Tag: Harlequin HQN

Review: Hard Knocks by Lori Foster

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
hard knocks by lori fosterFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook
Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Ultimate, #0.5
Length: 61 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: August 4, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo

Power. Brute strength. Unforgettable moves. It’s no wonder Harper Gates hasn’t been able to get her fling with Gage “Savage” Ringer out of her head. Months have passed since she laid eyes—or any other body parts—on him. Months without a word of contact…until, sidelined by injury, he comes back to town.

Staying focused on his training seemed like a smart move to Gage, even if he thought about Harper every day. Seeing her again only makes it clear how much is at stake. He’s got one night to earn back her trust. One night to show her that behind his breathtaking skill and ripped body is a man who’ll give her everything she needs.

My Review:

Hard Knocks is a short teaser that shows readers just how Lori Foster is planning to combine two of her series (Love Undercover and SBC Fighters) into one sizzling story.

getting rowdy by lori fosterThe action takes place at Cannon’s rec center. Cannon was an important side character in Getting Rowdy (reviewed here), the third book in Love Undercover. Cannon is a mixed martial arts fighter who is training himself to fight in the SBC. While training, he becomes Rowdy’s bartender and bouncer, and helps police the neighborhood and bring down the bad guys.

His reward is a contract with the SBC, but he uses some of his new found wealth and prestige to open a recreation center in the run-down town he started from. It’s a place where fighters can train, and most importantly, a safe place where kids can play, learn and keep off the streets. The disciplined fighters serve as coaches and role models for the kids who might otherwise be sucked into gangs or other dangerous and hopeless behaviors.

no limits by lori fosterWhile the story takes place at Cannon’s rec center, it isn’t Cannon’s story. That comes next in No Limits. But in this story, the neighborhood and all the fighters back at Cannon’s center are watching him fight on TV.

Instead, we have the story of Gage and Harper. While I want to say that Harper is kind of the mascot of Cannon’s rec center, that diminishes both her role and her agency, so it’s not quite right. She is kind of the glue that holds the neighborhood to the center, AND she’s the honorary sister of every one of the fighters who train there.

She’s family.

Gage is the one fighter who doesn’t see her as a little sister. They grew up together, but now that they are both adults, they were heading towards a relationship. Fast.

Until Gage went to another camp to train for an important fight, and wasn’t the least bit clear about his feelings for Harper or his intentions when he came back. Then he got injured in training and had to come home. He expected a warm welcome, and got the cold shoulder.

Let’s just say he was REALLY unclear (read that as silent) about his feelings for Harper or his hopes for furthering their relationship. He was too busy concentrating on the fight.

The sizzling heat of Hard Knocks is created when Gage and Harper try to figure out what they each want, while in the middle of that neighborhood crowd watching the fight. So everyone they know watches them court and spark.

Lots and lots of sparks, enough to set the place on fire.

Escape Rating B: Hard Knocks is way, way too short. It does provide a nice setup for the rest of the series (It feels like all the fighters we meet are going to get their own book!)

Gage and Harper’s story gets shorted just a bit. This isn’t a “falling in love” story, it’s more of a long-term friends into lovers story, but we don’t get quite enough background. Other people report on their feelings and reaction to each other, and we see into both of their heads a bit, but the story is more of one hot encounter than seeing them fall in love and getting invested in their relationship.

I also felt that Harper sold herself short, or gave up too easily about communicating what she needs. On the other hand, the introduction to the guys and the neighborhood was great.

As a tease for the Ultimate series, Hard Knocks certainly set the stage for plenty of hot romance and fighting action to follow.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Until We Touch by Susan Mallery

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
Until We Touch by Susan MalleryFormat read: paperback provided by the author
Formats available: ebook, hardcover, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: Fool’s Gold, #15
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: June 24, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

After a family tragedy, former football hero Jack McGarry keeps the world at arm’s length—a challenge now that his PR firm has moved to neighborly Fool’s Gold, California.

Larissa Owens knows where she stands—Jack sees her as just another one of the guys. No matter what her heart wishes, Jack’s her boss, not her boyfriend. But then Larissa’s big secret is revealed…by her mother!

When Jack discovers the truth about Larissa’s feelings, her touch suddenly becomes tantalizing, and he’s not sure he wants to resist. But if he gives in to desire, heartache is sure to follow. Friendship or true love—will Jack go for the ultimate play?

My Review:

I’ll say upfront that I have not read the rest of the Fool’s Gold series, but I didn’t feel a bit lost. So if you’re looking at this and don’t have the time to invest in the first 14 books of the series, fear not. There is plenty of introduction to make you feel like Fool’s Gold is a terrific place to be, and that the people are ones you would want to have for dinner or out for drinks. The way that they catch up with each other gives new readers plenty of info to help you slip right into the story.

About the story…what we have here is a combination of the friends into lovers trope with a heaping helping of the assistant and the boss taking their relationship outside the office. I’m not calling it the assistant has a crush on the boss, because that’s not how this thing works.

Larissa and her boss Jack have a symbiotic relationship on pretty much every level, then her mother comes barging in and jerks the blindfold off of everyone’s eyes. And even though she’s right, I’d be mortified down to my soul (and soles) if my mom pulled a stunt like that. Although it’s what moms do.

Larissa and Jack have all the benefits of a committed relationship, but without the sex that either sends things to a higher level, or messes them up beyond repair. The problem is that this relationship provides for almost all of both of their emotional needs. Jack has other women for sex, and Larissa throws herself into her causes (tons of them) so that she keeps her life full and doesn’t even think about what she’s missing.

Her mother is right that being with Jack keeps Larissa from finding a real relationship and falling in love and getting married. (I’m not happy with mom’s stated goal and making sure that Larissa gives her more grandchildren. Having children to make someone else happy is bad for the children and the adults. My 2 cents.)

But once the blindfold is off about the way that their best-friends with everything but benefits relationship keeps them both fairly happy, Larissa and Jack both lose the ability to be “just friends”, although Larissa does a much better job managing things than Jack does.

Now that they know there might be something more between them, neither of them can stop thinking about the possibilities. And that’s where the trouble begins.

One of the things that Larissa does for Jack is get him involved with her causes, and with the community of Fool’s Gold, while letting him maintain the emotional distance he’s always had. She throws her heart over every fence, and he writes the check that takes care of the details. (Jack is a retired NFL quarterback with a successful PR firm. He can afford those checks.)

As Jack finds himself thinking about the possibility of more with Larissa, his famous distance erodes, completely. It feels as if suddenly everyone in town and in his life is after a piece of the heart he’s kept hidden. So he drives everyone away. He’s the biggest asshat he can be to everyone in his life, including Larissa.

And once he’s alone, just the way he asked, he discovers that being alone isn’t what he wants anymore. What he wants is Larissa, as close as he can get her. But did he go so far in driving her away that he can’t get her back?

Escape Rating B-: Fool’s Gold is a fantastic town to visit. I loved meeting everyone, especially Mayor Marsha. The partners at Jack’s PR firm, Taryn, Kenny and Sam, are great friends and it seems like a marvelous place to work.

220px-ChihuachshundI’m also still laughing about the rescue of the hoarded chiweenies.

Larissa and Jack’s relationship at the beginning is interesting to watch and seems totally plausible. They are friends. Best buds. They are each the person the other relies on most, and takes the most care of. Their friendship is so important to both of them, that it’s easy to understand why they wouldn’t want to risk it by adding sex into the mix.

But they can’t navigate the new territory that Larissa’s mom’s meddling has thrown them into. Larissa figures out how to handle things, but Jack doesn’t. He’s spent most of his life being afraid to be involved, because caring makes you vulnerable. Too many people that he has loved have died, and he is unwilling to risk any kind of closeness.

When everything gets too much, he withdraws and makes an ass of himself. With everyone possible and then some. I think that most readers will be cheering for his friends when they punch him. There’s a reason he doesn’t defend himself–he deserves every shot.

He wallows in self-pity.

Larissa, on the other hand, as much pain as she is in (and it’s a lot) picks herself up and moves on with her career. Her heart may not be healing, but she soldiers on, knowing that someday things will get better. She takes care of herself. I liked the way she handled things.

Jack does eventually get his head out of his ass, and apologizes profusely to everyone he has hurt. Some of those apologies work better than others, but by the end, I still wondered if Larissa couldn’t do better.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Marriage Pact by Linda Lael Miller

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
marriage pact by linda lael millerFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, large print, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Western romance
Series: The Brides of Bliss County, #1
Length: 377 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: June 1, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Ten years ago, Hadleigh Stevens was eighteen and this close to saying “I do,” when Tripp Galloway interrupted her walk down the aisle. Now that she’s recovered from her youthful mistake and Tripp’s interference, Hadleigh and her single friends form a marriage pact. She doesn’t expect Tripp to meddle with her new plan to find Mr. Right—or to discover that she’s more attracted to him than ever!

Divorced and eager to reconnect with his cowboy roots, Tripp returns to Bliss County to save his ailing father’s ranch. He’s not looking for another wife—certainly not his best friend’s little sister. But he’s never been able to forget Hadleigh. And this time, if she ends up in his arms, he won’t be walking away!

My Review:

I’ve enjoyed every single one of Linda Lael Miller’s Parable Montana series, and her new Brides of Bliss County feels like they are right next door. Her descriptions of small town life in the contemporary West make me want to go for a visit, and maybe even to stay.

The Marriage Pact is a best friends story, a second-chance-at-love story, a small town romance and the introduction to the series. That’s a lot of heavy lifting, all packed into a light and lovely book with a sweet and tender romance.

Tripp Galloway was Hadleigh Stevens’ girlhood crush. He was her older brother’s best friend, and Tripp inherited the task of looking after her when her brother Will died in Afghanistan. Hadleigh and Tripp shared their grief, but Hadleigh was still a girl, and Tripp was seven years older, a gap that felt like an eon after his military service.

Still, when Hadleigh was about to marry the worst possible candidate, Tripp rushed back home to carry her out of her wedding just before the ceremony was over. She was secretly hoping that he’d come to carry her off for real. 18-year-olds still have those dreams. But it was both too early and too late. Hadleigh still hadn’t completely grown up, and Tripp was already married.

It took him ten years to come back, and she still hasn’t completely forgiven him for the most embarrassing moment of her life. She still hasn’t forgotten him, either. But Hadleigh is 28 now, definitely all grown up. And Tripp’s first marriage is eight years over and done. The timing is just right.

In the intervening ten years, Hadleigh and her two best friends, Melody and Bex, have all created successful businesses and fantastic careers. But none of them have managed to find the right man to be the mate and partner who fulfills the other part of their lives. They love their success, but they all want more.

And in a small town like Mustang Ridge, they’ve been through the entire dating pool and back again. Hadleigh hasn’t found anyone who matches her memories of Tripp. But Melody seems to be stuck on Police Chief Spence Hogan, and Bex has been too busy creating her exercise franchise to even look.

They’ve been bridesmaids dozens of times, but never the bride. So they make a pact, that they will help each other find Mr. Right, and celebrate together when they each do. One for all, and all for one.

With Tripp finally back for good, Hadleigh has a chance to either get him, or get over him, once and for all. With the grown up Hadleigh, Tripp finally figures out that he wants a whole lot more than to just be friends. This time, he’s in it for keeps.

If Hadleigh can get past her long worn resentment, and her fears that everyone she loves, dies.

Escape Rating B+: The building of the relationship between Tripp and Hadleigh is what carries this story, and it’s fun to watch them squabble at cross-purposes, while Hadleigh thinks through what she really wants. Tripp already knows, but getting himself back into Hadleigh’s good graces takes a lot of doing, along with some help from their dogs!

The scene where Tripp hauls Hadleigh out of her long ago wedding opens the book, and it’s priceless both for it’s humor and its melancholy. He’s right, but everything is so over-the-top, and neither of them is remotely ready to admit why it has to happen.

Hadleigh lives more than a bit in her head. She has revelation after revelation about who she wants to be and where she’s been, and occasionally seems totally out of it to whoever is around her. Her internal life is funny, and she’s sometimes still trying to talk herself into or out of things that are manifestly too late. Like loving Tripp.

Tripp is also working out his relationship with his dad, and the reason he’s come home. He doesn’t start out intending to chase Hadleigh. He just comes to realize that resolving things with Hadleigh is all part of coming home, and making the family ranch house back into a home..

marriage charm by linda lael millerThe depth of Hadleigh’s friendship with Melody and Bex is well-done (also enviable). I’m glad that the next book (The Marriage Charm) will let readers find out what is going on (or not going on) between Melody and the police chief.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Dash of Peril by Lori Foster + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | A Reviews> blog tours> Book Giveaway> book reviews> Giveaways
dash of peril by lori fosterFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook, large print, audiobook
Genre: romantic suspense
Series: Love Undercover #4
Length: 480 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: March 25, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

To bring down a sleazy abduction ring, Lieutenant Margaret “Margo” Peterson has set herself up as bait. But recruiting Dashiel Riske as her unofficial partner is a whole other kind of danger. Dash is 6’4″ of laid-back masculine charm, a man who loves life—and women—to the limit. Until Margo is threatened, and he reveals a dark side that may just match her own.

Beneath Margo’s tough facade is a slow-burning sexiness that drives Dash crazy. The only way to finish this case is to work together side by side…skin to skin. And as their mission takes a lethal turn, he’ll have to prove he’s all the man she needs—in all the ways that matter.

My Review:

Lori Foster’s Love Undercover series comes to a smoking hot conclusion in Dash of Peril. If you enjoy your romantic suspense long on the romance and short on the suspense, this story is a winner.

And while it’s absolutely not necessary to have read the whole series to get totally into Dash of Peril, there is lots of input from characters previously introduced in the series that are much sweeter if you know all the players.

getting rowdy by lori fosterAlthough the romance starts almost as soon as the book does, this is not an insta-love story. Margo and Dash have been dancing around their attraction for each other since the second book in the series, Getting Rowdy (reviewed here). It’s just taken several months (and one more book) for things to reach a point where Margo is pretty much forced to acknowledge that whether or not she’s ever been taught that it is okay to need someone, she definitely needs Dash Riske, and for more than just his body in her bed.

This is where the suspense takes a second place to the romance. One of the parts of the overall story is that there used to be a LOT of corruption within the police department, a department where Margo Peterson is a detective and a lieutenant. Dash’ brother Logan is one of her trusted officers (his story was told in the excellent series starter, Run the Risk). Her other trusted officer, and Logan’s detective partner, is Reese Bareden, the human hero of Bare it All. (The canine hero is pretty awesome too!)

Bare It All by Lori FosterBut Margo’s father is the retired chief of police, and we discover that there is a cloud around his retirement. (Also that Margo’s family redefines dysfunctional).

There’s a case that fuels the suspense part of the story. Someone is kidnapping and drugging young women, and raping them while filming the entire disgusting episode for amateur porn. Two women are dead, and two other women will need years to get their lives back. Margo has been hunting for the perps.

Suddenly they are hunting her. There’s a contract on her life, and the way she discovers that there is a price on her head is when someone t-bones her car, on purpose in a smash and run. Only Dash’ presence on the scene saves her from being finished off right then.

Now that Margo is wounded (a concussion, her elbow is dislocated, and seriously ouch!) she needs help. And she needs an able-bodied person to stick around until she’s healed enough to get back to work and use her gun hand.

Dash has been trying to find a way into Margo’s life since she first let him be her unofficial partner in an undercover sting on this same set of villains.

Dash takes the opportunity to help Margo figure out that she can still be the alpha cop at work while letting herself be something else on her off-duty time. And that it’s important to have some off-duty time!

But while they are redefining their surprisingly hot and inventive relationship, someone much closer to home is bringing the bad guys to Margo’s door.

Escape Rating A-: I enjoyed Dash of Peril the most of the entire series, and I liked all of them! But this one I just couldn’t put down at all. As absolutely hot and sexy as Dash seemed to be, what really made the story for me was Margo. I could identify with the woman who had to be in such control at work, and with good reason, that she had a hard time letting go in any way when she wasn’t on the job. So she let her work consume her life and her identity.

Once she lets herself admit that she has feelings for Dash, he is able to get into her life, and help her to achieve, let’s call it a better work/life balance, where before she didn’t have any balance at all.

Run the Risk by Lori FosterThe way in which her family dynamics are totally screwed up gave me even more sympathy for her. Lots of people wouldn’t have done half as well. But those same family dynamics help obscure the identity of one of the villains, and in a way that keeps the readers guessing until the very end.

Dash of Peril also wraps up the long-simmering tension in the police department, and in a way that provides resolution for the characters and the reader.

As an added bonus, a couple of the great guys from Foster’s SBC series make a cameo appearance, as a way of kicking off (or punching out) the beginning of her next series, starting with Cannon, Rowdy’s friend and a very appealing side-character in this series. I can hardly wait!

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Lori is giving away a print copy of Dash of Peril to one lucky commenter below (US/CAN only).
a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Waiting on You by Kristan Higgins + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> Book Giveaway> book reviews> Giveaways
waiting on you by kristan higginsFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook, large print, audiobook
Genre: contemporary romance
Series: Blue Heron #3
Length: 464 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: March 25, 2014
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Does being nobody’s fool mean that you’re nobody’s love?

Colleen O’Rourke is in love with love… just not when it comes to herself. Most nights, she can be found behind the bar at the Manningsport, New York, tavern she owns with her twin brother, doling out romantic advice to the lovelorn, mixing martinis and staying more or less happily single. See, ten years ago, Lucas Campbell, her first love, broke her heart… an experience Colleen doesn’t want to have again, thanks. Since then, she’s been happy with a fling here and there, some elite-level flirting and playing matchmaker to her friends.

But a family emergency has brought Lucas back to town, handsome as ever and still the only man who’s ever been able to crack her defenses. Seems like maybe they’ve got some unfinished business waiting for them—but to find out, Colleen has to let her guard down, or risk losing a second chance with the only man she’s ever loved.

My Review:

Waiting on You is a story about finding true love, and what happens when you lose it. Or it loses you. The story is marvelously bittersweet, in spite of the happy ending, because it acknowledges how precious love is and how hard life can be when you find true love and lose it, and are too shell-shocked to risk it again.

Colleen O’Rourke is half-owner and barkeep at O’Rourke’s bar and grille in Manningsport, NY. Being the barkeep means that Colleen sees every romantic make-up, break-up and devastated aftermath in her small town. It doesn’t leave her a lot of scope for finding and dating someone new, because there isn’t anyone new and she knows WAY too many of everyone’s drunken secrets.

The bloom is pretty much off all the local roses, at least for Colleen. Which doesn’t mean that she doesn’t do a marvelous job of finding the “right person” for everyone else in town. She just doesn’t have any luck herself.

Until her first love, her only love, comes back to town, and she still feels every spark and tingle she ever did, just with the added bitter knowledge that Lucas Campbell is only back until his Uncle Joe passes away, and then Lucas is back to his life in Chicago, leaving her behind, again.

It’s not that simple. She broke up with him, because he kept a secret from her. A big secret. Lucas knew that her father was having an affair, and didn’t let her know. When her parent’s marriage broke up over the girlfriend’s pregnancy, Colleen lashed out at Lucas.

In the intervening ten years, a lot happens. Lucas marries and divorces. Colleen’s mother spends ten years trying to regain the attention of her gone and selfish ex. And Colleen fears that she is just like her mother, doomed to compare every man she meets to her own true love, and having them all fall very short.

Although the story centers around Colleen and Lucas, they serve as the center of other events that are happening while they work through the issues that are keeping them apart. Colleen, the matchmaker of Manningsport, is just sure that awkward but steady Paulie and Lucas’ “boy never grown up” cousin Bryce are perfect for each other. That Paulie is a weightlifter and Bryce is not just the feckless town bicycle but goes for the skinny and willowy type doesn’t matter, Colleen is determined that they are good for each other.

Colleen’s mother finally stops mourning the loss of her ex, but the results are less than optimal for quite a while. Colleen’s mock prayers every time her mother starts running on are hilarious, and so much the voice of an adult daughter still embarrassed by her mother.

But it’s Colleen’s and Lucas’ story that provides the heart of the book. Told both in flashback and the present day, we see the point where they instantly and completely fell for each other, and then every roadblock and setback along the way.

They belong together, they always have and they always will. But they have to decide whether they can put the pain behind them and stop looking for roadblocks to get in the way of their happiness.

Ten years is a long time to wait, and there are a lot of things that need to be forgiven, forgotten or pushed aside. Maybe one too many.

Escape Rating B+: I poured through this book as fast as I could, because I couldn’t wait to find out how all the stories resolved. It was easy to get caught up in, not just Colleen and Lucas, but also Paulie and Bryce, Colleen’s mother, and the family dramas around Lucas’ Uncle Joe’s impending death and his last wish.

Lucas needs to feel loved and accepted. It’s something he lost when his dad went to prison, and although his Uncle Joe and Aunt Didi raised him, Didi is the absolute caricature of the shrewish, selfish, domineering wife. Joe didn’t stand up for Lucas, and let Didi make his life a misery. (Think muggle version of Harry Potter and the Dursleys, and you’re close)

Except that his manchild cousin Bryce worships Lucas, and Lucas envies Bryce for being the favored child who has everything handed to him, while Lucas is left to take the blame and pick up the mess.

Colleen is the only person Lucas has ever had who was his and only his. He needs her but never managed to tell her so. When he comes back, Colleen is rightfully worried about pinning her hopes for the future on someone who will leave, again. They nearly blow it multiple times, and for real reasons that make sense, no misunderstandammits here. A lot happened between them that is hard for them both to get past. And their shattered trust in each other has to be rebuilt piece by piece.

This is a happy ending that needs to be earned, and the reader can’t help but root for them to reach out and grab it.

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Kristan and Little Bird Publicity are giving away a paperback copy of Waiting on You to one lucky (U.S.) commenter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Big Sky Secrets by Linda Lael Miller

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
big sky secrets by linda lael millerFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: paperback, ebook
Genre: contemporary romance, western romance
Series: Parable, Montana #6
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: December 31, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Self-made tycoon Landry Sutton heads to Hangman Bend’s Ranch to sell his land to his brother Zane. Though he’s got cowboy in his blood, Landry plans to return to city life before the dust even settles on his boots. Of course, he didn’t count on falling for Big Sky Country…or Ria Manning.

Ria’s starting to settle into country life herself…until she has a close encounter of the terrifying kind with a buffalo. Turns out the peeping monster belongs to the cowboy next door—and he has her running even more scared than his bison. She wants a home where the buffalo don’t roam, and the men don’t either. Could Landry’s homecoming be her heart’s undoing?

My Review:

Big Sky Secrets is the last book in Miller’s Parable Montana series. I’m both sorry to see it end and looking forward to her next series, The Brides of Bliss County, starting in May 2014.

Of course, I’m also looking forward to May, but that’s an entirely different thing.

I’m going to miss catching up with the citizens of Parable. Not just because I’ve enjoyed the vicarious thrill of reading about every single one of their romances, but also because it seems like a really nice place and they seem like terrific people. It’s been great to find out how everyone is doing in each new book. It’s sad to let them go.

Big Sky Wedding by Linda Lael MillerBut the last two books, Big Sky Wedding and Big Sky Secrets, haven’t felt quite as, well, big as the first four books, so maybe it’s time for me to meet a new set of friends.

Not that these last two stories haven’t still been worth reading. They most certainly have. Check out my review of Big Sky Wedding if you don’t believe me.

Big Sky Secrets picks up where Big Sky Wedding left off, only it’s Landry Sutton this time instead of Zane Sutton. Still, the Suttons are relative newcomers to the Parable/Three Trees community, even though Zane has married Brylee Parrish, one of the main characters from the beginning of the series.

Landry originally came to Parable to convince his brother that the whole idea of settling down in the middle of nowhere Montana was a crazy idea, and ended up staying himself. It turned out that the “big sky country” was where they both belonged, after lives that had been rootless.

It was also the place that Ria Manning had come to call home, after her fireman husband died in the line of duty.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, for both Landry and Ria, his ranch and her flower farm were on neighboring acreage. If fences make good neighbors, their relationship needed a bit of work. His buffalo herd, all two of them, loved Ria’s flowers–to eat.

After a year of repeated invasions, Ria had not lost her dislike of Landry. But Landry finally decided that it was time to force the issue, because he figured out what Ria’s issues with him were really all about (besides the obvious ones about the buffalo eating her crops!)

She was just as interested in him as he was in her, but she didn’t want to admit it. Or maybe she just wasn’t ready to admit that she’d moved on after her husband’s death. But Landry was determined to find out.

Whether Ria was ready to be found out or not.

Escape Rating B: Like many of the stories in the Parable Montana series, Big Sky Secrets swirls around the sweet and slow building romance between Ria Manning and Landry Sutton. Although the tension between them is palpable from their very first buffalo-facilitated encounter (in fact, it started in Big Sky Wedding) their romance generally simmers through most of the story.

While the reader waits for that pot to come to the boil, one is very happily entertained by a story about the bonds of family; how they sometimes tie, and sometimes strangle.

Ria’s tense relationship with her half-sister Meredith gets further stressed when her 17-year-old niece Quinn hitchhikes her way to Parable in a show of much-needed defiance against Meredith’s attempt to pack her out of the way while a federal investigation descends upon her formerly pristine life.

Quinn belongs in Parable, but the teenage invasion makes Ria realize how empty her solitary life has been.

Landry’s life is invaded by his drifter father, with his hand out for another “loan” that will never be repaid. But Jess Sutton delivers some home truths that make Landry rethink his strained relationship with his brother Zane.

Both Ria and Landry need to resolve the way they feel about their families, before they can be ready for each other. And once they’re ready, wow!

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Perfect Match by Kristan Higgins + Giveaway

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | blog tours> Book Giveaway> book reviews> Giveaways
perfect match by kristan higginsFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: Paperback, ebook, audiobook, Large Print
Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: Blue Heron #2
Length: 442 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: November 1, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

What if the perfect match is a perfect surprise? Honor Holland has just been unceremoniously rejected by her lifelong crush. And now—a mere three weeks later—Mr. Perfect is engaged to her best friend. But resilient, reliable Honor is going to pick herself up, dust herself off and get back out there…or she would if dating in Manningsport, New York, population 715, wasn’t easier said than done.

Charming, handsome British professor Tom Barlow just wants to do right by his unofficial stepson, Charlie, but his visa is about to expire. Now Tom must either get a green card or leave the States—and leave Charlie behind.

In a moment of impulsiveness, Honor agrees to help Tom with a marriage of convenience—and make her ex jealous in the process. But juggling a fiancé, hiding out from her former best friend and managing her job at the family vineyard isn’t easy. And as sparks start to fly between Honor and Tom, they might discover that their pretend relationship is far too perfect to be anything but true love….

My Review:

When it comes to relationships, Honor Holland doesn’t start out this story with anyone in her circle dealing with a whole lot of honor, including herself. Although at least she has some excuse for her behavior.

When the man you’ve loved for years compares your relationship to a baseball catcher’s favorite glove, well, acting out of character does seem more than called for, doesn’t it? Most of us would be looking for a fake boyfriend or fake fiance to rub in the clueless wonder’s face. There’s letting a girl down gently, and then there’s THAT. Or splat.

After the shameful letdown, if your best friend instantly moves in for the kill (and the engagement ring) while a very public catfight might not be what Miss Manners recommends, it could easily seem like the exact right thing to do at the time.

Especially if your former BFF comes off as a smug little bitch while she’s dishing you all the details, with a sly little smile on her face that lets you know she did it all deliberately.

But Honor’s post-catfight response is to contract a green card marriage with a hot mechanical engineering professor at the local college. If you get whiplash from that sentence, it’s okay. It is pretty whiplash inducing. It also sets Honor’s life on an entirely new course.

Tom Barlow needs a green card to stay in the U.S. because his very small college isn’t willing to continue the legal hassle of dealing with it. (I’m not totally sure how this bit works, because his job was never in jeopardy, only their legal wrangling) Tom needs to stay in the U.S. to be near the sullen teenager who would have been his stepson, IF his marriage to the boy’s mother hadn’t been called off on account of the woman’s death.

There’s an emotional sinkhole there even worse than Honor’s friends-with-benefits relationship with Brogan Cain that she thought was love for over a decade. Tom stayed with cheating Melinda because he wanted to raise her son Charlie. When Melinda was killed while off having an affair, he had no standing to adopt the boy. Now he’s in emotional limbo.

Honor is in emotional limbo, too. It turned out that her best friend was just a leech waiting for an opportunity to go after the man she thought was the love of her life. Tom Barlow’s need for a green card came up just at the point where her doctor (Jeremy from The Best Man) informs her that at age 35, her eggs are getting older and it’s time for her to think about having babies if she wants them.

Tom needs a wife, Honor needs a sperm donor. While this is not a marriage made in heaven, necessity is often the mother of invention, especially in a case where someone wants to be a mother.

Honor is trying to think of it as an arranged marriage. Sometimes the idea works. Sometimes she watches her grandparents argue and thinks she’s out of her mind.

But the more time she spends with Tom, the more she thinks that this arranged marriage has the possibility of turning into something real. But only if they both stop protecting themselves from the bad things that have happened before and reach for the good things that might happen in the here and now.

Escape Rating B+: There are so many “perfect matches” being worked out in this story; that’s part of what makes it so much fun to read.

best man by kristan higginsHonor and Tom are in some ways the least interesting match, but their story provides the frame for all of the other action that takes place. Also, their story has much darker motives behind it than Faith and Levi’s story did in The Best Man (reviewed yesterday)

Initially, Honor and Tom get together because they are doing the right thing for other people. They think it’s going to be a business arrangement. Admittedly, a business arrangement where they are defrauding the U.S. Government, but a business arrangement.

She gets married, gets to stick Brogan and Dana in the eye, gets a baby maybe. He gets a green card and gets to stay in Charlie’s life. She also gets out of her father’s house because he’s finally found the right woman to marry. Her dad finally woke up and smelled the coffee right under his nose.

Her dad is marrying Mrs. J, the woman who helped raise them and kept house and home together for them after their mother was killed. Mrs. J. been in love with Honor’s dad for sixteen years, and it’s about time he figured it out. Slow learner, but very sweet.

Tom and Charlie’s relationship is painful to witness. Charlie blames Tom for his mother’s death, because he has no one else to blame for that pain. And because he’s a teenager. And because his mother was out running around with his dad and had left him behind with Tom when she died. He has to blame someone.

So both Tom and Honor enter into their relationship for reasons other than love, and they are both afraid that the other one is going to back out, or even worse, that one will put their heart on the line and the other will stomp on it. Neither wants to discover that they have come in second best again.

But the more they try to fake things, for the Immigration Service, to stick it to Brogan, for their families, the more they discover that what they have might be real. And that ups the relationship stakes for both of them. Which is what makes the story so very good.

~~~~~~GIVEAWAY~~~~~~

Kristan has graciously agreed to give away a paperback copy of The Perfect Match to one lucky US winner. To enter, use the Rafflecopter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: The Best Man by Kristan Higgins

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
best man by kristan higginsFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: Paperback, ebook, audiobook, large print
Genre: Contemporary romance
Series: Blue Heron #1
Length: 426 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: February 26, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Faith Holland left her hometown after being jilted at the altar. Now a little older and wiser, she’s ready to return to the Blue Heron Winery, her family’s vineyard, to confront the ghosts of her past, and maybe enjoy a glass of red. After all, there’s some great scenery there….

Like Levi Cooper, the local police chief – and best friend of her former fiancé. There’s a lot about Levi that Faith never noticed, and it’s not just those deep green eyes. The only catch is she’s having a hard time forgetting that he helped ruin her wedding all those years ago. If she can find a minute amidst all her family drama to stop and smell the rosé, she just might find a reason to stay at Blue Heron, and finish that walk down the aisle.

My Review:

This series is off to a rousing start. The Holland sisters are named Faith, Honor and Prudence. Faith’s first love didn’t exactly keep faith with her, it looks like Honor’s first love wasn’t all that honorable (more tomorrow), and Prudence certainly isn’t prudent in a whole bunch of ways.

I really want to find out how brother Jack got away with just being named Jack! That’s just way too easy.

But The Best Man is Faith’s story. In the case, the title is a pun. Levi Cooper was supposed to have been the best man at Faith’s wedding to Jeremy, except that wedding never happened. (This is the third book I’ve read this year where the bride gets left at the altar in her fancy wedding dress. Is this a trend?)

Levi was the one who finally got Jeremy to own up to Faith that he was gay, at the point of the ceremony where the minister asks if anyone knows about impediments to the marriage. Since Faith didn’t know, it does kind of constitute an impediment.

Faith left her small town of Manningsport blaming Levi for ruining her dream. It was easier than blaming Jeremy. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe that Jeremy was gay, once Jeremy told her, it was that she and Jeremy still loved each other. And that she had never loved anyone else.

She had to move all the way across the country to start over. She took herself on the honeymoon trip to San Francisco that she and Jeremy had planning, and in the end, she just stayed. Faith became a landscape designer, and a very successful one.

And she planned her trips home so that she didn’t run into Jeremy.

She also made sure she didn’t run into Levi Cooper very much. They hadn’t gotten along very well when they were in school together, and their banter continued to have a barbed edge to it. Levi had seen Faith at her worst, and she’d never forgotten it.

He’d also been the first man to give her a little taste of real passion, once when she and Jeremy were on a “break”. But she’d never been able to forgive him, not so much because he’d been the one for making Jeremy reveal the truth, but because Levi had known it all along, and hadn’t said anything in six years of double-dating. He could have warned her, even if they weren’t exactly friends.

But now she’s back in Manningsport to design something special on her family’s land. It’s time for Faith to lay all of the ghosts in her past to rest, including the ghost of the wedding that might have been. Everywhere she turns in Manningsport, she finds her first love, Jeremy, and she finds that the friendship they used to have is still there. He can still be part of her life.

Levi Cooper is also still around. He’s changed from being the town bad boy to the local Police Chief. The upper class citizens of Manningsport who used to think he was trash changed their tune after he came home from a couple of tours with the Army in Afghanistan.

He always thought Faith Holland was hot, but it would have broken the rules to chase his best friend’s girl. He still thinks she’s hot, but he’s not willing to be second best if she’s still pining for Jeremy.

Faith and Levi might figure out what they could be to each other–if either of these two could get to the bottom of what really is going on between them, either in the present or in the past.

Escape Rating B: We see the town of Manningsport and the Holland family through Faith’s eyes as she returns home. The totality of the reason she left is actually revealed in bits and pieces because the past is not just another country, but it’s a country that Faith really doesn’t want to visit. Too much bad stuff happened back there.

Manningsport is part of the Finger Lakes District in New York. It’s wine country and the Hollands are a wine growing family. They don’t act rich, they think of themselves as farmers, and hard-working farmers at that. Everyone in the family except Faith works in the family business in some meaningful way, including Faith’s grandparents, who are in their 80s.

Levi grew up literally on the wrong side of the Manningsport tracks. His family were called “trailer trash” and worse. The social gulf between the Coopers and the Hollands during their school years was huge. Faith’s mother dropped her hand-me-down clothes off at the trailer park for Levi’s sister. THAT kind of huge.

Levi returning from Afghanistan bridged that gap, but it doesn’t mean he’ll ever forget, or can ever forget that Faith’s parents would not have wanted him dating their daughter back in high school, even if Faith had been interested. The chip on his shoulder is part of the romantic equation.

Some reviewers have wondered either how Faith could have not known that Jeremy was gay, or why she threw up so many of the usual stereotypes as a defense about why she didn’t know. She didn’t merely date Jeremy, they were high school sweethearts and then college sweethearts and then engaged. The relationship lasted eight years before his last second confession. This is a contemporary romance, so in eight years you’d think there would have been an inkling. They were even lovers. I would be willing to go with the explanation that Faith tries to refute Jeremy’s confession with so many of the stereotypes that Jeremy doesn’t fit into because she doesn’t want to let her dream die. A person would grab at straws in that situation, whether they were politically correct straws or not.

However, there is a scene later in the book where Faith and her sisters are trying to fix their widowed father up on a blind date. The woman that he has an arranged meeting with, a woman whom he likes and gets along very well with, turns out to be a transwoman. The nasty, rude and disparaging comments that the sisters make after their father’s date ruined the scene and pulled me totally out of the story. Whether this was homophobia or transphobia or simply misinformation and done for a cheap laugh, it was not well done and not necessary for the story.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Getting Rowdy by Lori Foster

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> blog tours> book reviews
getting rowdy by lori fosterFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, paperback, audiobook
Genre: Romantic suspense
Series: Love Undercover #3
Length: 448 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: September 24, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Charismatic bar owner Rowdy Yates isn’t the kind of man women say no to. So when he approaches waitress Avery Mullins, he fully expects to get her number. However, the elusive beauty has her reasons for keeping her distance—including a past that might come back to haunt them both.

Avery spends her nights working for tips… and trying to forget the secret Rowdy is determined to unearth. But when history threatens to repeat itself, Avery grows to rely on Rowdy’s protective presence. As the sparks between them ignite, she will be forced to choose between the security she’s finally found… and the passion she’s always wanted..

My Review:

506px-Clint_Eastwood-Rawhide_publicityI love that the main character of Getting Rowdy was named for the character Clint Eastwood played in the old TV western Rawhide, way, way back, Rowdy Yates. There is even a resemblance between the book cover picture and the character.

And it’s all too possible to think of lots of Eastwood’s western heroes riding to the rescue of Avery Mullins the way that this Rowdy Yates does, whether Avery consents to being rescued or not. Because Avery needs a little help from a friend, and Rowdy is willing to be that friend, or even “friends with benefits”, if he can get Avery to let him get that close.

This a story of two people who don’t let anyone close, although they have totally different reasons for why they keep people outside of their inner circle and exactly how they each define what “close” means.

Run the Risk by Lori FosterRowdy has his sister Pepper. We’ve already read her story in Run the Risk (reviewed here) Because of the childhood abuse that Rowdy protected Pepper from, he grew up not trusting anyone. The last several years he spent hiding in plain sight while he guarded Pepper did not make him more trusting. After all, it’s not paranoia if they really are out to get you. And the mob, along with some corrupt cops, really were out to get him. But that’s finally behind them and Pepper is married to one of the good cops, Logan Riske.

So Rowdy has started to put down roots in order to stay close to Pepper. He’s bought a bar and is cleaning up the place. Not clean up as in dirt, but clean up as in getting the low-lifes out of the area. It used to be a place where the owner did drug dealing and flesh peddling. Now it’s a middle-class place where people can get a halfway decent meal and the drinks aren’t watered down. It’s a safe place and Rowdy keeps it that way.

It’s also where he picks up too many women for his bartender’s comfort. Avery Mullins is the one woman he really wants, but she keeps turning him down. Rowdy uses sex as a way of keeping his nightmares away. There’s just been too much crap in his life. He doesn’t sleep much and no-strings-attached sex is his way of finding oblivion.

Avery has demons and secrets of her own, but no-strings-attached sex with Rowdy Yates is about the last thing she’s going after as a way of getting past anything. She wants him, but she has no interest in being just another notch on his much-marked bedpost. And her job as bartender at his place is too good to jeopardize with a one-night-stand, no matter how terrific.

One-night-stands are all Rowdy ever does. His friendship is more important to Avery than sex. Then she discovers that his protection is an absolute necessity, because her past comes back to find her.

And once Rowdy discovers that Avery needs him, he realizes that he wants to protect her much, much more than he ever thought he wanted to escape. The man who never had a home may have finally found one, if he can convince himself that he’s worthy of keeping her.

Escape Rating B+: I always look forward to another Lori Foster book. Her romantic suspense series deliver marvelous stories that fulfill both parts of that equation every single time! She always tells a delicious romantic story that also includes spine-tingling suspense, and Getting Rowdy definitely was another story in that marvelous tradition!

Rowdy and Avery have been dancing around each other since they first met in Run the Risk, so it was terrific to see both what was keeping them apart and how they finally managed to get together. While we know a lot of Rowdy’s history from Pepper, it was different seeing things from Rowdy’s perspective; he protected her from a lot of the worst of it, which means he had a lot of healing to do.

Avery might have been a bit more understanding about Rowdy’s parade of female bed partners than other women would have been. While he doesn’t owe her anything until they start seeing each other, it would have been more than unnerving to have a man hit on you nearly every night and then pick someone else up when you turned him down. Only to rinse and repeat the very next evening.

Avery’s situation starts out chilling and only gets squickier. No wonder she ran. I like her character and the way she took charge of her life a lot. I was a bit surprised at just how creepy her enemies turned out to be. The evil-dude turned out to be a bit over-the-top, to the point where I was amazed that if he was that much of a creepazoid, I wondered why he hadn’t dragged her back earlier.

Bare It All by Lori FosterThe group dynamics as a whole are loads of fun. It was great to see Logan, Pepper, Reese and Alice (especially Cash!) from Run the Risk and Bare it All (reviewed here) again. Rowdy’s reluctant bonding with the rest of the guys is a hoot.

I can’t wait for book 4, Dash of Peril.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money or borrowed from a public library and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

Review: Big Sky Wedding by Linda Lael Miller

Posted on by Marlene Harris | Author : | B Reviews> book reviews
Big Sky Wedding by Linda Lael MillerFormat read: ebook provided by NetGalley
Formats available: ebook, mass market paperback, audiobook
Genre: Western romance
Series: Parable, Montana, #5
Length: 384 pages
Publisher: Harlequin HQN
Date Released: August 27, 2013
Purchasing Info: Author’s Website, Publisher’s Website, Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Book Depository

Wedding bells are ringing in Parable, Montana, but Brylee Parrish hasn’t enjoyed the sound since being jilted at the altar by Hutch Carmody. She’s over Hutch now, and running a multimillion-dollar business is challenging enough for this country gal. So she should avoid falling head over boot heels for A-list actor Zane Sutton. He’s come home to his rodeo roots, but Hollywood lured him away once and just might again. Yet everything about him, from his easy charm to his concern for his young half brother, seems too genuine to resist….

Zane didn’t come to Parable for love—but count on a spirited woman to change a jaded cowboy’s mind. Problem is, Brylee’s not convinced he’s here to stay. Good thing he’s determined to prove to her, kiss by kiss, that she’s meant to be his bride.

My Review:

I am so glad that Brylee finally got over the “wedding that wasn’t.” It certainly took the woman long enough to get past the huge meteor strike she took to her pride!

Big Sky Mountain by Linda Lael MillerBrylee Parrish and Hutch Carmody’s almost wedding was one of the foundation stories for the Parable, Montana series–it’s practically how the whole thing started. But Brylee got left behind in a bridezilla wedding confection, while Hutch rode off into the sunset with the woman of his dreams in Big Sky Mountain. While I loved Big Sky Mountain, (review at Book Lovers Inc.) Brylee does not come out of that story as a character you want meet again.

By the time the story of Big Sky Wedding rolls around, Brylee Parrish has grown up a bit. She’s taken the anger and heartache of being left behind and used it to make a name for herself and create a mega-successful international home-party decorating company, Decor Galore. She’s put Three Trees Montana, and neighboring Parable, on the map. She’s also one of the area’s biggest employers.

Big Sky Summer by Linda Lael MillerShe’s also lonely. Whether that’s because of, or in spite of, living right next door to her brother Walker and his new family (see Big Sky Summer, reviewed here) is hard for Brylee to say.

She might even be over Hutch. Getting over the man was way easier than getting over the loss of all her dreams, but she’s finally reaching that conclusion, too.

And into her life rides Zane Sutton. Former, and maybe future, rodeo rider. Current, and maybe former, Hollywood actor. Definitely the current owner of the ranch next door to the spread that she owns with her brother Walker.

Zane is the first man who has a chance of pulling her all the way back to the woman she used to be. If he’s really come to Parable to stay. If Brylee can trust that a member of the much-derided Hollywood actor-species would ever come to Three Trees to actually put down roots.

If Brylee can let herself ever trust her heart to any man again.

Escape Rating B: Brylee’s story has been building for a long time, but when we finally get it here in Big Sky Wedding, it felt a bit on the short side. Some of the previous books in the series built the romance up more than this one seemed to. I don’t mean that it was rushed, I mean that the story that built was more about Brylee finally getting over the last of her hurt pride and her isolation after her busted wedding than the actual romance between her and Zane.

Big Sky Country by Linda Lael MillerAlso, we’ve seen Brylee in all the stories so far, but Zane (along with his family) is new. He’s also the beginning of a new (and the final) story arc. Zane brings interesting baggage, in that he comes to escape his accidental acting career, and wants to return to ranching. He’s been searching for a home, a return to a “real” life. How that “real” life finds him makes the reader watch him grow and change, because Zane has a family deposited on him in the form of his much younger half-brother, Nash, and, of course, an adopted stray dog named Slim. As well as his formidable housekeeper Cleo, who must be the new Opal. Let’s just say that Zane’s household needed the Cleo-tornado extra bad, in much the same way that Slade Barlow needed Opal in Big Sky Country.

There is one final book in Parable, Montana. I wonder what secrets will be revealed in Big Sky Secrets? I’m going to be sorry to see this series end.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.