Review - - The Bride Next Door

The Bride Next Door

By Hope Ramsay

Publisher: Grand Central / Forever

Release Date: April 3, 2018
Reviewed by Janga

Courtney Wallace is surrounded by girlfriends who have found their perfect matches and have settled or are preparing to settle into marital bliss, several of them already happily pregnant. Although Courtney is happy for her friends, the thirty-six-year-old special events planner at Eagle Hall Manor hears the ticking of her biological clock without much hope that she will find an HEA of her own. Jaded, she has little confidence in the pool of eligible men, having decided that most of them can be identified as one of several loser types: the Man Baby, the Nice Guy Not, the Space Invader, the Too Selfless to Be True, the Emotionally Unavailable, and the worst offender-- the Hook-up Artist. She quickly writes Matthew Lyndon off as a player. When she learns about his bet that he can defrost Ice Queen Courtney in two dates, she labels him a Hook-up Artist and decides to teach him a lesson.

Matt has recently returned to Shenandoah Falls, Virginia, where his family is local royalty. He has done so reluctantly, but when his job in government affairs in Washington, D. C. dries up and none of his efforts to find another one proves successful, he comes home and joins his father’s law firm. As a middle child who feels that he has never earned his father’s approval, he is prepared for a certain level of discomfort. Badly burned by a past experience, his level of trust in romance is as low as Courtney’s, but he finds her attractive enough to disregard the fact that she is ten years his senior and determined to resist him.

Matt is constantly forcing Courtney to reconsider what she thinks she knows of him. His gift of roses may be predictable, but his Shakespeare quotations are not. No mere player would give himself as wholeheartedly to a pro bono case for tenants in a low-rent building as Matt does. But Courtney and Matt will have to move beyond their pasts and learn to trust each other if they are to build a future together.

This is the fourth novel in Ramsay’s Chapel of Love series. It is rich in small-town appeal, family dynamics, and the ties of friendship. How much readers like the book will depend largely upon how much they like the protagonists. Courtney and Matt are not immediately sympathetic characters. Since simplistic labels are a pet peeve of mine, I had a hard time liking Courtney. Matt behaves like a jerk initially, but I found him easier to like since it is clear early on that there is more to him than his player façade. Eventually, I was invested in both characters and rooting for their HEA. And I loved the start of a romance between a Jewish legal assistant/singer-songwriter and an Irish bartender. I hope we see more of them in an upcoming book.

If you like small-town romance with heart and a sure contemporary touch, add this one to your list. Fans of the series will likely enjoy seeing characters from the earlier novels, but it is not necessary to have read the first three novels and two novellas to enjoy this one.

Review - - Here Comes the Bride

Here Comes the Bride
By Hope Ramsay
Publisher: Forever
Release Date: August 29, 2017
Reviewed by Hellie
         

I do love a jilted bride story. I’m not sure why--I’ve never gotten close enough to the altar to be be jilted--but I think it has to do with my fear of rejection and being jilted at the altar is the ultimate rejection. Anyway, it’s like what a secret baby trope is for other readers: kryptonite.

After ten years together, Laurie Wilson is finally marrying her first love, Brandon Kopp, except instead of saying I do, the groom says “I don’t.” Unfortunately he decides to say this in front of the guests and the minister rather than coming forth with his cold feet in a less public setting. Brandon flees; and the best man, the unflappable Andrew Lyndon, Brandon’s best friend and a lawyer at Laurie’s father’s firm, whisks Laurie away and takes care of her in the aftermath. Andrew does such a good job in fact that Laurie’s father has another job for him: get Laurie and Brandon back together. How? By making Brandon jealous by showing Laurie having a great time with other men. (Incidentally this was Brandon’s suggestion to her when he announced he couldn’t marry her--that she should date other people. A lot of other people.)

Laurie, lying in the wreckage of her new single life, is now realizing how much she was giving up to be with Brandon. Not the dating other men part. No one actually likes dating--it’s brutal out there--but the fact she passed up a job that would have been great for her and her career to be with him. She bought a house she didn’t really want because he insisted on it--and the mortgage is in her name. The relocation to this small town of Shenandoah Falls is also a step down. Oh, and Brandon also went on their honeymoon without her--which she had paid for. Of course, in this stage of grief, she’s not sure she wouldn’t take Brandon back if he came to his senses, but on paper, she’s beginning to see he might have done her a favor.

Andrew Lyndon has a bad habit of doing a job so well, he keeps getting tasked with it. Such is the case with being so efficient at helping Laurie out of her humiliating position, now her father wants Andrew to find appropriate men for Laurie to date--and to make sure Brandon sees it. Andrew is one of two lawyers at the firm that is vying for a partnership within the company. Therefore when his boss, Laurie’s father, says do something, he has to do it, regardless how distasteful, ethically questionable, or awkward in regards to his social relationships, he finds the task.

Eventually Andrew convinces Laurie to her father’s scheme; and soon Laurie is going out on dates (really bad ones)--but more importantly, Brandon sees this going on and he is jealous. After all, he didn’t actually think Laurie would go through with it. Then Brandon decides she’s only dating to make him jealous and that’s never going to work. But he keeps tabs nonetheless; and he’s certainly upset every time she’s out with someone new, having a good time.

The story is an interesting blend of complications you may have always wondered. Who gets the friends when you and a significant other break up? When you meet their friends out in public, are you allowed to talk to them or are you supposed to act like you didn’t see each other to prevent awkwardness? What do you do about the sister-in-law that never was who you were looking forward to being sisters with--and now you can’t be friends because her allegiance belongs to her idiot brother? The girlfriend relationships are forged almost immediately--and just as strong as if they were forged at birth.

It was a compelling story with very likable characters, with the notable exception of Brandon, obviously. Who I don’t mind saying does not win Laurie back because she clearly deserves so much better. But the story of how Laurie got her groove back, set some healthy boundaries, and has her own little montage of Sisters Doing It For Themselves as she becomes a heroine to root for--that’s worth reading. I look forward to finding the first book in this series (A Small Town Bride) and the others in this series. I especially want to see the story with Courtney--now her story is going to be a reckoning.

Review - - A Small Town Bride

A Small Town Bride

by Hope Ramsay

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: March 28, 2017

Reviewed by Santa

    

Amy Lyndon has everything a girl could ask for. Tons of clothes, a snazzy sports car and lots of money to spend. Well, it’s not her money. It’s her father’s money and her ride on the gravy train is about to get derailed. Fed up with her out of control spending, her father presents an ultimatum - marry the man of her family’s dreams or go out on your own. Amy walks out into the world on her own and quickly finds out what it means not to have a dime to her name. But what her father doesn’t count on is although she doesn’t have any resources, she does have resilience.

She applies for a wedding planner position but lands a landscaper one instead. Challenge accepted. She’ll start from the bottom even if the bottom means she works for the local bad boy.

Dusty McNeil has enough trouble without having to babysit a spoiled little rich girl and Amy proves to be anything but.

Together they discover an attraction that goes beyond the physical. They discover they are kindred spirits that are not defined by who they are related to by blood. They become one another’s true north. Not to be manipulated by anyone to suit their needs. They have needs and wants of their own.

I really enjoyed this book and was delighted to find out it was part of a series.

Review - - Last Chance Hero

Last Chance Hero

By Hope Ramsay

Publisher: Forever

Release Date: June 30, 2015

Once upon a time a house fire changed the lives of two sisters. Sabina Grey, a cheerleader overly concerned about her cool factor sneaked out to go skinny dipping with her friends rather than staying home to babysit her younger sister. Lucy Grey was trapped in the burning house and badly burned. Sabina, guilt-ridden over her sister’s suffering, makes Lucy the focus of her life, sacrificing her dreams to see that Lucy’s every wish is satisfied. After a long recovery that included an extended hospital stay and multiple surgeries, Lucy has become obsessed with controlling her life. She plans her future in the minutest detail, and she is shattered when anything puts her plans in jeopardy.

Ross Gardiner, chief of Last Chance’s fire department and the only trained, salaried member of the otherwise volunteer force, had hopes of gaining the attention of his high school crush, Sabina Grey, when he returned to his hometown after his divorce. However, Sabina not only turned him down repeatedly, but she also pushed him to notice her sister Lucy. Eventually giving in, Ross asked Lucy out, and the two begin a steady relationship that is safe and comfortable even if it lacks magic. Such has been the situation for eighteen months.

Miriam Randall, the town’s phenomenally successful matchmaker, serves as the catalyst for change when she informs Sabina that she needs to get out of Lucy’s way in order to clear the path to Sabina’s own happily-ever-after. An unexpected encounter with a former classmate makes Sabina wonder if Miriam is right, and the Grey sisters’ mother, a Texas version of Austen’s Mrs. Bennet, pushes for Lucy and Ross to marry.

Everyone seems caught up in things they cannot control. The chaos and confusion intensifies when a series of house fires are started in Last Chance, and Lucy seems to be the number one suspect. Even when the fire between Sabina and Ross burns as hotly as those destroying homes and Lucy is beset by doubts, it seems no one can stop the wedding the whole town is anticipating. Can the Grey sisters heal from old wounds and opt for honesty before it is too late? Which sister will be Ross’s bride?

Last Chance Hero is the ninth and final novel in Ramsay’s Last Chance series which debuted more than four years ago. I have found this series uneven. Some books I have fully enjoyed (Last Chance Book Club and Last Chance Family, to name two), but others have inspired a less than enthusiastic response. This one falls in the latter group. I never became fully engaged with these characters, and the matchmaking, which I have found amusing in other Last Chance books, just seemed tired. Miriam’s decline made me sad. Sparky the dog was my favorite character.

The warmth and mostly well-intentioned interference and the quirky cast of townspeople that have been characteristic of the town in earlier books can be found in Last Chance Hero. For fans of the series, that may be enough to earn the book higher marks. For me, it was a disappointing conclusion to a series that I have generally liked. 

~Janga

Review - - Last Chance Family

Last Chance Family

By Hope Ramsay

Publisher: Forever (Grand Central)

Release Date: November 25, 2014

A gambler by profession, Mike Taggart has been on his own since before he turned eighteen when he ran away from an alcoholic mother and her abusive boyfriend, but he has always felt guilty that his leaving left his younger half-sister, Angie, with no defender. Now Angie is dead, the victim of Chicago street violence, and Mike has become the guardian of Angie’s five-year-old daughter Rainbow and Rainbow’s inseparable companion, a cat named Tigger. Mike has traced his half-brother, Timmy, whom he hasn’t seen since Mike was five and Timmy was three, to Last Chance, South Carolina. Mike is willing to support Rainbow financially, but he wants a better life for her than she will have in Vegas as the ward of a poker player, even a winning one. He believes Timmy, now the Reverend Timothy Lake, pastor of Last Chance’s United Methodist Church, can give the child the life Mike wants for her.

Dr. Charlene Polk is an assistant veterinarian and a member of a prominent Last Chance family. With thirty in her rear view window, Charlene is more than ready to be a wife and mother, but she has a history of choosing the wrong man. Her latest crush is her boss, a sweet, good-looking man who is uninterested in romance with Charlene or with any other woman. She meets Mike and Rainbow when they show up with a sneezing Tigger at the animal clinic where she works. She wants nothing to do with Mike, or so she tells herself after labeling him a self-centered bad boy, but in the lonely, hurting, mixed-race Rainbow, Charlene sees not just a child in need of love but a means to redeem the greatest mistake of Charlene’s life.

Mike is happy to see Charlene and Rainbow bond. If he can only get Charlene and Tim together, they can be the family Rainbow needs. Mike thinks he can ignore his own attraction to Charlene. But throw three kittens, a bachelor auction, a matchmaker’s ambiguous message, and Charlene’s controlling, bigoted parents into the mix, and things get really complicated. It takes a crisis for Mike and Charlene to realize they are Rainbow’s best chance at building a new Last Chance family.

This book is the eighth in Hope Ramsay’s Last Chance series. Last Chance, with its Southern accents, more than its share of eccentrics, busy church ladies, and a steady flow of gossip, mostly benevolent, has a familiar feel to me. I have enjoyed my visits to this small town, and the new one has the humor and heartwarming quality that have characterized the series—even if Golfing for God fails to be a significant factor in this one. Mike and Charlene are appealing characters—unconsciously funny, vulnerable, and genuinely likeable--and Rainbow will touch readers’ hearts.

If you are a fan of the contemporary small-town romance, you should certainly add the Last Chance books to your reading list. Last Chance Family works well as a standalone, but I’m betting that if you read it, you will want more of the town’s stories. I read somewhere that this was the last book in the series, but book #9, Last Chance Hero, is set for a June 30 release. It features Ross Gardiner, fire chief, and Sabina Grey, antique store owner, both of whom have minor roles in Last Chance Family. I’m happy that I’ll have another chance to visit Last Chance.      

~Janga