From Grace to Hell

LUCY GRANT

Stats for my copy: Kindle edition, 2019.

How acquired: Via NetGalley.

(For the Goodreads synopsis, scroll to the bottom of this post.)

My thoughts: This book is horrible. I rarely write bad reviews, especially for newly published books or debuting authors. But all the other reviews on Amazon - all five of them - are five star reviews. I can only assume the reviewers are either friends of the author, or pseudo reviewers who trade glowing reviews for free books. So I feel honor bound to warn others.

Since I got my copy via NetGalley it may be an ARC, and you have to make allowances for some editing errors in those. But even an uncorrected proof should not be this bad. On one page, in the space of three short paragraphs, the word “walked” appeared five times. She walked to the table...she walked outside...he walked out, then walked back in, then walked out again. Too much! And that’s just one example.

The premise is interesting, if a little far fetched. It’s what made me want to read the book. Grace has worked in her grandfather’s feedlot since she was a teenager, and supervises his ranch hands. (Though I find it hard to believe her claim that her name was on more contracts than her grandfather’s when she was fifteen. In what state can a fifteen year old sign contracts?) Grandpa dies and leaves her money, but leaves the ranch and all his business to her brothers, because she needs to get off the ranch, go to college and get married. So she contests his will on the grounds that she was excluded because she's a woman. Except throughout the book it’s referred to as “protesting” the will. Well, maybe in the state she lives that is the legal term but when I googled “protest will” everything came up as “contest”. But what do I know.

I pretty much hated Grace. I get that she was terribly upset at the way her grandfather (who I also hated) screwed her out of his will, but good god, that's no reason to act like a spoiled child. I hated the way she used Mason. She admits to herself over and over that she is using him and expresses guilt, but then she just continues to use him. And I'm not a prude, I have no problem with characters cussing, but the nasty things Grace and  her brother yelled at each really turned me off. Again, there's no reason to act like a spoiled child. 

There are sooooo many other things I could point out but suffice it to say the book obviously has not met an editor, and desperately needs to. It’s only 99 cents for Kindle, but the paperback is $10, and if I had paid $10 for this drivel I would be demanding my money back. Plus punitive damages.

And that interesting premise? At the end of the book is a twist in grandpa’s will, that just ruined the whole premise and made everything pointless. And then there's another twist, that was also pointless.

Goodreads synopsis: Lawsuits, rivalry, revenge... Welcome to the family.Grace has always been a fighter. As single woman running one of the most successful cattle ranches in the country, she's had to deal with surly ranch hands, crooked lawyers, jealous siblings... It's a full time job, but that hasn't stopped Grace from enjoying some no-strings-attached fun with a smoking hot country boy who's madly in love with her...Then tragedy strikes. Grace's grandfather passes away, and her entire life is turned upside down. Adam, her power-hungry brother, inherits the ranch, and kicks Grace off the property. The young woman soon finds herself in the fight of her life, as she struggles preserve what she's built, and maintain her grandfather's legacy.As the ranch suffers from Adam's corrupt mismanagement, their legal battle takes a dark turn into threats and violence. Grace refuses to back down, and she's willing to use every dirty trick in the book to protect what's hers...But when she pushes her conniving brother too far, will another tragedy rock her family?Get ready for a romantic thriller packed with shocking twists, edge- of-your-seat suspense, steamy sex, and a surprise ending you'll never see coming.