Balancing Act (Silhouette Special Edition No. 1552)

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT SOME MAY CONSIDER SPOILERS.

LILIAN DARCY

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, 2003.

How acquired: BookCrossing

First line: Brady Buchanan would be here with his little daughter in twenty minutes, maybe less.

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

My thoughts: What would you do if you discovered that your adopted toddler daughter had a twin sister who had been adopted by someone else? Libby packs up her belongings and moves across the country. A bit grudgingly, but in order for the girls to have a relationship and grow up together they need to live near each other, and Libby is in a better position to move than Brady, who owns a construction company.

"They laughed, and looked at each other, and the kiss they were both thinking about seemed so real that Libby could almost see it in the air."

Of course Libby and Brady are immediately attracted to each other, but they've both been through bad marriages, and Libby and her daughter, Colleen, are only staying with Brady and his daughter, Scarlett, until Libby can find a job and a permanent place to live.

Like a good romance should, there is plenty of conflict between Libby and Scarlett. Neither completely trusts the other, and both agree that they just need to get along for the sake of the girls. But while Libby is the one who uprooted her life and moved, I still felt Brady got the short end of the stick more often. He seemed to try harder, make more of an effort, while Libby was secretive and standoffish. Even towards Scarlett a little bit. I get that she was afraid of getting too attached to Scarlett, in case things went south and she and Brady went their separate ways, but still.

After awhile I got a little tired of Libby keeping things from Brady and trying so hard to maintain her independence. Not that there's anything wrong with independence. But again, Brady was making an effort, and to his credit he would back off when he realized he was pushing her too much. 

By the time Libby needed to have fibroid surgery, she and Brady had slept together. Yet she did not tell him about her upcoming surgery and the more she kept putting off telling him the more irritated I felt towards her. She didn't like her new doctor, so she arranged a trip home to finish packing up her house and decide whether to sell it or rent it out, and scheduled the surgery with her previous doctor to coincide with the trip, asking her mother to also fly out to help with Colleen. I really thought that something was going to go wrong with the surgery and her life would be hanging in the balance and mom would call Brady and the thought of Libby possibly dying would make him realize how much he loved her and he would rush to be at her side. To my surprise that's not what happened, and I was pretty happy at how it was all finally resolved in the end. 

Goodreads synopsis: Four days ago, Libby McGraw had never even heard of Brady Buchanan. But if his claim was true, her carefully constructed life was about to be blown apart. One glance at the silky-haired baby cradled in Brady's arms told Libby more than any blood test could. Her adopted daughter had an identical twin sister!
Libby wanted to believe she was only marrying Brady to keep the girls together, but her heart wasn't buying that malarkey. Not when the feel of Brady's lips on hers told her they might be destined for a more powerful union....

A Life Once Dreamed

RACHEL FORDHAM

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Revell, 2020.

How acquired: Recieved from the publisher for review via the Revell Reads Blogger Program. 

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

My thoughts: Six years ago Aggie's childhood sweetheart, James, proposed to her, and when she rushed home to tell her parents, they revealed a secret they had been keeping from her. Distraught, she broke the engagement and fled the big city for the small town of Penance, where she now teaches school. We, the reader, aren't told that secret until well into the book, though it wasn't too hard to eventually guess. And then James shows up in town, having been hired to be the new town doctor.

After a fire leaves a little boy orphaned, Aggie takes him in and falls in love with him, and is determined to keep him. But you know what high standards schoolteachers were kept to back in the day – if she has a child, she loses her teaching contract and her home.

I loved this book. The characters are all so well written, even the supporting characters. Aggie's love for her students and the town shines through, and the arrival of James leaves her a bit unsettled. And poor James, his frustration is almost palpable as he tries to find out why Aggie broke their engagement before it had hardly started. And then there's Sam, one of the miners who comes into town fairly frequently and is smitten with Aggie. I was rooting for him almost as much as for James. True to small town dynamics, everybody is all up in everybody else's business, and Aggie's friends and the mayor pushing her to pick a husband and settle down was amusing.

Ms. Fordham writes beautifully, with the narrative seamlessly switching between the points of view of Aggie and James, letting us get know each of them. James, especially, grows as a character, from feeling that he may be in over his head as a town doctor when he's fresh out of medical school, to learning to love the small town that he had expected to be a temporary part of his life. I loved watching his views and ideas change as he began to love the town and its inhabitants as much as he still loved Aggie.

If you're a fan of When Calls the Heart, I believe you'll enjoy this story. I know I did, very much.

Goodreads synopsis: Six years ago, a shocking secret sent Agnes Pratt running in search of a new start. She found it in Penance, a rugged town of miners and lumberjacks in the Dakota Territory, where she became Miss Aggie, respected schoolteacher and confirmed old maid. But the past has a way of catching up with people.

When childhood friend and former sweetheart James Harris accepts a position as the town doctor, Aggie's pleasantly predictable days suddenly become anything but. James wants to know why Agnes left behind the life they had dreamed of creating for themselves--but he is the one person who can never know.

In the shadows of the Black Hills, can a healing light be shed on the past? Or will the secret Agnes can't seem to outrun destroy her chance at happiness?

Fan-favorite Rachel Fordham brings to life the dusty streets of an 1880s frontier town in this story that affirms where you come from matters far less than where you're going.

Cowboy Commando (Special Ops: Texas, Book One; Harlequin Intrigue No. 1123)

JOANNA WAYNE

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin, 2009.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: “Welcome home, cowboy!”

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

My thoughts: I enjoyed this older Harlequin Intrigue. Cutter is a former Navy SEAL who misses his military days and feels a little lost now that he's back in Texas. He's half-heartedly job hunting and staying in his aunt's condo. She lives on the family ranch and would welcome Cutter back, but he isn't sure that ranching is for him. He comes home one evening to find Linney in his kitchen, with a small child who she admits that she “sort of kidnapped”.

This is an Intrigue, so there's a mystery – the child's mother, and Linney's best friend, recently drowned in her own pool, and Linney is convinced that her abusive husband killed her. Problem is, said husband is a cop, and Linney can't get anyone to take her seriously.

This is the first book I've read by Joanna Wayne, and I like her writing. Linney is a little foolish, determined to prove her friend was murdered but not going about it in a very sensible way, letting her emotions drive her. But she's goodhearted and worried about little Julie's safety. Cutter is reluctant to be pulled into Linney's investigation, but once it's clear that her life is now in danger, Cutter is all in, and not about to let anything happen to Linney, or young Julie.

There's a little history between them, a few days spent together several years ago, after which they didn't see each other again, and they both harbor bitterness toward the other for walking away. Those pesky misunderstandings, always driving a wedge between lovers.

The mystery was well plotted, with a surprise twist at the end. And of course, being a category romance, there's a happy ending. My only complaint is the cover photo. At no point in the book do I recall Cutter climbing over rocks shirtless. And why must cover models always have hairless chests?

Goodreads synopsis: On navy SEAL missions Cutter Martin had been a warrior. But when it came to Linney Kingston, he was just a red-blooded Texas cowboy with bad luck at love. Linney had walked out on him six years ago. Now she was back—with a motherless child and a crazy story.
Linney's theory of murder and scandal was as preposterous as her body's traitorous response to Cutter. Still, when she was shot at, the cowboy came to her rescue. Cutter—her hero. And the only man who could break her heart again. Trusting him a second time was more frightening than the killers stalking her every move….

Finding Home on Winslow Island (Winslow Island, Book One)

CHRISSY ELLIOT

Stats for my copy: .pdf review copy

Publication date: Kindle edition, 7/31/20

How acquired: Received for review from BookSirens

First line: If romance had a color, glitter would be it.

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

My thoughts: I requested this book from BookSirens because, like the last book I reviewed for BookSirens, it sounded like a light, fun, romantic comedy, and like that last book, it delivered. From that first glitter filled meet cute to the happy ending. I love small town stories, and the small town in this book was on an island, which was a bonus.

Tessa and her son live with her mother and help run her bed and breakfast. It wasn't Tessa's dream, but she had promised her father that she would take care of her mother after he passed away. She dreams of buying a dilapidated house that she fell in love with, and having her own art studio. But the bed and breakfast is barely breaking even, and she can't abandon her mother.

Parker is a busy doctor with a soaring career at a big city hospital. He rarely comes back to Winslow Island, but his mother is planning a party for his father's birthday. Which just happens to fall during the island's annual Matchmaking Festival.

From their first meeting, Tessa and Parker are at odds with each other. Parker ticks many boxes for me – he's gruff, direct, rude, arrogant. All of which annoys Tessa, almost as much as her attraction to him does. But of course that's just the exterior, hiding the real Parker underneath. His heart was broken in the past, and now it's locked up tight. Neither he or Tessa are looking for a relationship, and Parker has no intention of sticking around anyway.

I really enjoyed this book. Full of amusing supporting characters, and lots of fun banter between Parker and Tessa, as well as between Tessa and her sister, Gabby, and Parker and his brothers. The Matchmaking Festival was an interesting setting, and Tessa roping Parker into participating in a speed dating event was one of the highlights of the book.

Breezy writing, fun dialogue, the story is sweet and heartwarming. The romance is clean, albeit with some steamy kisses. I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

Goodreads synopsis: Join the residents of Winslow Island for a fun-filled, opposites-attract, sweet romance - full of piggyback rides and scrumptious baked goods.

It might be Winslow Island's annual Matchmaking Festival, but Tessa has more important things to worry about, like how to keep her mother's bed and breakfast in business.

Parker's life is as precise and planned as the surgeries he performs. He's on track for a career-making promotion - if he can improve his bedside manner.

When his mother plans a family celebration for the same weekend as the Matchmaking Festival, Parker suspects he's in for a series of sneaky setups. But with his promotion fast approaching, he has no time for distractions - until Tessa crashes into him in a shower of glitter, wreaking havoc with his plans and his heart.

With a temper as fiery as her red hair, she's a distraction too tempting to ignore.

Tessa is determined to resist Parker's charms - even if his smile makes her toes curl. He's only on the island for five days, and she won't risk a broken heart. But with the festival in full swing, resisting Parker is proving harder than she expected, especially when he becomes the key to saving her mother's business.

Can Parker convince Tessa that he's worth taking a chance on, or will his career-focused heart drive them further apart?

Whether you are fans of the Gilmore Girls or the Golden Girls, you'll fall in love with Winslow Island.