Day: February 19, 2015

Guest Review: Cowboys for Christmas by Liz Talley, Kim Law & Terri Osburn

Posted February 19, 2015 by Tracy in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Cowboys for Christmas by Liz Talley, Kim Law & Terri OsburnReviewer: Tracy
Cowboys for Christmas by Liz Talley, Kim Law, Terri Osburn
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: November 18th 2014
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four-stars

3 cowboys…2 weeks…1 wedding!Three all-new stories by Kim Law, Terri Osburn, and Liz TalleyClaire, Georgia, and Mary Catherine couldn’t be more different, but they promised they would be there for one another no matter what. And when they all gather in Holly Hills, Texas, for Mary Catherine’s Christmas wedding, they’ll find they have one thing in common: hearts that are about to be branded—by unforgettable cowboys.In “Love Me, Cowboy” by Terri Osburn, wallflower Claire would be more excited about the wedding if it didn’t mean running into Mary Catherine’s brother—the bull rider she once had a scorching one-night stand with…Ivy League volleyball coach Georgia never wanted to see Holly Hills—or another cowboy—again. But a sexy veterinarian is making her rethink her vow to never marry a Texas man in “Kiss Me, Cowboy” by Liz Talley.Claire and Georgia both think that Mary Catherine is getting hitched to the wrong man, despite how perfect he is. And in “Marry Me, Cowboy” by Kim Law, a local rancher with a wild reputation gives Mary Catherine a glimpse of what might have been—and what could still be...
“Magic and miracles are in the air in Cowboys for Christmas. It’s one of those wonderful holiday books that you wish would never end and you darn sure can’t put down once you start reading. It makes you believe…truly believe in the power of love!” —New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown “A trio of tasty cowboy tales.”—New York Times bestselling author Lori Wilde
Praise for Kim Law, Terri Osburn, and Liz Talley“[Terri Osburn] continues to enchant.”—Fresh Fiction on Up to the Challenge“Talley’s characters are well drawn and complex.”—RT Book Reviews on His Brown-Eyed Girl“[Kim Law] made me fall in love with her fictional characters the minute they were introduced.”—Book Lovin’ Mamas on Sugar Springs
Terri Osburn is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of the Anchor Island series. She makes her home along the coast of Virginia with an eye-rolling teenager, three fat tabbies, and a hyper yorkiepoo.Liz Talley is a former English teacher who lives in North Louisiana with her high school sweetheart, two rough and tumble boys, and a gaggle of pets.RITA-nominated and Golden Heart winner Kim Law is a former computer programmer, now spending her days writing happily ever afters. A native of Kentucky, she lives with her husband and a passel of animals in Middle Tennessee.

Tracy’s review of Cowboys for Christmas by Liz Talley, Kim Law & Terri Osburn.

In Love Me, Cowboy, Claire Campbell is a teacher who has lived in Holly Hills all her life. Her father is the Mayor of the town and while she enjoys living there her mother gets harder and harder to live with every year. Claire is helping her mother with refreshments for Claire’s best friends’ bridal shower when she almost literally runs into Tyler – her friend Mary Catherine’s little brother. Only Tyler isn’t so little any longer. He’s a bull riding man and Claire can’t seem to get her eyes off of him. She’s had a crush on him for forever but doesn’t believe that he wants anything to do with her – even after they had a one night stand years earlier. She has self-esteem issues from her mother’s demeaning comments about her weight – even though she’s recently lost 40 pounds.   Little does she know that Tyler has had a crush on her as well and believes he doesn’t have a chance with Claire.

Watching this couple get together was a joy. They were friends who became so much more. The way that Osburn had Tyler – being as manly as he was – having doubts about himself when it had to do with Claire was sweet but not overdone.

In Kiss Me, Cowboy Georgia is a girl who grew up in Holly Hills on “the wrong side of the tracks” so to speak. She couldn’t wait to get out of Holly Hills and make something of herself – which she did. Unfortunately she’s been having a bit of an issue with her Ivy League job lately but that won’t stop her from getting out of Holly Hills as soon as Mary Catherine is married on Christmas Eve. Even if she does love being with her best friends and maybe, just maybe, she doesn’t hate Holly Hills as much as she tells everyone she does. She meets the local vet, Reed, when he helps her out when she runs out of gas. The attraction grows between the two but neither one wants to fall in love – it’s just a short little affair while Georgia’s in town. Only…neither one really believes that. They both fall in love and then decisions need to be made.I have to say that I really didn’t love Georgia all that much in Claire’s story so I wasn’t too excited to read her own romance when it came along. I wanted to get the whole story of all the friends, however, so I dove in. I’m really glad I did because Georgia wasn’t who I thought she was at all. Yes, she’s brash and has a mouth on her but she’s not as tough as she wants everyone to believe. Luckily she let Reed into her life and he managed to bring out the best in her. I really enjoyed this quick but fun love story.

Mary Catherine. Throughout the first two stories we learn that she’s to marry Brad and that neither of her friends think she’s making the right decision about that. MC was once in love with Jax Tipton and MC’s friends want her to re-think the life-long commitment she’s about to make – especially as they believe she’s still in love with Jax. When we get to Marry Me, Cowboy, we get to know the background on MC, Jax and Brad. MC had been dating Brad throughout high school until their senior year. They decided to just be friends as they didn’t want to have any pressure after they graduated. The fact that they could actually move so easily into friendship told me that it was no great love affair. MC then started dating Jax and it was a love for life. They were wonderful together even though everyone looked down their noses at Jax. They planned to get married and were actually eloping when her father and step-mother stopped them. MC realized that they probably were going too fast and thought to slow things down. Unfortunately Jax took that as them breaking it off and MC leaving him. He never spoke to her after that and they each moved on – or so they thought.

Now it’s ten years later and while MC plans on marrying Brad she can’t get her mind off of Jax. When they finally do speak it’s like no time has passed and the love that was there all that time ago never changed. I adored seeing this couple together. It was SO meant to be and I ached for the two of them and their stubbornness. I just wanted MC to tell Brad to go find a woman who really wanted to be a society wife as he certainly didn’t understand her. Needless to say things work out but you’ll have to read the story to find out exactly how. I’ll just say that it’s worth the read. (Can you tell this one was my favorite? I just loved Jax so much.)

Overall a great collection of stories that involved hot and wonderful cowboys and the women they were meant to be with. Fun stories that were sexy and moving as well. I also really enjoyed the friendship between the three women and the bond that was created when they were kids. I love reading about friendship that last years and years.

Rating: 3.75/4 out of 5

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

four-stars


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Guest Review: Once Upon a Rose by Laura Florand

Posted February 19, 2015 by Jen in Reviews | 0 Comments

Once Upon a Rose by Laura FlorandJen’s review of Once Upon a Rose (La Vie en Roses #1) by Laura Florand

She stole his roses.

Fleeing the spotlight, burnt out rock star Layla–“Belle”–Dubois seeks refuge in the south of France. That old, half-forgotten heritage in a valley of roses seems like a good place to soothe a wounded heart. She certainly doesn’t expect the most dangerous threat to her heart to pounce on her as soon as she sets foot on the land.

He wants them back.

Matt didn’t mean to growl at her quite that loudly. But–his roses! She can’t have his roses. Even if she does have all those curls and green eyes and, and, and…what was he growling about again?

Or maybe he just wants her.

When an enemy invades his valley and threatens his home, heart, and livelihood, Matthieu Rosier really knows only one way to defend himself.

It might involve kissing.

And that might be just the start.

I love food, I love books set outside the US, and I love sexy contemporaries, yet I somewhat inexplicably never read any of Laura Florand’s Amour et Chocolat series. When I saw she was starting a new series, I decided to jump in at the beginning this time.

This new series introduces the Rosiers, a family that owns a rose farm in Provence. (One of their cousins is Gabe, a hero from a previous book, so there is some subtle overlap.) Matthieu Rosier is the heir to the empire, and since he was little his grandfather has impressed upon him that the business, the family, and indeed the entire valley where it’s located are his responsibility. When American Layla Dubois shows up saying that she inherited a house and piece of land in the middle of that valley, Matthieu feels threatened, as though he’s already failing to protect his own. Layla is a musician and just wants some place to lay low and try to regain her songwriting mojo, and an old house in the French countryside seems like the perfect place to do that. Despite their divergent goals, Matthieu and Layla are drawn together and wonder if their previous goals were the right ones.

By a wide margin the thing that I loved most about this book was Matthieu. Holy hell, did I love Matthieu! He is one of my favorite kind of heroes: the reluctant leader, the one who never runs away from responsibility even though he sometimes wants to. He is the fixer, the guy who gets it done without fanfare or complaint. While others in his family may leave, may take a break from the responsibility, he doesn’t because to do so would just be unthinkable for him. Even when Layla first arrives and he’s angry and hurt that she is taking a part of “his” valley, he can’t stop himself from watching out for her because she’s in his valley and is vulnerable and if he doesn’t care for her, who will? He is huge and very growly, but underneath he is one of the most sensitive, softest-hearted heroes I’ve ever read. (I couldn’t help comparing him to the Beast from the Disney version of Beauty and the Beast. He looks and acts kind of intimidating, but it’s just a defense to hide his own fears and insecurities.) Seriously, he blushes. When’s the last time you read about a hero who blushes constantly? The big, handsome guy also acts like a dork in front of Layla because she flusters him, and it had me laughing out loud repeatedly, such as the time he encounters Layla just as he’s taken off his shirt while working.

Oh, shit. He jerked the T-shirt back over his head, tangling himself in the bundle of it as the holes proved impossible to find, and then he stuck his arm through the neck hole and his head didn’t fit and he wrenched it around and tried to get himself straight and dressed somehow and–oh, fuck.

He stared at her, all the blood cells in his body rushing to his cheeks.

Of course, all his responsibility does weigh him down sometimes, and part of what he has to learn in this book is that he is worthwhile for who he is, not just because of his position in the family. I wanted to wrap him up and take him home and OMG he is just the cutest.

Because I liked Matthieu so much, it actually took me a little while to warm up to Layla because I wasn’t sure she was worthy! Fortunately, I grew to like her too. She’s lost when she arrives. She’s lost her creative energy, her drive to succeed, and even her love for music. She obviously needs mental and physical space, and she needs to be reminded that she’s more than just her music. I loved the way she understood Matthieu and I loved the lightness and humor of their interactions. I did think sometimes Layla was a little TOO perfect, though. Everything she does is kind and wonderful. A few more flaws would have made her more relatable.

The setting of the book is just plain gorgeous. Florand describes the landscape so lovingly and with so much detail, I was ready to hop on a plane right that minute. Matthieu’s family also play a large role in the book. I presume his cousins will be the heroes of future books, and if the glimpses we get of them are any indication, their stories will be amazing too. I would have liked to get more resolution between Matthieu and his grandfather, because there is clearly a conflict brewing there, but I expect his grandfather’s story line will continue throughout the series.

If I had to pinpoint my biggest criticism, it’s that Matthieu and Layla should have done more talking about their issues. There is a ton of internal monologue in this book, where each character works through stuff in their own heads. That’s great (and freaking adorable in the case of Mattheiu), but I wanted to see more of them working through stuff out loud, too. I kept wanting them to just say those internal comments to each other! For instance, Layla never really tells Matthieu about all the pressure she was under, how she had lost her enthusiasm, why music was so important to her, etc., even after Matthieu learns about her career. They also have a crucial argument near the end of the book that might have been avoided if they had actually discussed a lie of omission Layla makes earlier. Clearly Matthieu’s feelings were still hurt from earlier, but because they never discussed things, it festered until it exploded. It’s not that they don’t talk, and it’s not that I didn’t believe they understood the other. I guess I just felt like there were several important conversations I wanted to see to help convince me that they were starting off fresh and fully informed. It also got a little tiresome when both Matthieu and Layla persist in thinking they’re not that attractive. There is a lot of “No YOU’RE the hot one!” At the start it made sense, but I thought they both should have moved beyond that sentiment pretty quickly.

Despite some flaws, this was a fun book with a sexy, adorable hero, and I’m glad I didn’t wait to give it a try.

Grade: 4.25 out of 5

This book is available from Laura Florand. You can purchase it here or here in e-format.


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