Christy Jeffries

Terrific book. I loved Dante and Eloise, who feel real enough to be your child's teacher or a local businesswoman's association member. Eloise left Bronco shortly after she turned eighteen. The daughter of one of the Taylor patriarchs, she became frustrated with her father's attitude toward women and working, so she set off to live life the way she wanted. Now the owner of a successful marketing firm, the pregnant Eloise has returned to Bronco to raise her child. Her reappearance was dramatic, got tongues wagging, and illustrated the archaic attitudes of the older Taylors.

Dante is a third-grade teacher whom his students love. Handsome and charming, he is happily living a single life and isn't looking to settle down any time soon. But from the moment he spotted Eloise, he was irresistibly drawn to her.

I loved the first meeting between Eloise and Dante. While unexpectedly coming to her rescue, Dante was on the receiving end of a lengthy and revealing monologue as Eloise vented her frustration with her family. I loved his patience, understanding, and amusement as he listened to her vent. Neither expected the strength of the pull toward each other.

I enjoyed watching Dante and Eloise spend time together. Underneath their growing friendship is an attraction neither can deny. I loved watching Dante get more invested in Eloise and her upcoming baby. His surprise at his involvement was sweet, and seeing his anticipation was fun. Eloise, too, gets closer to Dante, but she has trust issues thanks to her previous relationship and resists the possibility of an actual relationship. She finds it difficult to believe that Dante's interest will last. I kept my fingers crossed that Dante could break through her fears. The ending was fantastic, and Dante's big moment was sweet.

I enjoyed the demonstration of the differences between the Taylor and Sanchez families. The Thanksgiving dinners were a vivid example and an eye-opening experience for Eloise. I like watching the Taylor patriarchs get pulled kicking and screaming into the 21st century.… (more)

An injured Marine (Gunnery Sergeant Matthew Cooper) and a ten-year-old, introverted boy (Hunter Walker) become close pen-pals. Hunter’s mother (Maxine) is glad Hunter is coming out of his shell, but she really can’t get along with Cooper, even though she’s attracted to him.

I liked the small town of Sugar Falls, Idaho, and I really liked a lot of the secondary characters. I enjoyed the growing relationship between Cooper and Hunter. Cooper was a great hero, he was a wonderful role model for Hunter and a nice guy. I also liked young Hunter, he was cute and so enthusiastic towards Cooper. I didn’t care, though, for Hunter’s mother Maxine. She was quite harsh, rude, and not very friendly at all towards Cooper. I couldn’t figure out why because Cooper was such a nice guy. He deserved better. Maxine’s character did improve halfway through the book.

An okay read with a cute ending.… (more)

This was a sweet, heartwarming story that was fun to read. Elise is a young woman who lived with her aunt after her dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer's and moved to assisted living. After his death, Elise remained with her aunt, who lost no opportunity to tell Elise how grateful she should be for having her aunt take care of her. Aunt Regina was the town socialite and a bit of a flake, frequently leaving Elise to pick up the slack when Regina moved on from a project. Now, Regina has disappeared, along with the money for a local fundraiser. Elise is doing her best to make the fundraiser happen.

Elise also has no money of her own and prefers being around animals to people. She moved out of her aunt's house and into a fixer-upper, where she is trading repairs for reduced rent. Her landlord is Harris, a local contractor, and house-flipper. Harris is kind and charming and a bit of a flirt.

I loved the opening scene, as Elise and Harris arrive at the house with cat food for the previous owner's feral cat colony. I laughed at Harris's nervousness around the cats and Elise's instructions to him. When they found a little girl's missing cat among the colony, their immediate attempts to catch it were funny. One thing that was evident was that Elise and Harris were attracted to each other but hadn't done anything about it.

I enjoyed watching the relationship between Harris and Elise develop. Elise is very shy and tries to stay in the background of whatever she does. Harris is much more outgoing. I loved watching him draw her out as he involved her in the design work of the houses he was renovating. Elise's aunt constantly put her down, so Harris's compliments and confidence in Elise made her bloom. There are many scenes of them working together and connecting over their partnership. Their attraction continues to build until they can no longer resist it.

As their feelings for each other grow, neither Harris nor Elise says anything to the other about it. Harris recognizes Elise's wariness and doesn't want to push things too fast and scare her off. Elise finds it hard to believe that the handsome and charming Harris would be the least bit interested in her for the long term. When Regina turns up back in town, she picks away at Elise's confidence, causing her to doubt herself even more. I loved Harris's reaction, and though I ached for them during their time apart, it allowed Elise to see who she was and what she wanted. I loved seeing her take charge of her life and enjoyed her big moment at the end.

Watching Elise put together the Furever Yours fundraiser was one of my favorite things. Her cleverness and enthusiasm came out in everything she did, including going outside her comfort zone as emcee. I especially enjoyed seeing more of the puppy, Pancake, and Elise's connection to her.

There was a bit of a mystery involving Regina and her disappearance. The more I learned about Elise and her background, the more I began to suspect what had happened/what was going on. I enjoyed seeing Elise deal with the surprising truth and loved that Harris was there to support her. I look forward to seeing more of them in later books.

#netgalley… (more)

Another fun chapter in the drama-filled lives of the King family. As in the previous two books, this one started the day of Roper King's funeral, this time from the perspective of Marcus King. Marcus is the oldest of the siblings, serves as the sheriff of their town, and is the single father of twin boys. Two very descriptive words for Marcus are responsible and honorable. During his father's funeral, Marcus's attention is everywhere, from the behavior of his sons to his sister Tessa's sudden exit until caught by a face he hasn't seen in fourteen years.

Violet attended the funeral with her mother, a senator, because she and the King siblings have known each other most of their lives. But she knew Marcus better. In love as teenagers, they planned to marry when Marcus finished boot camp, especially after discovering she was pregnant. However, a miscarriage, missed communications, and outside interference tore the two apart. Each went their separate ways believing the worst of each other until their encounter at Roper's funeral.

I ached for Marcus and Violet as the truth came out during their first few minutes of conversation. Marcus was devastated by what he learned, while Violet realizes that Marcus wasn't the villain she thought he was. Violet misses her flight back to Texas through an unexpected set of circumstances and remains on the King ranch to spend time with her old friends. This puts her on the scene when the youngest King, MJ, is arrested by one of Marcus's deputies in typically King drama. Their mother, Sherilee (queen of drama!), enlists Violet as MJ's attorney, putting Violet and Marcus on opposite sides.

I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Violet and Marcus. With unresolved issues from their past, Marcus and Violet don't seem to be able to spend five minutes together without arguing. But under all of that antagonism is an attraction that burns even hotter than it did in the past. I liked when they finally talked about the past and cleared up misconceptions, though they still had the whole MJ issue to deal with. I enjoyed seeing the lengths they took to avoid each other, knowing their attraction complicates their professional relationship. It was also evident that both enjoyed their arguments as a rather unusual method of flirting.

I also enjoyed how quickly Marcus's sons, Jordan and Jake, took to Violet and she to them. From the moment they met, the boys treated her like their best friend. This both pleased and scared Violet, who wasn't sure how to deal with the feelings they stirred in her. I laughed out loud at Jordan's encyclopedic medical knowledge, especially when he used it on Violet. Jake was such a live wire that Marcus's hair should have been either gray or pulled out, but it was clear that he adored his boys. I empathized with Marcus when he described Jake and his trips to the hospital, as I had a similar relationship with the local clinic when my son was small. The more time that they all spent together, the more it felt like they belonged that way. This was blazingly obvious during the hospital scene when Violet did everything a mother would do.

I loved the ending, as Marcus and Violet finally admitted their feelings for each other. I loved their frank discussion of expectations and Marcus's somewhat amusing rejoinder to her insistence that she wouldn't change. I also liked the resolution of MJ's problem. The epilogue was terrific, with an unexpected twist involving Marcus's brother Duke and a possible lead-in to the next book.… (more)