A Heartfelt Christmas Promise

NANCY NAIGLE

Stats: Mass market paperback, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, 9/28/21.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Vanessa slid her hand along the slick wooden banister as she climbed the stairs.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: My third Naigle book and I loved it as much as the first two.

A bit of the stereotypical girl from the big city forced to go to a small town where she doesn't fit in but falls in love with the town and one of the locals, but not gonna lie, I'm a sucker for that trope, if you can call it a trope. In this instance, Vanessa works for a large company in Chicago, the company bought a fruitcake factory in Fraser Hills, North Carolina, and now Vanessa has been sent to the town to shut down the factory in preparation for the warehouse space to used for an athletic company. I've been grabbing her books whenever I come across them so I have six more in my TBR. A job that has never bothered her before, but this time she finds herself getting friendly with the locals, including Buck, an older man who gives her some business advice and provides his guesthouse for Vanessa and her cousin over the Christmas holiday, Misty, a sixteen year old who works in the fruitcake factory's retail store and has lots of ideas to improve the business, and Mike, who breeds and trains Percheron horses. Oh, and Scooter, an adorable Lab puppy. The ending is of course predictable for the most part, but it's the journey to that ending that matters, and it was a wonderful journey.

I've been collecting Naigle books whenever I come across them, and have six more in my TBR, and I anticipate several more wonderful journeys!

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Vanessa Larkin was supposed to be spending Christmas in Paris, France on a business trip. Instead, she’s been assigned to Fraser Hills, North Carolina—home of the Best Fruitcake in the USA—to convert her company’s property into warehouse space and shut down Porter’s, the fruitcake factory. 

Mike Marshall’s family founded Porter’s. For decades, the factory served as the lifeblood of the community until his grandfather sold the business to a Chicago corporation. The sale cost the town its independence—and the Marshalls their family ties. A horse farmer, Mike was never involved with his grandfather’s company, but news of the factory’s closing means losing another piece of the town’s legacy. And as a widower raising a teenage daughter, he’s suffered enough losses in one lifetime. 

Far from the skyscrapers and rapid pace of the city, Vanessa finds herself enjoying the easygoing rhythms of rural living. With Mike as her guide, she learns to appreciate the simple pleasures found in shared holiday festivities among friends. Fraser Hills is a town she is growing to love—and Mike is someone she is falling in love with. Can a Christmas miracle give her newfound friends and home a gift they’ll cherish for many New Years to come?

On Moonberry Lake (Moonberry Lake, Book 1)

 

HOLLY VARNI

Edition read: Trade paperback, Revell, 2023

How acquired: Revell Reads Blogger Program.

First line: Her mother knew when someone was pregnant and when someone was dying.

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: Cora returns to Moonberry after her mother’s death, a place she hasn’t been since she was a child, and moves into the rundown family lodge that she’s now inherited. The back cover copy states that she “…finds her life overrun by a parade of eccentric neighbors who all have something to say and something to teach her.” And that is the most true sentence I’ve read all week, as it seems each new resident of Moonberry we meet is more outlandish than the last one.

But the book is about more than just the eccentric residents of a small town. It’s about a woman who was raised to run when things go bad, and has spent most of her life looking for something without knowing what, and then finding it in this small town. Friends, family, a purpose, love and acceptance, and faith. And no matter how eccentric or weird those outlandish characters are, they are never caricatures but are portrayed lovingly and realistically.

The writing is beautiful, but then Revell has curated an absolutely wonderful group of authors, so that’s a given.

*Received from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed*

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Cora Matthews's life is a mess. A broken engagement and the unexpected death of her mother have left her wondering if things will ever return to normal. Whatever "normal" is.

It certainly isn't what she finds at Moonberry Lake. After she receives her family's dilapidated lakefront lodge as an inheritance--with a surprising condition attached--Cora finds her life overrun by a parade of eccentric neighbors who all have something to say and something to teach her.

As Cora works to put her life back together, she must decide if she is willing to let go of the past, open her heart to love, and embrace the craziest version of family and home she could ever have imagined.

Accidentally Family (Pecan Valley, Book One)

SASHA SUMMERS

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Entangled: Amara, 2020. 

How acquired: Fresh Fiction Box Not to Miss subscription box

First line: Today was always going to be a life changer, Felicity knew that. 

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

My thoughts: The downside to reading a recently published first book of a series? Having to wait now for the next book in the series! I loved this book. I don't even know what to say in this review without just gushing about how wonderful this book is. 

Ok. So Felicity and her son have just watched her daughter graduate from high school. Her ex was a no show to the graduation ceremony, but for good reason – he's in the hospital after a car accident, which killed his girlfriend and injured his toddler son, Jack. And then he dies, but not before extracting a promise from Felicity to take and raise Jack as he has no other family. 

That's the start of a book that's just packed with characters and plot lines, all integral to the overall story and seamlessly woven together. Sometimes when there is a large cast of characters it can be a little confusing in the beginning, but I never had that issue here as they were all so well written. The POV switches around also between the characters, but at the core of the story are Felicity and Graham. Felicity and her ex and Graham and his wife were good friends before Felicity's divorce, and before Graham's wife died. Graham is a doctor, and he and Felicity reconnect at the hospital, and quickly renew their old friendship, except this time that friendship begins to blossom into romance. But they both have busy lives and family issues getting in the way – Felicity preparing to take Jack home when he's released from the hospital, to her own son's dismay, and Graham dealing with his teenage wild child daughter who's been acting out since losing her mother.

Not necessarily a romance book, but if you like small town contemporary character driven family relationship stories with a couple of romances thrown in, this fits the bill. I hope there will be another Pecan Valley novel soon!  

Goodreads synopsis: Welcome to Pecan Valley, where the town may be small but the townspeople will always lend a helping hand or a shoulder to lean on. Where good times, good humor, and good people will always lead to happily ever after.

Life for Felicity, and her teen children, is finally back on track. After her divorce, she wasn’t sure if her sweet family would ever be the same. But things are good––right up until her ex’s spirited toddler lands on Felicity’s doorstep. If the universe is going to throw lemons at her, thank God she has her best friend, Graham, to help her make lemonade out of them. How did she never notice how kind and sexy he is?

Graham is still recovering from his wife’s death years ago and trying to help his teen daughter get her life together. Who is he kidding? His daughter hates him. Forget lemons––he’s got the entire lemon tree. So when Felicity suggests they join forces and help each other, he’s all in. And suddenly he can’t stop thinking about her as more than just a friend. Too bad their timing couldn’t be worse…

Because life rarely goes as planned. Luckily there are many different kinds of family to hold you together and lift you up...plus maybe even a little love between friends.

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. 

Slow Dancing at Sunrise (Rendezvous Falls, Book One)

JO MCNALLY

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, HQN, 2019.

How acquired: Via Fresh Fiction Box Not to Miss, the best subscription box around.

First line: Whitney Foster was stuck in a traffic jam.

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

My thoughts: I've had a run of really good books recently, with my beloved enemies-to-lovers trope, from new to me authors! Halfway through this book I already knew it was going to be a five star read.

After losing her job under very trying circumstances, Whitney is taking temporary refuge at her Aunt Helen's winery, but is shocked to see the shabby state of the place. Uncle Tony passed away a couple of years ago, and the winery seems to have gone downhill since then. And Whitney is sure that the hired hand, Luke, is taking advantage of her aunt. So of course from their first meeting she and Luke clash, and clash hard.

I loved Whitney, and Luke, and Helen. Helen and her book club group of friends set out on a hilarious matchmaking scheme, trying to find dates for Whitney in hopes that she'll fall in love and make Rendezvous Falls her permanent home. It never occurs to them that she will fall for Luke, since those two obviously do not get along. They must not read a lot of romance novels in their book club!

It's always refreshing to not have a hero who is rich and successful. In addition to shouldering the burden of running the winery after Helen checked out in her grief over losing Tony, Luke works a second job as a bartender in order to pay rent to Helen for his apartment over the tasting room. Whitney puts her accounting skills to the test and begins going over the winery's messy finances, and when she discovers Luke's solution to how to pay the bills, I was a bit horrified and admiring at the same time. Not to mention very amused.

Once they finally give in to attraction, there was steam coming off the pages, very well written steam, without being crass or too graphic. The whole book is just delightful, and I'm glad I haven't used up the B&N gift card I got for Christmas – I'll be looking for the next Rendezvous Falls book, “Stealing Kisses in the Snow”, on my next trip to the bookstore! 

Goodreads synopsis: When accountant Whitney Foster's carefully calculated life blows up, she escapes to the one place that's always felt like home. But Rendezvous Falls has changed since she's been away. Her aunt Helen's winery is in trouble. And she doesn't trust the sexy, surly stranger working the vineyard as far as she can throw him.
Luke Rutledge would do anything for Helen, who's been like a mother to him. Revive the winery? Sure. Repair her property? No problem. Tolerate Helen's infuriating, big-shot niece? Well...maybe. But as he and Whitney are forced to work together to rebuild the business, her chilly facade reveals a woman as complex and intoxicating as a fine merlot. Throw in a matchmaking book club hell-bent on happily-ever-after and it's a potent cocktail.
Love should never be calculated. But it doesn't take Whitney's math skills to see that this is adding to up to one tantalizing adventure..

Touch of Smoke

KARISSA LAUREL

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Red Adept Publishing, 2019.

How acquired: Received from the author for review.

First line: The day I left Evansville, I twisted my rearview mirror until it reflected the ceiling of my daddy's '61 Apache and not the road behind me.

My thoughts: Isn't that cover gorgeous?

The paranormal aspect of this romance unfolded very slowly, and I loved the way that happened. Rikki has returned home to Evansville after being away three years. Arriving in town, she's greeted with a little hostility and a lot of hurt from her friends and family over the way she took off. She's here to face her demons and get some answers about the death of her best friend. The narrative jumps back and forth between the present and the past. We follow Rikki apprehensively greeting her mother, her friends, and her former love, Owen, who she blames for Mina's death. In between those chapters, we go back three years and follow Rikki as she first meets and falls for Owen. There are hints about the paranormal aspect sprinkled throughout the two narratives, and we gradually learn more about Owen and his abilities. And when it's finally revealed just exactly what Owen is, or rather why Owen is the way he is, it was quite a departure from the usual paranormal tropes.

Owen is also former military, which ticks one of my boxes, and I was quickly enamored with him. And I really liked Rikki as well. Watching their relationship slowly develop was fun.

“I'm named after my dad.”

"Was he hoping for a boy?”

I balled a fist. “Were you hoping for a fat lip?”

Along with a little humor there's a bit of brooding and plenty of angst without dipping into depressive.

But the ending threw me a little. The narrative is in first person POV from Rikki, and the logical part of my brain couldn't understand how Rikki could be telling us the story at the point. Unless there will be a sequel or a second book. We don't necessarily get an HEA, but there is the possibility of one so that didn't bother me.

Overall, I enjoyed this romance from a new to me author. Her other books, based on the synopses I read, sound a little intriguing but not something I would normally choose to read, not being a big fan of mythology, but I liked her writing here well enough that if I come across them I'm very likely now to pick them up. And I do hope that there will be another book about Rikki and Owen, or at least set in their world. I'd gladly read about Luke next.

Goodreads synopsis: Three years ago, Rikki Albemarle watched her best friend die at the hands of a supernatural evil. Certain she was slated to be the next victim, Rikki fled her small Smoky Mountain hometown, vowing to never come back. Plagued by nightmares and knowing she's the only one who believes Mina's death was no accident, Rikki returns with hopes of finding answers and holding the killer accountable.

Rikki is convinced the key to unlocking the secret of Mina's death lies with Owen Amir, the alluring young army vet who once claimed her heart. But the deeper Rikki digs into Owen's past, the more she's torn between the urgings of her heart and her memories of him on the night Mina died.

After falling further into the rabbit hole, Rikki lands at the feet of an ancient and powerful evil determined to finish what it started years before. To survive, she'll have to make a decision: believe Owen is the monster she always feared he might be or trust him enough to stay and fight for a second chance at love.

Sweet Tea and Sympathy (Southern Eclectic, Book One)

MOLLY HARPER

Synopsis from Goodreads: Beloved author Molly Harper launches a brand-new contemporary romance series, Southern Eclectic, with this story of a big-city party planner who finds true love in a small Georgia town.

Nestled on the shore of Lake Sackett, Georgia is the McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. (What, you have a problem with one-stop shopping?) Two McCready brothers started two separate businesses in the same building back in 1928, and now it’s become one big family affair. And true to form in small Southern towns, family business becomes everybody’s business.

Margot Cary has spent her life immersed in everything Lake Sackett is not. As an elite event planner, Margot’s rubbed elbows with the cream of Chicago society, and made elegance and glamour her business. She’s riding high until one event goes tragically, spectacularly wrong. Now she’s blackballed by the gala set and in dire need of a fresh start—and apparently the McCreadys are in need of an event planner with a tarnished reputation.

As Margot finds her footing in a town where everybody knows not only your name, but what you had for dinner last Saturday night and what you’ll wear to church on Sunday morning, she grudgingly has to admit that there are some things Lake Sackett does better than Chicago—including the dating prospects. Elementary school principal Kyle Archer is a fellow fish-out-of-water who volunteers to show Margot the picture-postcard side of Southern living. The two of them hit it off, but not everybody is happy to see an outsider snapping up one of the town's most eligible gentleman. Will Margot reel in her handsome fish, or will she have to release her latest catch?

Stats for my copy: ebook, Gallery Books, releasing November 21, 2017.

How acquired: NetGalley.

My thoughts: I previously read SAVE A TRUCK, RIDE A REDNECK, Book 0.5 in this series. I’m not a big fan of novellas, just because I like to get more story, more characterization, than the shorter form allows. But I enjoyed it, so I was eager to try one of Ms. Harper’s full length novels and see how much deeper she can go. And she did not disappoint. 

Our heroine this time is Margot, a big city event planner who finds herself out of a job and shunned by the event planning community after a disastrous flamingo incident. We met Marianne, and her brother, Duffy, in SAVE A TRUCK. Margot is their cousin, though she’s never met any of the family. Her mother left her father when she was three years old, and her father has been completely out of her life since then. But Tootie McCready,, her father’s aunt and the matriarch of the McCready clan, contacts Margot out of the blue and offers her a job in the family business, McCready Family Funeral Home and Bait Shop. With no other prospects on the horizon, and about to not have anywhere to live, Margot reluctantly accepts.

I very much liked Margot. She’d pretty much had the rug pulled out from under her, and her whole world turned upside down. Settling down to life in Lake Sackett, Georgia, was quite a culture shock for her. Not to mention meeting her biological father, for whom she, understandably, harbors a lot of resentment. She didn’t plan to stay permanently, just until she found a job that would take her back to Chicago or some other civilized city. Watching her navigate her new life was at times eye-wincingly funny.

I loved Kyle, a widower with two young daughters. After a scorching make out session in his truck, he thereafter runs hot and cold with Margot. He doesn’t date much, and he never brings his dates around his daughters. Which is fine with Margot, for while she lusts for him she has no intention of becoming emotionally involved with him. She doesn’t know how to talk to children, and of course she plans on leaving town at the first opportunity.

The first time Margot saw Kyle, she was drawn to his sad eyes and haunted countenance. It was a great way for Ms. Harper to introduce him, because he ticked my boxes also. Of course Margot ends up spending more time with Kyle and his daughters than planned, and some of her interactions with young June were hilarious. I also enjoyed her interactions with Marianne and another cousin, Frankie, who also worked at the funeral home. I really hope Frankie will be the heroine of a future book.

As with the novella, I sometimes had a little trouble keeping all the family members straight at times, but that didn’t really impede my enjoyment of the story. There’s plenty of humor, which I love in a romance, but there was also some angst and ultimately some soul searching for Margot when she finally has an opportunity to leave Lake Sackett.

Very enjoyable, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for other books by Ms. Harper.

Save a Truck, Ride a Redneck (Southern Eclectic, Book 0.5)

MOLLY HARPER

Synopsis from Goodreads: Carl and Marianne were high school sweethearts, loving the way only teenagers can—with no thought to logic or pride, just a bone-headed, optimistic frenzy of unicorns and hormones. That was all they needed. Or so Carl thought.

Scared of being stuck in Lake Sackett, Georgia, like so many of her friends—without a real shot at a future or achieving her own dreams—Marianne panicked and bolted to college after stomping Carl’s heart into the high grass. But when she returns to Lake Sackett for the summer with her family after years away, she and Carl are drawn together like moths to a flame. As they rekindle their old romance and remember what it was like to be in love, they have to wonder: is this, finally, their real chance at happiness?

Stats for my copy: Kindle edition, Pocket Star, releasing October 16, 2017.

How acquired: Netgally.

My thoughts:  This is my first time reading Molly Harper, but I've seen her name here and there. Browsing Netgalley one day the title caught my eye, and when I saw the author's name I decided it was time to try her out so I requested it, and a big thank you to the publisher for accepting my request!

This is a sweet second chance romance. Marianne is interesting and self-deprecating. She hightailed it out of her small town to go to college, and Carl was left behind with a broken heart. It's been many many years since I was Marianne's age, but I could relate to the feeling of needing to get away from the place where you grew up. Lately my catnip is small town stories and/or cowboys. Carl isn't a cowboy, but he had many of the attributes that those heroes usually have, though I wasn't sure at first how I felt about him. Wearing shirts with the sleeves torn off...he didn't exactly appeal to me. But he quickly grew on me. Marianne has a lot of family and I had a little trouble keeping track of them all, but I really liked her brother Duffy and her cousin Frankie. I'm hoping that future books in the series will feature them.

I'm not generally a big fan of novellas, just because I like to get more story than the shorter form allows. Marianne and Carl's new, or resumed, relationship was a bit sudden, and I would've liked to spend more time watching them get to know each again after being apart for four or so years. But I loved their interactions, and I laughed out loud a few times.

A quick and enjoyable read, and I'm interested now to see how much deeper Ms. Harper goes into her characters in a full length novel. She certainly seems to be popular, with over four thousand followers on Goodreads! I'm glad I gave her try.

A Virgin River Christmas (Virgin River, Book 4)

ROBYN CARR

Synopsis from Goodreads: Last Christmas Marcie Sullivan said a final goodbye to her husband, Bobby. This Christmas she's come to Virgin River to find the man who saved his life and gave her three more years to love him.

Fellow marine Ian Buchanan dragged Bobby's shattered body onto a medical transport in Fallujah four years ago, then disappeared as soon as their unit arrived stateside. Since then, Marcie's letters to Ian have gone unanswered.

Marcie tracks Ian to the tiny mountain town of Virgin River and finds a man as wounded emotionally as Bobby was physically. But she is not easily scared off. As Marcie pushes her way into his rugged and reclusive life, she discovers a sweet but damaged soul beneath a rough exterior.

Ian doesn't know what to make of the determined young widow who forces him to look into the painful past and, what's worse, the uncertain future. But it is, after all, a season of miracles and maybe, just maybe, it's time to banish the ghosts and open his heart.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Mira Books, 2009.

How acquired: Via Book Mooch.

First line: Marcie stood beside her lime-green Volkswagen, shivering in the November chill, the morning sun barely over the horizon.

My thoughts: So many feels. I loved Marcie. I loved Ian. I loved Marcie's devotion to her late husband, and to the man who brought him home and then fell off the map. I loved her determination to find Ian. To tell Ian his father was dying so he could try to see him one more time, and then to promptly switch her allegiance and stand behind Ian's reasons for not wanting to see his father. For not trying to change Ian, for accepting him exactly as he was. 

I cried a lot during this short book. Not because it was sad, but because it was just so emotional. So good. So very very good. 

Positively Pippa (Ghost Falls, Book 1)

SARAH HEGGER

Synopsis from Goodreads: From author Sarah Hegger comes an exciting new series set in small-town Utah, where secrets don’t keep for long—and love turns up in the most unexpected places.

For Pippa Turner there’s only one place to go when her life self-destructs on national TV—home to Ghost Falls, and her heavily perfumed, overly dramatic, but supremely loving grandmother, Philomene. If anyone will understand how Pippa’s hit makeover show was sabotaged by her vengeful ex, it’s Phi. But she’s not the only one who’s happy to see her—and Pippa can’t help but wonder if Matt Evans, her gorgeous high-school crush turned Phi’s contractor, is game for a steamy close-up…

Matt owes his whole career to Phi and her constant demands to embellish the gothically ridiculous house he built for her. Getting to see red-headed, red-hot Pippa is a bonus, especially now that she’s no longer the troublesome teenager he remembers. He’s willing to stay behind the scenes while she gives her own life a much-needed makeover, but not forever. As far as he’s concerned, their connection is too electric to ignore. And the chance to build something lasting between them—before she can high-tail it back to Hollywood—is going to the top of his to-do list…

Stats for my copy: ARC paperback, Zebra Books, 2017.

How acquired: Won in a Goodreads giveaway.

My thoughts:  Pippa and Matt are both hitting crossroads in their lives. Pippa's man done her wrong, big time, plunging her career into the toilet. She's run home to Ghost Falls and her over the top diva grandmother to lick her wounds. Matt has spent the last seventeen years taking care of everyone else, giving up his dreams for his own future. Now he has an opportunity to break away from the mountain of responsibility that shouldn't have been his to bear in the first place. They're quickly thrown together, thanks to her conniving grandmother, but then it's such a small town they would've crossed paths eventually anyway. Matt's been crushing on Pippa since they were teenagers, and sparks fly between them.

Phi, the diva grandmother, was a hoot. I loved both Pippa and Matt, but maybe Matt a little more. What's not to like? He's good-looking, charming, rugged, can fix anything, and will do just about anything for his family. He's a bit tied to his mother's apron strings, and he could have come across as a mama's boy, but since we get his story told from his point of view we can sympathize with him despite wanting to slap his mother upside the head. And when Pippa finally made a decision about her future, I loved Matt's (unexpected by her) reaction, which just drove home what a wonderful and decent man he is.

The romance between Pippa and Matt seemed to build up slowly, but the story takes place over a short period of time, so they actually fall into bed together pretty quickly. But since they've known half their lives it didn't feel rushed or unnatural like instalove sometimes does.

This was a fun, sweet romance, with a couple of hot scenes, and a side of quirk. And such a cute cover! I'm already looking forward to the next Ghost Falls book, and definitely want to check out the author's other work, especially her Willow Park series.

His Hometown Girl (The McKaslin Clan, Series 1, Book 1); Love Inspired No. 180

WARNING: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS INFORMATION THAT MAY BE CONSIDERED SPOILERS.

JILLIAN HART

Synopsis from Goodreads: Small-town mechanic Zachary Drake had no illusions about his longtime friendship with winsome, wholesome Karen McKaslin -- even after she called off her wedding to the local pastor. Zach simply intended to lend a grease-stained hand and a sympathetic ear to a pal in need, and keep his secret longing to himself...

Having narrowly escaped a loveless marriage, Karen was counting her blessings. Now she could transform herself into a woman worthy of being loved for all eternity. She never dreamed Mr. Right was waiting for her on the wrong side of the tracks, praying she'd see in his eyes what he didn't dare say...

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Steeple Hill Books, 2002.

How acquired: Bought.

My thoughts:  Despite the fact that I list Jillian Hart as one of my favorite category romance authors, her books are usually hit or miss for me. Of the McKaslin Clan series, I've read two previously, BLIND-DATE BRIDE, which I could barely finish, and SWEET BLESSINGS, which is one of my all time top ten favorite books – and the reason I keep reading her. (Seriously, for a wonderful character study of a broken man, you need to read it.) So when I realized this book was the first McKaslin Clan book, I dove in, and am happy to report that it was a hit.

I loved the characters, especially Zach, and I loved the continual banter between Zach and Karen, which Ms. Hart does very well. When the book opens Karen has broken off an engagement to Jay when she realizes he isn't marrying her out of love. Her parents are upset and disappointed, her mother, who is pushing her to get back together with Jay. I almost wished there had been more about Karen and Jay and what led up to her realizing she couldn't marry him, and more conflict between Karen and her parents over that broken engagement, just to add more depth. Zach's mother was a drunk who spent all her time in bars while Zach took care of his younger siblings and often went hungry, and when she showed up on his doorstep, I expected a predictable subplot about Zach, who is filled with hate for his mother, coming to terms with her alcohol addiction and learning to forgive her. So I was quite surprised when he gave her some money and put her on a bus out of town, telling her not to come back. And I was glad that story arc carried out the way it did, which to me was very realistic.

My only issue with the story, and it's a minor one but it's also a pet peeve of mine, is that Zach winked way too often. At one point he winked at Karen three times in two pages. And then on the next page Gramma winked. But after that either the winking dropped off, or I was too caught up in the story to note it.

A sweet story about two people from the same small town but with very different backgrounds, coming to terms with what they want in a partner and more importantly, realizing that they deserve to be with the one they love regardless of backgrounds or what anyone else in town thinks. I laughed out loud several times, and I cried a couple of times. 

The Taste of Air

GAIL CLEARE

Synopsis from Goodreads: A simple phone call disrupts Nell Williams’s well-ordered life. Her mother, Mary, is in a hospital in Vermont. But her mother is supposed to be safely tucked away in an assisted-living facility in Massachusetts, so Nell can’t fathom why she would be so far from home.

After notifying her sister, Bridget, Nell hops on a plane and rushes to her mother’s side. There, she discovers that her mother has been living a second life. Mary has another home and a set of complex relationships with people her daughters have never met.

When Nell and Bridget delve deeper into their mother’s lakeside hideaway, they uncover a vault of family secrets and the gateway to change for all three women.

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, Red Adept Publishing, LLC, 2016

How acquired: Received from the author

My thoughts:  When the author contacted me and offered this book to me, I was a little leery, as two of the last three books sent to me by authors I'd ended up DNFing because I just did not enjoy them and couldn't get into them. But I crossed my fingers and accepted, and I am so glad I did.

The narrative, all in third person POV, bounces around between adult sisters Nell and Bridget in the present, and their mother, Mary, at different times in her life. Nell receives a phone call that her mother is ill and is hospitalized in a small town in Vermont. But her mother lives in Massachusetts, in a senior community where staff are supposed to check on her from time to time. So why was she in Vermont?

When Nell arrives in Vermont, she learns that her mother owned a lakeside cottage, still has her car but with Vermont tags on it now, has a dog, and has neighbors who appear to be very close friends. While Nell is visiting her mother's hospital bedside and meeting her mom's friends, her older sister Bridget is making plans to divorce her husband while trying to get a flight to Vermont.

The story has a very coming-of-age feel to it, despite the fact that Nell and Bridget are in their 40's. As the sisters begin unraveling their mother's secrets, they also begin coming to some realizations about their own lives. Meanwhile, the chapters that focus on Mary give us, the reader, some insight into her character, and we learn things about her past that the sisters don't know or have not yet discovered. It was an interesting balance, as it sometimes put us a step ahead of Nell and Bridget.

The only sour spot for me was in Bridget's quest to find the daughter she gave up for adoption when she was a teenager. 

“Many years later,” Bridget said quietly, “I found out I would probably never have any more children. It was the punishment I earned for giving her up.”

I work in the adoption field, and seeing adoption portrayed negatively, well, when I read lines like that I just cringe. I have to remind myself that it was different times than now. I'm still not sure if I like the way that subplot played out in the end or not. It isn't feasible that an adoption could happen that way today, at least not with the agency I'm with, but I guess thirty years ago it could have.

When Nell and Bridget finally figure out the biggest secret, which the reader will have already learned from reading Mary's chapters (and when I was pretty sure I had it figured out I got kind of an icky feeling which I can't explain here without giving away too much plot) it seemed to suddenly come to them a little quickly, but I was sure glad they finally knew the complete truth. You grow up thinking you know your mother, and sometimes you forget that she had a childhood and a life before you came along. It made me wonder not only about my own mother, but also wonder what my daughters would think about my life if, for instance, they came across my old diaries and learned things about me that I've never told them. Things I probably won't ever tell them, not necessarily because they're bad things, but just because they're in my past.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the book and was happy with the way everything wrapped up. A quite engaging story. 

Here Today, Gone Tamale (A Taste of Texas Mystery, Book 1)

REBECCA ADLER

Synopsis from back cover: After losing her newspaper job in Austin and having her former fiancé unfriend her on Facebook, Josie Callahan scoops up her Chihuahua, Lenny, and slinks back to Broken Boot, Texas. Maybe working as head waitress at Milagro—her aunt and uncle’s Tex-Mex restaurant—isn’t exactly living the dream, but it is a fresh start.

And business is booming as tourists pour into Broken Boot for its famous Wild West Festival. But when a local jewelry designer is found strangled outside Milagro after a tamale-making party, Josie’s reporter instincts kick in. As suspects pile up and alibis crack faster than taco shells, Josie needs to wrap up this case tighter than her tía’s tortillas—before another victim calls for the check…

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Berkley, 2015.

How acquired: Bought.

My thoughts:  When I was offered an ARC of the second book in this series, I had to rush out and buy the first book so I could read them in order. I believe these books are what are commonly called “Cozy Mysteries”, a genre I have no real experience with as of yet. But HERE TODAY, GONE TAMALE was a good introduction.

The story is told in first person POV by Josie Callahan, an ex-newspaper reporter whose career pretty much went down in flames. She moved back home and works in her aunt and uncle's Mexican restaurant, and she and her dog, Lenny, live in an apartment above the restaurant. When a local jewelry maker is found dead outside the restaurant, her reporter instincts can't help but kick in, and she makes it her mission to solve the murder, despite the fact that the local police would prefer she mind her own business.

Josie is a fun, fresh and somewhat self-deprecating narrator. She describes her friends, family, and other townsfolk in vivid colorful detail, which is good because there are a lot of characters to keep up with. Her love and loyalty to both her family and the town shine through. The restaurant, Milagro, sounded like a place I'd enjoy visiting. I definitely began to crave some good Mexican food, especially tamales (and I generally prefer enchiladas), while reading.

Some people catch all the breaks, and the rest of us eat too many tamales.

I particularly enjoyed Josie's interactions with her ex-boyfriend's beauty queen girlfriend, as well as with her aunt's mother-in-law, Senora Mari. Not to mention the stoic Deputy Quint Lightfoot, who Josie's best friend practically falls all over and who Senora Mari practically tries to pimp Josie out to. 

“Of course,” Senora Mari continued, “if you decide you want to try something new before you settle down and have babies, you could ask Josie. She'd give you a run for your money.”

Great. Now I was a racehorse.

The mystery at times was a little confusing to me, though I usually managed to catch up again within a page or two. That probably had more to do with me being tired all the time and only able to concentrate for short stretches at a time than with the writing and/or plotting.

Fun and breezy, despite being about a murder investigation. I'm looking forward to the second book.