Hannah G

Lovely short story about a young couple trying to do the right thing after having gone too far before marriage. Everything fleshly happened before the preface, so no worries about too much description with this clean story. I absolutely loved the grandparents and how sweet they were, and hope to see more of them in another story.

I particularly enjoyed the cozy feel of this story. Even though they have a hard thing to say to their parents, their love for each other and the comfort they find in being together makes the atmosphere an enjoyable one.

I'll definitely read more in this series.

Thanks to the author for a free review copy. A favorable review was not required.

What a fun Christmas story! I loved the whole reframing of “enemies to lovers” trope as Jed and Heather work against a deadline to save her inheritance from an unscrupulous distant relative who's next in line after Heather and Jed, if neither of them are married by the end of the year. Jed knows he's not interested in marrying any girl but Heather; but she's so not interested in him. He's got only weeks to help her find a husband, or they both lose the home she loves so much. Is there even the slightest chance that hecould be that husband? At first he's afraid to even hope...

I really sympathized with Heather and her desire to do the right thing even as she hopes she can keep her home. She's honest enough to not just grab someone in order to stay, even as she begins to realize Jed's not nearly as bad as she had remembered. But can she tie her life honestly to someone she hated before? I really liked that she's so clear in her own mind about not wanting to cheat to get the inheritance.

Of course, the happy ending is worth the reading to get to!

Thanks to the author for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

Merged review:

What a fun Christmas story! I loved the whole reframing of “enemies to lovers” trope as Jed and Heather work against a deadline to save her inheritance from an unscrupulous distant relative who's next in line after Heather and Jed, if neither of them are married by the end of the year. Jed knows he's not interested in marrying any girl but Heather; but she's so not interested in him. He's got only weeks to help her find a husband, or they both lose the home she loves so much. Is there even the slightest chance that hecould be that husband? At first he's afraid to even hope...

I really sympathized with Heather and her desire to do the right thing even as she hopes she can keep her home. She's honest enough to not just grab someone in order to stay, even as she begins to realize Jed's not nearly as bad as she had remembered. But can she tie her life honestly to someone she hated before? I really liked that she's so clear in her own mind about not wanting to cheat to get the inheritance.

Of course, the happy ending is worth the reading to get to!

Thanks to the author for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

Fun new author to start reading (after a solid 18 months of intending to!). It's a solid suspense story, and I had a hard time figuring out who all the bad guys were! I only suspected the last one revealed at the end once, to immediately dismiss the idea. Ha...clever. Having a criminal ring active made the story more interesting as it wasn't only one bad guy to catch. It sure ups the stakes when they keep on coming!

I'm definitely going to be eager to read Brodie and Londyn's story next year.

Total cozy story, despite the danger stalking Frannie in NYC during her bucket list trip! Sure, there was a little instalove, but it was sold pretty convincingly–and who wouldn't fall in love with Andrew or Frannie right off anyway? Frannie's big brother, who Andrew owes his life to, accidentally puts Frannie's life in danger by asking Andrew to hover, and the bad guys assume she's the protectee their intel says his team is protecting (hopefully he'll learn to stop being a helicopter brother to the same extent in the future!)I loved the virtual tour of NYC even though I have no desire to go there myself. The details sounded so vivd and fun!Series info: This is the first in a different series, but there is a loose link to another series, since her brother's love story was featured in [b:Deadly Deceit 43838201 Deadly Deceit (Harbored Secrets, #2) Natalie Walters https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559291206l/43838201.SY75.jpg 68221169]. There's no need to read that one first.

It was hard for me to decide how to rate this because there was quite a lot of spice to it, more than I normally would read, and I didn't like the plot element where they were sleeping together outside of marriage, even though we didn't see it on page. However, I decided to round up because I really liked that there was zero cussing or swearing. I liked both characters a lot, and definitely was rooting for them to get together and stay together happily.

It's definitely worth getting the bonus scenes...the ending in the published book feels rushed and should have included them.

A solid suspense story from a veteran writer. Not everything was tied up in the end, leaving some red herrings lying around, which is unusual to me as a reader, so my emotional satisfaction with the story is more of a 3.5. However it's quite well plotted, so I'm rounding up.

Nice solid story that moves so fast it might give you whiplash! Seriously...it wasn't easy for these two to stay alive, and several times I was sure they would end up severely hurt!

But under all the drama there's a nice slow-burn second chance romance, where they slowly work back to trusting each other and considering they might have a future together instead of just a one-time helping each other out.

Overall a fun and satisfying addition to the series.

I was really riding high on this twisty story, despite some dubious character choices (lots of shady side characters) until late in the story, when the plot balance trotted itself sideways and a layered plot twist contradicted something that had been expressed earlier in the story, and subsequently a lead character made a very dumb personal choice Hez decides the divorce going through means it's okay to take a step back on pursuing reconciliation with his wife, which is dumb because they are clearly meant to be together! so the whole story ends on a downer and Twilight-zone type ending, complete with a cliffhanger.

I will definitely read the next book, but much more cautiously since I felt like the character and plot were ripped out from under me at the end like a thin rug. At least Savannah was consistent and enjoyable throughout.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

What a fun, cozy little story! It's chock-full of family, traditional values, trying to save a business, snowy-cold moments, and all of the little ingredients that I look for when I pick up a good Christmas novel. Then there's the additional bit of a brother's-best-friend and odd-woman-out trope, where she naturally ends up spending time with him because the rest of her family already functions in pairs. I loved both characters and will definitely be reading more by this author!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

4.25 stars
A great way to end the series (and it's definitely a series...do not read this one out of order!). This book even has some characters from the first two Wyoming Sunrise series books, so if you don't like spoilers you may wish to read those first.

It was a pure pleasure read and I enjoyed all the good characters in the story. It was fun to see more of Nell Nolte also, and see how she plays a pivotal role in this story. Seeing Beth from book 1 as a busy mom was fun too.

There's not as much active comedy in this one as there generally is in Connealy's books, but that's correct for this story line. It's graver because of the subject of trying to escape a mental illness and insane asylum. However, I would have liked to have had some of Oscar's POV since he was so important to the whole series.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

I tried this book on a whim and really found myself enjoying it. I'm not even sure why, because the characters really weren't super likable—especially the lead guy—but something about the whole story is just winsome and enjoyable. Definitely, a talented author to get me to keep reading about a self centered rich guy who's more interested in fixing things with money than being honest with his loved ones about his thoughts and feelings, and to make me like him anyway!

Dakota was a fun heroine even though she made some frustrating decisions along the way.

I did truly enjoy the cast of side characters—Kayleigh, Aunt Trudy, Layla, Skye, and so on.

I'll be trying more of Clipston's work.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

This one was a super twisty little story with a plot that definitely kept me guessing. I just barely started to get a clue to the real villain when all was revealed at the end. Definitely want to keep reading this series!

With the journal entries from the grandmother, this story has almost a dual-timeline feel to it.

I liked the first book in the series better because I felt there was more time for the characters to gel. This story was so busy that some of the characterization wasn't as vivid as it could have been–but it was still a great read and I'm really looking forward to the next one.

Triggers: child and pregnancy loss

There really aren't words for how much I fell into this story and lived in it while reading. I knew it wasn't going to be an easy read and it truly wasn't. The whole story isn't heavy—there are some hilarious parts—but oh these poor characters

A solid mystery that kept me guessing throughout. There were a few scenes that required suspension of belief a bit, but I enjoyed the read overall.

3.5 stars rounded up
A fast paced suspense that kept me guessing as to who the bad guy could be. Clearly someone doesn't want Monica figuring out who else is in the organized crime group her dad got mixed up in. Kris and Monica have a cute relationship while they begin to take notice of each other in the time in between bullets flying.

Fun story, though the ending seemed a bit hurried and a shootout scene stretched plausibility.

Roman and Emery are a great couple to start off this new series with. Wally the dog rather steals their thunder, though! I very much enjoyed this quick suspense read and will be getting the whole series to hear more about Roman's family and their SAR/investigative dogs.

Pure pleasure read on this story. Not high literature or even honestly that realistic–but Tracie managed to sell me on the story being believable for these characters in particular, even though I'd have liked another 100 pages or so to bring more depth to the characters. 4 POVs in not-quite 300 pages is a stretch for getting to know them all super well.

I absolutely loved the premise. Finding out someone's alive because of a photo? And then realizing they could have vanished anywhere, in pre-internet days? Wow! That would indeed be a stressful thing to deal with.

I'd have preferred less rushing of the ending, and skipping the whole "forbid the marriage" thing with her parents felt more like extra drama/distraction than anything and bugged me . Anyway, I think it would have hit five stars if there had been at least 50 more pages!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.

4.5 stars

I really enjoyed this one but I was able to put it down multiple times in between readings, so it didn't quite hit the five star mark for me. I really enjoyed how it was focused on finding out Dani's past, and of facing the trauma-caused amnesia from having been present at her parents' murder. I also really liked her grandmother, Mae, and loved both dogs in the story. I would have liked to know more of Mark's story, though. Most of the book was focused on Dani's mystery so I felt like I knew her a lot more than him.

I'll definitely be continuing this series.

Whew, this rapid-fire story left my head on a swivel with all the crazy clues to put together! There was so much going on, from the moment the MC finds a murder victim all the way through the breathless chase after her for what she witnessed. But what clue does she have that makes her such an important target? She's not even sure...

Excellent suspense and exactly what I expect from this author.

More suspense than romance, just the way I like it! But the romance doesn't feel too instalove because they have history; Alexis is his late partner's widow. Together they have to bring down a cartel that's targeting quiet mountain communities, and the cartel of course has no wish to be brought down. High-action drama.

Review of 2018 edition
It's most helpful as a conversation starter, but in the interest of being brief, much of the point tended to end up ambiguous. There were several instances of it being made to sound like unity was more important than theology and I really don't think that the author intended that takeaway to be made; but it was implied more than once.

The book would have benefited from a serious edit for clarity.

Linc and Angie were a great lead couple to root for and I loved how twisty the mystery was. The culprit wasn't easy to pinpoint, even for me. I also liked the unique careers—meteorologist and national park service investigator. I haven't seen many of those in fiction.

Really enjoyed Vienna and Hudson's story. The wild chase the bad guys made to try to catch Vienna for her witness of a crime kept me flipping pages easily. It was interesting and unique to have a biochemist protagonist and for so much of the action to be set on board boats.

A lovely historical suspense story, set in the early days of train travel out west. Both MCs have seriously dangerous backgrounds to face down, including hers as a woman formerly declared insane.

This was my favorite of the series and I really enjoyed the story arc in this one. Two who came from much “better” circumstances, actually taking keen pleasures in the more mundane things of life, was an enjoyable thing to include. Much of the story takes place in Wyoming, which isn't the most common location for frontier stories, and one I definitely enjoyed.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a free reading copy. A favorable review was not required.