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.

Rancher Rescue

BARB HAN

Goodreads synopsis: When a little boy goes missing, rancher Caleb Snow steps in to help…and winds up falling for the child's beautiful–but mysterious–aunt in Barb Han's Rancher Rescue

Getting tangled up with another woman in crisis is the last thing rancher Caleb Snow needs. The handsome cowboy has been badly burned too many times. But this one feels different–Katherine Harper is injured and reeling after an ambush in which her nephew was kidnapped. Caleb wants nothing more than to protect the beautiful, headstrong woman and help her find the missing child. If only he could ignore the feelings she stirs in him. 

But as they search together, it's clear someone wants Katherine dead. Soon the two are running for their lives, dodging bullets, not knowing who to trust…or if they'll survive long enough to bring a little boy home.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin, 2014.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Katherine Harper pushed up on all fours and spit dirt.

My thoughts: I'm glad I only paid 49 cents for this book at a thrift store. Struggled to stay interested. I just didn't connect with the hero or the heroine. There was just no depth to them. Especially the heroine. And after all the trouble the hero goes through to get her to a safe place, she just blithely walks into danger and lets the bad guy capture her. The hero rescues her, of course, a mere three and a half pages later, and it was completely anticlimactic.

The hero also kept talking "deadpan", as did his best friend on one occasion. He would say something deadpan, or in a deadpan tone. But they're just making a serious statement, in the middle of a serious situation, in a serious voice. Maybe I don't understand the meaning of deadpan? I mean, isn't that where someone says something absurd and not in keeping with the mood of the current situation, but in a super serious voice to comedic effect?

But before all the above happened, this passage just made me groan:

"My first big sale was a beautiful paint horse. The man who'd sold him to me when he was a pony said he tore up the ground like no other."

Ugh.