Review - - A Chance Inheritance

A Chance Inheritance

by Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Sourcebooks

Release Date: January 10, 2023 (reprint anthology)

Reviewed by Hellie

 

Upon inheriting their sassy grandmother's home and family bait shop, cousins Lanie, Jodi, and Becky Cornell return to Catfish, Texas, looking for a fresh start. Turns out living as roommates in Granny Lizzie's tiny two-bedroom house and running the Catfish Fisherman's Hut isn't at all like the idyllic summers they spent as children on the banks of the Red River. The days are long and hot, the tourists demanding and rude. And then there's Chris Adams, a local river guide who seems to have eyes only for Becky.

But Lizzie's death has set in motion a chain of events that will cause a new generation of Cornell women to come together. And thanks to this chance inheritance, the Cornell cousins discover that sometimes an ending is really a new beginning .

Hellie’s Heeds 

Carolyn Brown is a very reliable read if you are in the market for sweet, romantic, and small town, and the stories featured here definitely fit her trademark storytelling. When I originally read the back blurb for this book, I thought the entire book was about Lanie, Jodi, and Becki–and admittedly I was quite invested in the trio when I started–but I soon realized (yes, I’m one of those who occasionally skips ahead to see what might be happening), this was actually a novella. And this book was a series of three novellas. A little more research had me realizing this book is a reprint, and while I, a book hoarding dragon, enjoy my books, I do get a little put out when I end up buying a duplicate book I didn’t mean to, especially for an author I was anticipating as a new read. I think Sourcebooks should have made it a bit clearer in the blurb and such that this was a reprint anthology.  

The first novella, in the complicated nature novellas are, is short and only lightly conflicted. When you only have a hundred pages, there aren’t massive dark secrets and dark moments. I enjoyed the story, especially the cousins, and the romance between the eldest cousin and a childhood crush was very cute, though perhaps I did have to suspend belief a little for myself because as a romance hero–his career is a professional fishing guide?–he isn’t exactly Mr. Darcy. I fully admit this probably says much more about me who does not find fishing particularly alluring in reality or fantasy, especially since catfish seems to be the main target, and have you ever smelled the bait for that? You never forget it. I think my real disappointment is that I wanted to know more about the other two cousins, or even have romances for them, and maybe I’ll go in search to see if Ms. Brown wrote novellas featuring them.  

The second novella is another of Ms. Brown, written in first person, and featuring entirely different characters. The story is much more complex and dark, full of secrets and problems and an absent father. The heroine is plucky and has a sister who is hilarious and just the kind of older sister you imagine: bossy and “I know best.” The hero–while not a fishing guide (plus)--is an assclown. Now Mr. Darcy is definitely an assclown, so this should not have bothered me, but this guy did. And again, since this is a novella, his evolution from asshole to Prince Charming left me a bit disbelieving, though as a Pisces, I do like to hold a grudge so again, this may just be me.  

The third novella is Sharon Sala’s…and I believe in Ms. Sala’s fashion, it does not lack in drama, conflict, or black moments. In fact, it starts with a jilted bride (heroine) and then turns into a school shooter situation and ends with an optimistic new start in a new school system. (I only share the main beats here because if you’re like me, I was rather triggered by a short story of a school shooting as part of an anthology of sweet contemporary Western romances.) 

In summary, my recommendation for the stories is a bit mixed. If you’re in the mood for very lightly conflicted romance and you don’t want to commit to a 300 page book, this book may be much more your preferred read. The first two stories were definitely quick reads and enjoyable. The third one feels a bit odd man out compared to the other two, but Ms. Sala is a very good writer and if you enjoy her stories, I imagine you will enjoy this too. If, like me, you’d rather not go fishing on a romantic date and you prefer the gentleman status of Mr. Darcy to the self-employed fishing guide as a hero, this might not be your book.

                                                               

 

Review - - Cowboy Bold

Cowboy Bold

by Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: May 29, 2018

Reviewed by Hellie

Typically, when I gush on and on about a favorite romance novel, it’s the hero I’m most taken by, and while Cade Maguire is indeed worth gushing over, it was the story arc and character of Retta Palmer that made me cry and declare this is my favorite of all Carolyn Brown novels.

Retta Palmer needs a layover job until she can interview for a bank job in Dallas, her dream job she had before her father took sick and she quit to go home to take care of him. But now with her father gone and the home farm sold to pay medical bills, Retta is at loose ends until the end of summer when she can go apply for the job she really wants. In the meantime, holing up at Cade Maguire’s ranch, mentoring a group of young girls, seems like a pleasurable way to spend her time.

But it turns out to be even more than that. Everything about being on the ranch feels right, from her time spent with the girls to every clandestine moment spent with the hot and handsome ranch owner. Still, she’s not ready to give up her dream job to live in the middle of nowhere and farm. It was why she left home all those years ago in the first place. It doesn’t help that everyone from his brothers, to the elderly caretakers, to the kids themselves are all conspiring to make the match work. How do you choose between two loves?

For me, it was Retta’s interaction with the troubled girls who were spending five weeks on the ranch as part of a program to rehabilitate them. Most are from foster home situations; all from poverty and destitute circumstances. Honestly you won’t know which little girl you like the most because they’re all adorable and all hilariously annoying and competitive. While Retta rides herd on the girls, Cade has his hands full with the boys who are also part of the program, and each of them are funny and broken and loveable.

This is a book of healing. Retta who is healing from the loss of her father and her childhood home; Cade who is healing from the heartbreak when he was jilted at the altar a couple years ago; and the kids, who all have their own issues and situations that no child should be burdened with. This book made me cry a lot and made me think of my father. For me, this is a 5 star Top Dish because this felt like a book written just for me, and I thank Carolyn Brown for it. It was a very healing book. I can’t wait to read the other books in this series; and I rather hope we get to see the little girls again. I was really hoping Cade and Retta would adopt one. Fingers crossed.

Review - - The Sometimes Sisters

The Sometimes Sisters

By Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Montlake

Release Date: February 27, 2018

Reviewed by Janga

The three Clancy sisters return to Annie’s Place, the lakeside resort (consisting of twelve cabins and a combination convenience store-café) owned by their late grandmother, Annie Clancy, loaded with guilt over their neglect of their grandmother in recent years. Growing up, the sisters spent a month each summer with their grandmother, the only time that Dana, “the bastard sister,” shared with her father’s legitimate daughters, Harper, a decade younger, and her younger sister Tawny. Granny Annie shared her love and wisdom with them indiscriminately, and Uncle Zed, their grandmother’s life-long best friend, served as a grandfather figure. But the “sometimes sisters” grew apart, and it has been a decade since the three of them gathered at the north Texas resort. They don’t even like each other much now, but they all loved their grandmother. They are all also devoted to Uncle Zed and to Dana’s fourteen-year-old daughter Brooke.

Annie’s will gives her property to the three sisters jointly, but they cannot sell it. They are obligated to work on the property for a year, drawing a salary. Annie knows her granddaughters well, and she assigns them tasks to capitalize on their strengths. Even Brooke is instructed to work on weekends. If they leave, they forfeit their inheritance. Each of the women is burdened with secrets and regrets, and each doubts that the three of them can get along well enough to run a business together. But with Annie’s instructions to “either live in harmony or get on down the road” sounding in their heads, they determine to give it a try.

The Sometimes Sisters is more women’s fiction than romance. The story includes a romance thread for each of the sisters and even one for young Brooke, but the focus of the story is the relationships among the sisters and their journeys to healing, forgiveness, and real sisterhood. None of the sisters comes across as particularly likable in the first part of the book. They spend a lot of time in defensive posturing and in shooting verbal arrows at one another. Their grief for their grandmother and their love for Uncle Zed gave me hope that they could change, and they did. Still, Annie and Zed are the most sympathetic characters, and their story has the most powerful emotional punch. Even though Annie dies in the opening pages, her presence is very much a part of the story. Tender-hearted readers should be prepared to read the final chapters with a box of tissues close at hand.

If your taste in fiction tends toward the steamy, the sophisticated, or the edgy, this is not the book for you. It is frankly sentimental, and its appeal will be greatest for those who can enjoy a certain folksy quality that seems to be characteristic of Brown’s fiction. Country music fans will appreciate all the musical references. I enjoyed the soundtrack that played in my imagination. My favorite allusion was to an old K. T. Oslin song, “80s Ladies.” Harper remembers the lines “One was pretty, one was smart, / And one was a borderline fool” and thinks they aptly describe her sisters and her since Tawny is the beauty, Dana is the brain, and she is the borderline fool. I’m not sure how believable it is that lyrics from a song older than she is would so easily come to Harper’s mind, but I like the song and the reference anyway.

If you like women’s fiction that is light on romance but filled with heart and emphases on second chances and the importance of family, I think you will enjoy this book. I did.

Review - - Luckiest Cowboy of All

LUCKIEST COWBOY OF ALL

By Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: January 30, 2018
Reviewed by Hellie

 

The last in her Happy, Texas series, Carolyn Brown ties up the loose ends in her Dawson family while also reuniting a second chance couple with the added trope of a secret baby. Cowboys, rekindled flames, kids and sudden daddys -- it has something for everyone. Carolyn Brown delivers her brand of sweet, sexy, and simple character-driven story, reaffirming what I believe is the core story of all her books: family and love conquer all, and kids make life worth living. Because there are kids everywhere.

Carlene Varner has returned to Happy, Texas to put down roots for her daughter, Tilly, and also to introduce her former flame, Jace Dawson to the daughter he never knew he had. Carlene has inherited her Aunt Rosalie's house and no sooner moves into the fire-hazard-waiting-to-happen that Jace comes to break the bad news to her: the house where she planned to put down her roots had been bought by Jace a year prior and is scheduled for demolition for the new rodeo grounds. Jace no sooner gets the news out then he meets Tilly and realizes who she is, since she's the spitting image of his sister at that age. Complications abound.

Jace gives Carlene leave to stay temporarily at Aunt Rosalie's house until she can find a more permanent place, but before she can find a suitable arrangement, there is a fire in the house, and they are immediately shuffled to Jace's ranch, which is near the other ranch houses on the property (there is always one Dawson or another in Jace's house so they are never without chaperones). Carlene did not move back to Happy in order to pick up with Jace where they left off or make him assume a responsibility he never asked for. While Jace is sure that Carlene is the only woman he wants --has ever wanted-- Carlene wants to go slow and make sure this rekindled relationship is right for all parties, including Tilly. 

There's a lovely secondary romance for Grandma Hope, the matriarch, and Henry, Nash's father from the previous book in the series. The main source of conflict revolves around what the rest of the family will think, will they accept the relationships, and also, what will the town think. It's conflict that's carried across all the books, as small towns and big families can be awfully opinionated and obnoxious when it comes to other people's love lives. How do you please yourself without alienating those who love you most? Shouldn't love be something everyone agrees with and wants everyone to have? And, my God, what will the neighbors think? Hope has been a widow for many years; and her husband is a beloved figure--how could she possibly love someone else? Let alone someone who was a previous flame? For some, this feels a bit like she didn't love her own husband as much as the rest of the family does.

Fans of the series will enjoy interacting with familiar characters from the other books as well as getting to know Carlene and Tilly. A solid conclusion to the series--Tilly consistently steals the show. 

Also, this particular paperback will include Sara Richardson's Hometown Cowboy, so you'll get two stories for the price of one. If you remember my review of Sara Richardson's third book in her Rocky Mountain Riders series, you'll see that Hometown Cowboy is the first story in that series. 

I rate this book 5 stars. It's sweet, it hits the kinds of romantic tropes I love best, Jace is a yummy true-blue hero, and he even saves a kitten. TWICE. How can you not love a cowboy like that?

Review - - Long Tall Cowboy Christmas

LONG TALL COWBOY CHRISTMAS

By Carolyn Brown
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Release Date: September 26, 2017

Reviewed by Hellie

In Happy, Texas, neighbors help neighbors--and if Kasey Dawson’s new neighbor, Nash Lamont, suffers a fall after which he believes she is his wife, well, it is up to her and all the town to play along until Nash gets his memory back. Playing the wife of a handsome, kind cowboy is easier than Kasey wishes to admit. She is a widow, and she still misses her husband, Adam, who died in a military operation two years ago; but she can’t deny she is starting to have feelings that are more than just neighborly.

Nash has moved to his grandmother’s ranch to start a new life--and also bring closure to a chapter in his old one. He suffers from PTSD and at the suggestion of his therapist, he has come to Happy to make reparations with the widow of one of his military team, a man who died for Nash when it should have been him. Worse, all through deployment, Adam shared so many stories of his lovely wife, Kasey, that Nash was half in love with her too. Coming face to face with a woman he has loved in his dreams for the last few years fills him with dread and longing.

Layers of complications abound here: Kasey’s in-laws aren’t too thrilled that she seems ready to move on; her kids, especially her son Rustin, cannot get enough of Nash--and it’s a worry about what will happen when Nash gets his memory back and everything goes back to normal; and Nash, well, he has some secrets of his own. He was the leader of the unit that Adam died in. And Kasey is unaware Nash is connected to her adored husband.

But it’s Christmas time, and these two lonely people will find it is easier to be together than it is to live apart. But it will take 329 pages for that to happen.

Of Carolyn Brown’s books--and I’ve gravitated to her books now because she does write steady cowboy stories--this one has the most emotional complexity and tugged heartstrings of her stories. It’s a lovely sentimental sugarplum of a Christmas story that is bound to make you long for Christmas...and the next Carolyn Brown book.

Review - - Toughest Cowboy in Texas

Toughest Cowboy in Texas

By Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: May 30, 2017

Reviewed by Hellie

       

Toughest Cowboy in Texas is the start of a new series for Carolyn Brown, and it’s a wonderful start, full of the tough, tender cowboys she favors for heroes. Brown uses references to several country songs in this novel, and I have a feeling My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys is the song motto of her writing. The hero and heroine have known each other before, as kids in the hometown of Happy, Texas. Lila is the wild child known for her wild reputation; and Brody is one of the town’s favored golden sons. When you’re seventeen, you’re not exactly known for doing the right thing, especially when it comes to love, and Brody is no exception. Brody stood up Lila for the only real date he ever asked her (even though he had no problem sneaking around with her and going skinny dipping), and Lila had to leave town the next day with her mother before he could make things right.

Lila hasn’t been back to Happy, Texas since, but upon her arrival, she feels just the same. As the song goes, you’re always seventeen in your hometown. And when Brody walks through the doors of the diner where Lila is working, all the feelings she felt for him are just as vivid and tumultuous as they were then. She’s home only long enough to sell the diner her mother owns, a summer prospect only, and she does not have time for a cowboy who is only interested in her for the moment.

Brody doesn’t have time for a relationship. He’s been working the ranch since his father and grandpa died about a year after Lila left. But seeing Lila again brings back all the feelings he had for her then, and he is determined to make things right. Lila is clear she has no plans to stay once the diner is sold; she has made a life for herself far from Happy, Texas, one where she is respected, admired, and respectable. The small town has already made it clear they’re not interested in any new reputation Lila now has. Small towns have long memories about what category people belong in. Brody works to win Lila over, feeling free for the first time in years in the company of Lila, who is still a wild child, his wild child. Getting her to stay with him will take everything he's got, but he’s determined to do it right, first by dating her in public and also bringing her to his family in intent to make her part of his family. While I myself haven’t been to church in years, I was impressed by the scenes where church attendance was used to build Brody and Lila’s relationship and cement their attachment. Also, the scene where he sneaks out of her bedroom in the middle of the night to avoid being caught by Lila’s mother--priceless. Did I mention there were kittens in this book? Yes, there are, and they’re adorable.

Full of Brown’s sweet and steady secondary characters, swoon-worthy heroes, and heroines who are easy to identify with, the new Happy, Texas series is bound to be the best Carolyn Brown series yet. I grew up in a small town, and while I love series that are set in small towns, some of the saccharine “we’re always here for each other” small town fiction gets a little old. I prefer the characters who would rather be dragged to death by wild horses than go back to their small hometown and come face to face with the same small-town mentality you’ve spent thousands in therapy trying to get over. Lila was a favorite of mine; and I loved how hard Brody worked to make up for the hurts he caused her. I see the hints for possible other books in the future, featuring secondary characters who won my heart as much as Lila and Brody did.

Review - - Wicked Cowboy Charm

Wicked Cowboy Charm

By Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Release Date: January 31, 2017

 

Deke Sullivan has quite a reputation in Dry Creek, Texas, charming and cruising through every girl within a six zipcode radius; however, newcomer Josie Dawson isn’t interested in being charmed or cruised. Josie is determined to make a go of her business and buying some great bulls is the start; however, Deke has some similar ideas for his business, and the two of them end up at the same Montana ranch to buy the same bulls, then end up snowed in by a blizzard for the next several days.

Forced to be cozy with tall, brawny Texas man-candy is harrowing to say the least; and it doesn’t help that the little old man selling the bulls is a bit of a matchmaker himself. Josie does her damnedest to keep things professional and cool. Deke, however, is thrilled by the circumstances, being deep down he’s really a one-woman kind of man who thinks he’s finally found the right woman, if he can just convince her he’s sincere.

This was a fun, sweet read. You can’t help but root for Deke, who is a sweet charmer who is as good with animals and babies as he is with skittish women with trust issues. Carolyn Brown is a dependable read on a rainy or snowy day, while curled up with hot chocolate and fuzzy pajamas. It just makes you feel good all over. Another solid installment of the Lucky Penny Ranch series.

~Hellie

Review - - The Lullaby Sky

The Lullaby Sky

By Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Montlake

Release Date: September 13, 2016

 

 

It has taken her seven years, but Hannah Ellis has finally escaped an abusive marriage, forfeiting any rights to her husband’s considerable wealth in exchange for an uncontested divorce, custody of her daughter, and sole ownership of her house, her land, and her car. She also receives the authority to resume her maiden name and to give that name to her child. Henceforth, Hannah and Sophie Ellis will be Hannah and Sophie O’Malley.

Hannah has an extensive support system that includes two octogenarians, her great-aunt Birdie and Birdie’s friend Rosie, and a tight circle of life-long friends. They celebrate Hannah’s freedom, help her rid her home of the tangible evidence of her ex and his control of her life, and ensure that Sophie is surrounded by adults who love her. When Hannah decides to help other abused women, they help her turn her home in Crossings, Texas, into a safe house for women from Patchwork House, the local women’s shelter. Helping these other women helps Hannah to grow stronger and more confident, but she is heartbroken that Liz, one of her closest friends and principal of the school where Hannah works as a teacher’s aide, is still in denial about her own role as an abused wife.

Travis Wilson, another of Hannah’s friends and Miss Rosie’s grandson, is always there when Hannah needs him as a mover of furniture, as a guard for the safe house, or in any other capacity. He is willing to wait patiently until Hannah is ready to think about the future, a future he hopes to share with her and with Sophie to whom he is also devoted. Because the focus of the story is on Hannah’s recovery and her second chance at life, hope and optimism prevail despite the serious issue.

I found Hannah, Travis, and all of the secondary characters likeable but lacking in credibility. I need more depth and complexity than these characters offered to become invested in the story. The airplane Marty forgot that provides Hannah with a windfall, the reappearance of Marty’s new wife, the cuteness of Sophie, who seems minimally affected by her father’s behavior—all of these required more suspension of disbelief than I was able to summon. Carolyn Brown has a large, loyal following, and I feel certain that those readers and others who like their romance heavy on the sweetness and light will appreciate this novel more than I did.

~Janga

Review - - Wild Cowboy Ways

Wild Cowboy Ways               

By Carolyn Brown

Publisher: Grand Central Publishing

Release Date: December 22, 2015

Blake Dawson, along with his brother and his cousin, has bought the Lucky Penny ranch, which does anything but live up to its name. In order to get things ready for when his brother comes in June, Blake needs to hire his attractive looking neighbor, Allie Logan, to do the house repairs and construction needed to keep the roof over their heads. Allie, once divorced and twice shy, isn’t interested in anyone who comes with the label “the wild one”, but she prefers to do carpentry work than work with her sister or mother in their respective storefronts, so she is willing to turn a blind eye to her handsome hunk of a neighbor. Allie’s sister, Lizzy, is fearful of Allie making the same mistake twice; however, her pushing pseudo-nice Grady at her head only makes Allie reconsider Blake as a possibility.

This is the first in a series, and I’m looking forward to any and all that will be coming out. Allie’s sister, Lizzy, definitely needs a good man; and I also believe Nadine might prove worthy of a hero as well. This story was warm, sweet, sexy, funny, and charming. It did feel at times that everything but the kitchen sink was thrown into the book as a plot device, but all in all, that only added to its charm. Once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down until I finished. This one was a keeper for me.

~Hellie

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New York Times and USA Today bestselling romance author and RITA® Finalist, Carolyn Brown, has published more than sixty books. Brown presently writes both women's fiction and cowboy romance. She has also written historical single title, historical series, contemporary single title and contemporary series. She lives in southern Oklahoma with her husband, a former English teacher, who is not allowed to read her books until they are published. They have three children and enough grandchildren to keep them young.

http://www.carolynbrownbooks.com/

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SOMETIMES ALL LOVE NEEDS IS A LITTLE LUCK

Allie Logan isn't the type to land a hot hunk of cowboy. Truth is, she's given up on dating since shedding her no-good ex. But the new owner of the most ramshackle ranch in Texas might just change her mind about that. He's six-foot-plus of tall, dark, and charming-the kind of guy who could make a girl throw caution to the wind . . . or the kind of guy who could break her heart.

Blake Dawson hopes he can make Lucky Penny Ranch finally live up to its name, but the property needs a ton of work. Allie and her carpentry skills are his best shot at getting things in order. Besides the fact that her brown eyes and dangerous curves have him roped and tied. Now Blake only needs to convince her that a wild cowboy can be tamed by love-and she's just the one to do it . . .

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