Day: September 29, 2014

Guest Review: Mistletoe on Main Street by Olivia Miles

Posted September 29, 2014 by Tracy in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: Mistletoe on Main Street by Olivia MilesReviewer: Tracy
Mistletoe on Main Street by Olivia Miles
Series: Briar Creek #1
Also in this series: Love Blooms on Main Street, Christmas Comes to Main Street
Publisher: Forever
Publication Date: September 30th 2014
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
three-half-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Briar Creek's quaint shop windows, cozy homes nestled in snow, and neighborly residents are what Christmas dreams are made of--for everyone except Grace Madison. She left her hometown years ago to pursue a writing career. But when her father's death leaves his bookstore empty, Grace must return to face why she fled Vermont in the first place: Luke Hastings, who still heats her up like a shot of smoky whiskey on a cold winter's night.

Grace is back, and Luke is worried. How much has she changed as a bestselling author in the big city? What memories will she stir up? And was the choice he made five years ago the biggest mistake of his life?

Now, with their past, present, and future rocking around the Christmas tree, it's time for Grace and Luke to face the music . . . and the mistletoe.

 

Tracy’s review of Mistletoe on Main Street (Briar Creek #1) by Olivia Miles

Grace and Luke were great friends before they saw each other as more. They were just 14 years old or so when they started dating and continued on that path for the next 10 years. Luke had every intention of asking Grace to marry him but she kept stating how boring their town of Briar Creek was. It wasn’t exciting enough for her and she wanted the big city. Luke knew that Briar Creek was his home and he didn’t want to live anywhere else. He finally realized that in order for Grace to fulfill her dreams he was going to have to let her go. He wasn’t happy about it and frankly neither was Grace, so she ended up moving to New York City.

Grace returned 6 months after she left seeking out Luke, wanting to win him back but by that time he was with Helen who he was engaged to. It’s now 5 years later and Grace is back for the 3rd time. The first was when she returned to try and win Luke, the second was when her dad died and now she’s back for Christmas. Her sister Jane asked her to come as their mother is having such a hard time dealing with life and Christmas.

Grace plans to stay far away from Luke but that doesn’t happen. He’s doing his own mourning – for his wife Helen who died two years prior and he can’t seem to let her or his guilty feelings go. That doesn’t stop him from seeking Grace out and enjoying her company.

Grace has decisions to make. She is a well known author who didn’t get such great reviews on her last book. Her writing muse has completely escaped her, her relationship recently tanked in NY, she’s been living on a friends’ couch and now she finds out that the bookstore her father owned has been shut down since right after he died. Grace decides that she’s going to try to make the store work once again, and even expand but that involves Luke in a roundabout way. Grace decides that she not only wants the bookstore in her life and to permanently live in Briar Creek but she wants Luke back as well. The problem with that decision is that Luke isn’t necessarily on board with it. He can’t seem to get past Helen, her death and what moving forward with Grace will mean for his feelings for Helen.

The first novel in the Briar Creek series was a good one. I really liked the town a lot and loved the Christmas spirit that everyone had. The town seemed quaint, cute and made me want to visit there so I could see all of the wonderful Christmas decorations as well. 🙂

Grace and Luke had a long history. I think after being apart for 5 years they each knew they had changed from the people they were before but it took a bit of time to come to that conclusion. They still had feelings for each other that had never gone away but they were each so leery to move forward. There were trust issues as well as deciding on their level of commitment together.

For Grace moving forward meant that she needed to stay in Briar Creek and fight the fear that she was making the wrong decisions for her life. She felt guilt about being away from her family for so long and losing the last years of her father’s life by never returning from NY. I love how she finally decided to put her family first and stay in BC.

For Luke moving forward was a bit more complicated. He had loved Grace but she didn’t want the same things he did in life so he felt he needed to let her go. The fact that he loved her as much as he said he did and then was seeing someone else and engaged just 6 months later made me raise my eyebrows, that’s for sure. I mean, 6 months? I can see dating someone else but already engaged? I found that really strange. Several years into the relationship with Helen he started to doubt himself and planned to talk to her about it when he found her dead. He’d lived the last two years dealing with the guilt of not loving her enough and he had to get past that before he could be with Grace. I did think that the ending of the book, where he finally came to Grace with an open head and heart was done a bit too quickly. I wanted more groveling! He kind of made an ass of himself with her and I truly wanted him to work a little harder for her. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.

In this story we also got to see parts of Grace’s sisters’ lives as well. Jane is married with a 4 year old daughter, Sophie, who is freaking adorable. I loved the parts of the book with her in it. Jane has a husband who is having an affair and the story tells us of Jane and how she deals with it all – especially around Christmas. We also got just a bit from Grace’s other sister, Anna, who runs a coffee shop. She is belligerent toward Grace at first but warms up after a time. We get the hints that there’s something going on with Anna and Luke’s cousin, Mark, but that’s not confirmed in the book.

While parts of the book were pretty intense and some parts were sad there were also happy times that put a smile on my face. Miles has gotten me invested in Briar Creek and I’m looking forward to reading the next book about Anna.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

This title is available from Forever Publishing. You can buy it here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

three-half-stars


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Review: Make-Believe Wedding by Sarah Mayberry

Posted September 29, 2014 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Review: Make-Believe Wedding by Sarah MayberryReviewer: Holly
Make-Believe Wedding by Sarah Mayberry
Series: Great Wedding Giveaway #9
Publisher: Tule Publishing
Publication Date: July 28th 2014
Genres: Fiction
Pages: 130
Add It: Goodreads
Amazon | Barnes & Noble | The Ripped Bodice | Google Play Books
four-half-stars
Series Rating: five-stars

The Great Wedding Giveaway - Book 9
Everyone in Marietta, Montana, is in love and getting married - at least that’s the way it feels to Andie Bennett the night of the Valentine’s Ball. As she watches the man she’s loved from afar for half her life dance with another woman, Andie allows herself a moment of sheer fantasy as she fills out a stray entry form for the Great Wedding Giveaway.
Andie channels years of fantasy and yearning for Heath McGregor onto the page, but she never intends to actually enter the Giveaway. Only a crazy woman would do that. But fate has other ideas….
When Heath learns he and Andie are last minute finalists in the Great Wedding Giveaway, he’s completely baffled. How on earth could anyone make such a ridiculous mistake? When it becomes clear that Andie will be humiliated if the slip-up becomes public, Heath does what any good friend would - he suggests they pretend the engagement is real until the Giveaway is over and then quietly “break up” when no one is paying any attention. It’s the perfect solution, except Heath very quickly realises that pretending Andie is his is no hardship at all. In fact, it may just be the best thing that’s ever happened to him…

This was a great read. Andie has been in love with Heath, her brother’s best friend, since she was 13. They grew up together and now she works for him, but he’s never noticed her as a woman. The night of the town Valentine’s Day Dance, she hopes to finally change that and dresses to knock his socks off. Except..he doesn’t notice. A little drunk and a lot frustrated, she fills out a questionnaire about her and her fiance – adding her name as the bride and Heath’s as the groom – for a Great Wedding Giveaway the town is hosting. She accidentally leaves it on the table, then forgets all about it. Until three months later when the Chamber of Commerce tracks them down to tell them they’re semi-finalists in the giveaway.

When Heath sees how humiliated Andie is, he offers to pretend to be her fiance until the winners of the giveaway are chosen. He doesn’t see much harm in it, especially if it will save Andie embarrassment in town. Until they share a kiss in public. Then he suddenly realizes Andie is a woman, not just his best friend’s little sister and his employee.

There were so many great things about this book. Andie is an electrician, for one. She’s also tall, reed thin and more cute than pretty. She can out-fish, out-hunt and out-spit most men. All-in-all, she’s pretty much the opposite of every romance heroine out there. I loved it. Her feelings for Heath came across as very real. A lot of times when one is carrying a torch for someone their feelings are shallow or they love the ideal of the person. Andie really knew Heath. Her love made sense.

Heath was a little dense when it came to Andie’s feelings, but I like how his eyes were slowly opened to her and how his feelings developed once he realized she was an actual woman. His attraction to her came on slowly – he was so used to seeing her in the role of friend/employee – but he didn’t deny it. He realized pretty quickly he wanted more than just a fling with Andie and did his best to show her how he felt.

Mayberry has always been great at pulling me into a story. I finished this one with a smile on my face and a happy heart.

I’m told Beau, Andie’s brother, and Lily, her best friend, will get a book early next year. I’m really looking forward to it.

4.25 out of 5

The Great Wedding Giveaway Series 

Prequel: Beauty’s Kiss by Jane Porter 
Book 1: What a Bride Wants by Kelly Hunter 
Book 2: Second Chance Bride by Trish Morey 
Book 3: Almost a Bride by Sarah Mayberry 
Book 4: The Unexpected Bride by Joanne Walsh 
Book 5: The Reluctant Bride by Katherine Garbera 
Book 6: Game Of Brides by Megan Crane 
Book 7: The Substitute Bride by Kathleen O’Brien 
Book 8: Last Year’s Bride by Anne McAllister
Book 9: Make-Believe Wedding by Sarah Mayberry

four-half-stars


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