles in the realm…no matter how loathsome the bearer. Escape is Diana’s only option, and she’ll pay any price to achieve freedom. Universally blamed for the death of his wife and unborn child, Simon Hastings doesn’t dispute his guilt over an accident he cannot even remember. He hasn’t had a drink since, nor a moment’s peace. Determined to be a better man, Simon rescues a young woman in need—only to be accused of kidnapping. They must marry to save him from prison. But how can a man haunted by the love he lost and a woman afraid to get too close find happiness together?

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review. Be sure to check out my BLOG TOUR post on this book as well!

I had been looking forward to reading this story since I read the last Untouchables book, The Duke of Ice, where we were introduced to Simon and Diana’s characters. I really liked Diana’s character, she had such a great strength of character and was a really fierce woman. I especially loved that Simon was able to help get her out from under her father’s thumb because – man that guy was a jerk! I also really liked that both Diana and Simon each helped the other to overcome something that was holding them back in life. They seemed to have a true partnership and I really found it to be quite a touching love story. This was a fairly quick read, and though I kind of saw the ending coming it was still a really good book and I would recommend it. I think this was my favorite in the series so far!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

22Mar2018

2018 Book #22 – It Happened in the Highlands by May McGoldrick

Posted in Book reviews, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

Title: It Happened in the Highlands
Author: May McGoldrick
Date finished: 3/22/18
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: Swerve
Publication Date: March 27, 2018
Pages in book: 239
Stand alone or series: #2 in the Pennington family series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

It Happened in the Highlands is the next book in the new historical highland series, The Penningtons, from USA Today bestseller May McGoldrick…

Lady Josephine Pennington was jilted by her fiancé once rumors spread about her questionable origins. Her adoptive parents have always provided her with the love and protection she’s needed to feel secure, and over the last sixteen years she’s molded herself to meet the expectations of others. When she receives a package containing sketches where the subject is eerily familiar, Jo believes she might have found a clue to the identity of her birth mother.

When Captain Wynne Melfort ended his engagement to Jo Pennington sixteen years ago, he never imagined he would see her again. But after he uncovers information that could reveal the truth about Jo’s parentage, Wynne feels bound by duty to right an old wrong and inform her of his find. He didn’t expect for feelings long thought dead to resurface, for in his mind a love departed was gone forever.

As they strive to unravel the mystery of her birth, Jo must learn how to trust the man who’d once rejected her and Wynne must reconcile his head with his heart. But as secrets of the past begin to surface, evil forces will stop at nothing to keep Jo from uncovering the truth and reclaiming her legacy. Together, Jo and Wynne must fight the deadly menace lurking deep in the Highland mists.

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Readers are first introduced to Jo’s character in the first book in the Pennington family series, which is centered around her brother Hugh. I was drawn to Jo’s story line after reading about her in the first book, since she had to overcome such adversity in her life I immediately wanted to hear about her happy ending. And I thought the author did a great job in this book of reconnecting her with the old love of her life. This trope is one that has been used time and again, and while usually it makes me sad because of the many years of happiness the characters missed out on, in this book it felt like the hero and heroine both needed those years apart to grow emotionally and be better for the relationship they can have now. I thought it was just really well done and I ended up liking the plot a good amount. Overall it was a sweet love story and exactly what you’d want from a historical romance, I would recommend it!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

28Feb2018

2018 Book #19 – The Woman Left Behind by Linda Howard

Posted in Book reviews, Fiction, Romantic suspense, Thriller by rebeccabook17

Title: The Woman Left Behind
Author: Linda Howard
Date finished: 2/26/18
Genre: Fiction, romantic suspense
Publisher: William Morrow
Publication Date: March 6, 2018
Pages in book: 368
Stand alone or series: Stand alone
Where I got the book from: Edelweiss NOTE: I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Jina Modell works in Communications for a paramilitary organization, and she really likes it. She likes the money, she likes the coolness factor—and it was very cool, even for Washington, DC. She liked being able to kick terrorist butts without ever leaving the climate-controlled comfort of the control room.

But when Jina displays a really high aptitude for spatial awareness and action, she’s reassigned to work as an on-site drone operator in the field with one of the GO-teams, an elite paramilitary unit. The only problem is she isn’t particularly athletic, to put it mildly, and in order to be fit for the field, she has to learn how to run and swim for miles, jump out of a plane, shoot a gun…or else be out of a job.

Team leader Levi, call sign Ace, doesn’t have much confidence in Jina–who he dubbed Babe as soon as he heard her raspy, sexy voice–making it through the rigors of training. The last thing he needs is some tech geek holding them back from completing a dangerous, covert operation. In the following months, however, no one is more surprised than he when Babe, who hates to sweat, begins to thrive in her new environment, displaying a grit and courage that wins her the admiration of her hardened, battle-worn teammates. What’s even more surprising is that the usually very disciplined GO-team leader can’t stop thinking about kissing her smart, stubborn mouth…or the building chemistry and tension between them.

Meanwhile, a powerful Congresswoman is working behind the scenes to destroy the GO-teams, and a trap is set to ambush Levi’s squad in Syria. While the rest of the operatives set off on their mission, Jina remains at the base to control the surveillance drone, when the base is suddenly attacked with explosives. Thought dead by her comrades, Jina escapes to the desert where, brutally tested beyond measure, she has to figure out how to stay undetected by the enemy and make it to her crew in time before they’re exfiltrated out of the country.

But Levi never leaves a soldier behind, especially the brave woman he’s fallen for. He’s bringing back the woman they left behind, dead or alive.

My rating: 4.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Finding love in the battle zone

First off I have to say that Linda Howard is one of my absolute favorite authors. She has always been able to draw me into her stories and I don’t think there is a single one of her books that I didn’t enjoy (I’ve read them all). I have been really looking forward to reading this new release and I have to say I was not disappointed. This book stars an amazingly strong and capable female lead, Jina, who ends up being kind of coerced into joining some crazy paramilitary team where her endurance is pushed to the limit (multiple times). Jina was such an amazing character and I just loved her strength and how capable and stubborn she was. And Levi (while a tad over-alpha like for me) was a perfect compliment to Jina’s character. Howard did a great job of drawing the reader into the story and she created such chemistry between Jina and Levi – it just about leaped off the page. There were what I found to be a couple dry sections to the book, but for the most part I couldn’t put the book down. I loved the team and the camaraderie between Jina and the other characters, and I loved reading about Jina’s training and the trials she was able to withstand. The back plot (with the congresswoman) was a little light but I loved Jina’s story too much to worry about that. Overall this was a great book and I would most definitely recommend.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

24Feb2018

2018 Book #18 – Maybe This Time by Nicole McLaughlin

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

Title: Maybe This Time
Author: Nicole McLaughlin
Date finished: 2/24/18
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: February 27, 2018
Pages in book: 336
Stand alone or series: #2 in Whiskey and Weddings series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Maybe This Time is the next heartwarming contemporary romance from Nicole McLaughlin in her Whiskey and Weddings series.

Jen Mackenzie has been knocked down more than a few times, but she always gets up and makes sure she has the last word. It’s the reason she now considers herself equal parts self-sufficient and free-spirit. But since losing her job and trying to help her mother beat cancer, real life—and her occasional careless choices—have begun to catch up with her. Her one saving grace: The Stag, a boutique distillery that has become Kansas City’s go-to wedding venue. The only catch: One of the owners, TJ Laughlin, happens to be the one man who somehow manages to make Jen feel inadequate.

TJ has secretly had a thing for Jen since high school. Now, as her new boss, it’s a daily struggle between revealing his feelings and wringing her beautiful neck. Only one thing is for certain: he can’t stand idly by and watch the woman he cares for struggle. She may be convinced that accepting TJ’s help is a weakness. But all he sees in Jen is beauty and strength, inside and out. As things finally heat up between them, can TJ find a way to convince Jen that love is about give and take—and having it all, together?

My rating: 3.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

TJ and Jen went to high school together but now they’re in their early thirties and Jen is a bartender at TJ’s distillery. They’ve been circling each other like cats in heat for the past 15 years, each having their own relationships while still being secretly in love. Luckily TJ finally gets the courage up to say something. Jen and TJ were both just such stubborn people and at first they can’t seem to let their guards down enough to make a go of it. Overall I liked the characters ok but Jen wasn’t exactly what I usually look for in a heroine. I did love how colorful she was and I loved that she had tattoos and wasn’t the conventional good girl. At the same time, for such a strong character, I didn’t like that she needed rich TJ to come swoop in and pay off her thousands of dollars of credit card debt. That being said though, I did like the characters and I especially liked the setting of the distillery in the small town. TJ was such a devoted hero and he really was just so romantic and sweet. I liked this book overall and I’d be interested to read others in the series.

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

17Feb2018

2018 Book #16 – When the Stars Come Out by Laura Trentham

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

Title: When the Stars Come Out
Author: Laura Trentham
Date finished: 2/16/18
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: January 30, 2018
Pages in book: 320
Stand alone or series: #5 in the Cottonbloom series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

Willa Brown never planned to stay in Cottonbloom. She was on the way to somewhere else when she landed there and found work at the Abbot brothers’ garage. . .and a sense of comfort and safety that she had never known. The same holds true for Jackson Abbott himself. With one glance in her direction, he can make Willa’s heart melt. But what begins as an unrequited crush turns into something far more powerful than Willa could have ever imagined. . .

Jackson’s most meaningful relationship has always been with his car—and he’s not afraid to admit it. Still, he can’t help but become emotionally entangled with his new star mechanic Willa, who is definitely hiding some dark secrets of her own beneath the hood. Jackson desperately wants Willa to trust him, and to seek protection in his arms. But even as the two slowly surrender to their shared attraction, the danger lurking in Willa’s past remains a stubborn obstacle. Can she open up enough to give them both a chance at having real and lasting love?

My rating: 4.0 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

Love will always find a way!

Willa and Jackson were introduced in previous novels in the Cottonbloom series, Jackson being Wyatt’s twin brother and Willa the auto garage’s only non-Abbott family employee. It took Jackson a while to wake up to the fact that Willa was standing there right in front of him, but when he did she still wasn’t quite ready for all the attention. I resonated with that about her character as I am also not grateful for too much attention. Anyways, so Willa and Jackson finally end up figuring things out and getting together. This was a sweet story and a light-hearted romance and was exactly what I needed right now. I like the series overall, and this was a great story with all our friends from previous books. There wasn’t necessarily anything overly thrilling about the story line but work has been super stressful lately and it was so nice to escape into a sweet and easy love story, especially with it being right around Valentine’s Day. This was a good read and I would recommend it!

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page

13Feb2018

2018 Book #15 – A Devil in Scotland by Suzanne Enoch

Posted in Book reviews, Historical Romance by rebeccabook17

Title: The Devil in Scotland
Author: Suzanne Enoch
Date finished: 2/13/18
Genre: Historical romance
Publisher: St. Martin’s Paperbacks
Publication Date: January 30, 2018
Pages in book: 320
Stand alone or series: #3 in the No Oridinary Hero series
Where I got the book from: NetGalley
NOTE: I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

The dawning of desire
1806, Scotland. Wild, reckless Callum MacCreath is in no hurry to become someone’s husband. But when his responsible, steady older brother Ian announces his engagement to their childhood friend Rebecca, Callum makes a startling discovery: he wants the lovely young lass for himself. But it’s too late, and when Ian banishes him for his duplicity, Callum is only too happy to leave Scotland forever.

…is delicious and dangerous
1816: Marrying Ian was the practical, logical thing for Becca to do. But once Callum sailed away to America, she missed his rakish charm and lust for life. Now Becca is a widow when a much-changed Callum returns to his Scottish homeland. Will he remember their spirited, fiery connection or does he blame her for his brother’s unexpected death? This time neither of them can deny their scorching attraction. But will their hearts be burned in the blazing heat of scandal?

My rating: 4.5 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

A second chance with first love

Rebecca loved Callum in her youth, but as Callum was a wild and reckless young man, Rebecca decided that for her future she would be better off married to Callum’s staid and steady brother Ian. Flash forward ten years though, Ian has died and Callum returns from America to figure out what the hell happened to his brother. Rebecca’s character is exactly what I look for in a heroine. Though she was a bit naive in the beginning, it is evident throughout the story that she is intelligent and has such amazing strength as a female character. Callum also is exactly what I look for in my heroes – while he was intent on protecting Rebecca he always treated her like a partner without being the usual overbearing male “I know best and we’re going to do it my way” alpha male. Callum and Rebecca were such a great pair in this novel and it was really wonderful to read. And I loved that the villain from the last three books, including this one, finally got what was coming to him. The plot was ok and was even exciting in parts but this one really was about the love story for me. It was very romantic and I thought the author did a great job of infusing the emotions into the writing.

Link to author website

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3Feb2018

2018 Book #12 – Christmas Glitter by Ann B. Harrison

Posted in Book reviews, Contemporary romance by rebeccabook17

Title: Christmas Glitter
Author: Ann B. Harrison
Date finished: 2/2/18
Genre: Contemporary romance
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Publication Date: November 13, 2017
Pages in book: 154
Stand alone or series: #1 in The Moore Sisters of Montana series
Where I got the book from: Library Thing NOTE: I received this book for free from Library Thing in exchange for an honest review. This in no way affected my opinion of the book, or the content of my review.

Blurb from the cover:

After a rough year involving a serious car accident, painful recovery and broken engagement, Dakota Moore moves to Cherry Lake to rebuild her life. To embrace her new community, she volunteers to coordinate the annual Christmas tree gala.

Adam Clements has come home to help his mother run the family business while his father recovers from a heart attack. For the last decade, he’s been a high-flying soccer player, enjoying the life that comes with his popularity. But something is missing and he can’t put his finger on it… until he returns to Cherry Lake and remembers the feeling of home.

Adam tries to keep his distance because he knows he’ll be leaving, but he can’t deny his attraction to Dakota. With the countdown to Christmas on, can Dakota convince Adam that his home is right there in Cherry Lake, with her?

My rating: 1.75 stars out of a scale of 5

My review: I was provided a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

This book would make a great Hallmark movie, it was cheesy and kind of corny and a had a sweet ending. This certainly wasn’t a bad book and I think a lot of people would definitely enjoy it, especially since its set right around the Christmas holiday (which is a great time to fall in love!). For me personally though this book did not do the trick. The main character, Dakota, and even many other women in the novel are very insecure and self-doubting. I understand we all have moments like this but they’re all successful self-employed business owners and I feel like to earn yourself that kind of success you wouldn’t then constantly be downplaying every thing you do like its not good enough. That got to me a little. The descriptions of the interactions between men and women in the book too seemed very old-fashioned in a way that was off-putting to me, specifically when one of the older men in town is trying to talk Dakota into going to have a drink with Adam and afterwards she goes to change. The narration says “Ever since the decision had been taken out of her hands” – you can stop right there, this is not the girl for me. If you want to go that’s fine but don’t say that the decision wasn’t yours to make because that’s pretty ridiculous.

So anyways I don’t want to go on a rant, other than those types of things the book was a cute read and it was exactly the kind of story I’d expect to see on the Hallmark channel during the month before Christmas – heart-warming and sappy. I would recommend it to anyone who’s pining for a good Christmas love story after the holidays 🙂

Link to author website

Click on the cover to go to the book’s Amazon page