Review - - Until There Was Us

Until There Was Us

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: May 1, 2018

Reviewed by Janga

 

Megan Montgomery is a classic workaholic, an “IT genius” who typically works sixty hours or more a week and has little time for life outside the workplace. Her focus is on proving to her father that she is more than corporate wife material and making a place for herself in the family business. After a nasty breakup, she becomes even more intense in her commitment to the job. When Megan takes a rare social weekend to attend her cousin Zach’s wedding to Gabriella Martine (I’ll Be There, Montgomery Brothers #6, 2015), she briefly becomes a different person, a woman who wears a sexy dress and heels and who says yes to four dances with Zack’s hot friend. For one weekend, she experiences the kind of connection and passion she has never expected to find.

Physical therapist Alex Rebat considers Zach Montgomery a close friend as well as a former client. He is happy to be one of Zach’s groomsmen at his wedding where the large Montgomery family is a visible part of the celebration. The Montgomery that catches Alex’s eye is Megan, a shy, curvy beauty who sends his temperature soaring. A few dances and searing kisses in a garden convinces him that they can be magic together, and a weekend spent in secluded bliss confirms his belief.

The magic did not last long. With Megan in Albany, New York, and Alex in Portland, Oregon, finding time together was a challenge. Three months after their stolen weekend, the relationship ended, but neither has forgotten the other. Two years later, Megan is thrilled to finally be offered a job in the family business, but her move to Portland to work with Zach also leaves her anxious about how she will handle seeing Alex again. She knows that seeing him will be complicated not only by her feelings but also by the fact that Alex is very much a part of her cousins’ social circle, the cousins who have no idea that she and Alex were ever a couple. At thirty-two, Alex is weary of being always a groomsman and never a groom. He is ready to settle down and enjoy the kind of wife, family, and home life that his friends Zach and Ethan have found. When Alex learns that Megan is moving to Portland to work with her cousin, he wonders if they can recapture the feelings they once shared. But can a workaholic change her focus enough to open her heart to love?

Until There Was Us is the seventh novel in Samantha Chase’s Montgomery Brothers series. (There’s also a novella between books three and four.) I generally enjoy Chase’s books and am especially fond of her series rich in family dynamics such as the Montgomery Brothers and the Shaughnessy Brothers. I was pleased when I learned that she was continuing the Montgomery series, but the book was a disappointment.

Alex is a darling, a white-knight kind of guy who devotes his professional life to helping people and is still there when any of his many friends need him. The guy had been a groomsman in six weddings during the past two years. I also loved seeing Summer Montgomery and Ethan Reed (Meant for You, Book 5, 2015), now the proud parents of baby Amber, and Zach and Gabriella, who are expecting their first child. The matchmaking older generation also plays a role. But all these delightful features are overshadowed by a heroine I could not like.

Megan just seems spineless to me for much of the novel. This is a woman so intent on proving herself to her father that she hides her hobby (crocheting, which she learned as a girl from her grandmother) not just from him but from everyone. She even allows Summer to think she bought rather than made a gift for Amber. She has difficulty being honest with anyone, including herself. She also seems self-absorbed to me. Who forgets her boyfriend, who lives on the opposite coast, is flying three thousand miles for a weekend with her?  Frankly, I wondered why Alex was still interested. It’s true that she transforms and is stubbornly loving and giving by the end, but by that time, I was so impatient with her that it was too late to change my opinion.

My disappointment in Megan does not change my mind about the series, and I hope Chase is planning more Montgomery books. Other readers may find Megan less of an irritant than I did, and the novel has much to recommend it. Fans of the earlier Montgomery Brothers books will likely enjoy this one as well, and the book can be read as a standalone, even though any experienced romance reader will almost certainly realize that Summer and Ethan and Zach and Gabriella’s stories are out there waiting to be read.

Review - - One More Promise

One More Promise

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: February 6, 2018

Reviewed by Janga

  

With rehab behind him and a determination to create a different life for himself, Dylan Anders, bass player for the rock band Shaughnessy, is making changes in his life. With the band on hiatus, he is not sure where to start until his manager suggests he take part in a literacy campaign. He is uncertain about sharing his own history with reading problems, but the speaking engagements, commercial shoots, and print ads will fill in empty time and the campaign will assure him of some positive publicity to counteract the negative media coverage surrounding his reasons for entering rehab.

Paige Walters may be a senior account executive at her father’s Los Angeles PR firm, but she is still stuck in the lifelong pattern of coming second to her older sister in her father’s mind. Somehow Ariel always gets credit for Paige’s ideas and hard work, and Paige ends up doing scut work for a campaign of which Ariel is the titular head. But the literacy campaign is Paige’s project. She is passionate about the cause. She conceived the idea, she planned the authors who will be part of the campaign, and she expects to head it. But the pattern holds true. Ariel jettisons the authors, substituting celebrities more likely to generate media interest, and the campaign become hers with Paige once again rushing to do all the work her sister fails to do.

No change to her plans makes Paige unhappier than being assigned to babysit Dylan Anders. The bad-boy rock star does not fit her image for a literacy campaign at all, and her experience with the costs of drunk driving makes it difficult not to judge his past actions harshly.  Still, she cannot deny that the tattooed rocker is sexy enough to fuel her fantasies, and as they spend time together, she finds that she has misjudged him. For his part, Dylan, who expected Paige to be a stereotypical librarian whom he could easily charm, finds himself intrigued by Paige’s honesty, lack of pretensions, and disregard of his fame. Soon the bad boy and the good girl are tumbling heart over head in love, but can Dylan ever truly overcome the reputation he earned during his hard-party years? 

One More Promise is the second book in Samantha Chase's Band on the Run series, a spinoff of her Shaughnessy Brothers books. I'm not a huge fan of rock star-hero books, but I enjoyed the Shaughnessy Brothers books, including This Is Our Song, with Riley Shaughnessy, the band's lead singer as hero. I was less enthusiastic about the first book in the spinoff (One More Kiss), but liked it enough to want to read this one. I found Dylan an interesting character, although not always a likable one, but I wanted to see his history explored more fully. Family connections are generally a strength of Chase's books, but that was not the case here. I never really understood Dylan's relationship with his parents, and I disliked Paige's father and sister. And I grew impatient with Paige's slowness to stand up to them.  

Readers who are fonder of rock-star characters than I am may enjoy this one more than I did. I didn’t hate it, but I doubt that I will ever reread it. Rereadability is the quality that separates the good books from the just-okay ones for me. One More Moment, Julian’s story, releases in September. I’m a series addict and so have added it to my list, but I have a feeling that Until There Was Us (May 1, 2018), a new addition to the Montgomery Brothers series, is closer to the books that put Chase on my list of checkout-the-new-book authors.

Review - - Holiday Spice

Holiday Spice

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: October 3, 2017

Reviewed by Janga 

  

Samantha Chase wraps up her Shaughnessy series with the story of the youngest sibling and the only girl in the large, tightly-knit family. Unable to find a job in an art gallery or on the staff of an art magazine, her preferred careers, Darcy Shaughnessy is visiting her rock star brother Riley and his journalist wife Savannah (This Is Our Song) in California for some time with her newest niece. When Savannah, immersed in new motherhood, asks her to fill in and assist artist Ben Tanner to complete a book about his art, Darcy agrees. Getting to the reclusive artist’s remote cabin in Washington proves to be more daunting than Darcy expected, but her first impression of Ben is a positive one. This job may turn out to be fun.

Ben and Savannah became friends when she interviewed him before her marriage to Riley Shaughnessy, and she is one of the few people Ben trusts. He is not thrilled with the idea of a stranger doing the job he had expected Savannah to do, but he decides to accept her assurance that Darcy is perfect for the job. He is even more willing after meeting Darcy. The two have an immediate rapport. That changes when Darcy jumps to the conclusion that Ben’s repeated praise of Savannah is rooted in his romantic feelings for her. The collaboration that began with such promise grows strained as Darcy noticeably cools her response to Ben.

An early snow storm interferes with Darcy’s plan for a quick departure. Snowed in together in Ben’s cabin, the two quickly clear up the misunderstanding, clearing the way for their initial attraction to grow into something more substantial. The hours of seclusion encourage emotional as well as physical intimacy, and neither is ready to see the relationship end when the roads are cleared. But Darcy needs to return to North Carolina and resume her search for a permanent job, and Ben needs the solitude of his Washington studio to complete work for which people are waiting. However, they are convinced they can make a long-distance relationship work. But the oppositions that heightened their attraction when they were alone create problems when distance and the presence of others magnify those differences. They love each other, but will love be enough to bridge their different worlds?

The final book in Chase’s Shaughnessy Brothers series is an opposites-attract tale that takes an unusually realistic look at the problems personality differences can create. Darcy and Ben have a basic compatibility. There is a mutual attraction, of course, but they also share an interest in art. Ben’s medium is wood, and his creations are described in enough detail to make the reader long to see them.  Darcy’s strengths lie in organization and administration. They recognize and respect each other’s gifts. They fall in love. As long as only the two of them are involved, passion, liking, respect and love offer the promise of forever, but no one can live in such isolated bliss for long. Not only are Darcy and Ben’s lives based a continent apart, but hers is family-centric and his is strictly solo.

Darcy, with a doting father and five protective older brothers, is spoiled. She expects things to go her way. When they don’t, she runs away. A gregarious extrovert, she has the social skills and confidence typical of the youngest child, but she also has insecurities. She is the only one of the six Shaughnessy siblings who has no memories of her mother. Nevertheless, her lack of memories is a factor in the woman she becomes just as much as her brothers’ particular memories of their mother help to shape them as men.  Ben has the introvert’s usual need for quietness and his own company, and in him these tendencies are exacerbated by his response to the death of his parents. He loves his brothers, but he maintains both a physical and emotional distance from them. He rejects projects that would advance his career if they impinge on his solitude. He likes Darcy’s family, but he has no understanding of all the ways Shaughnessy family members are entangled in one another’s lives—or why they like it that way. Darcy finds it just as incomprehensible that he can go months with no contact with his brothers.

Fittingly enough, it is her brother Owen (A Sky Full of Stars), the Shaughnessy closest to Ben in temperament, who has the best advice for Darcy at her darkest moment.

You can’t change who you are any more than Ben can change who he is. You are impulsive and excitable and passionate about the things you want and believe in. He’s a private and intellectual person who is passionate about the things he wants and believes in. You have to find the right balance, and it’s not something that just happens, Darcy. It takes work.

There are many things to like in this book other than this bit of pragmatism. The Shaughnessys and their increasing tribe are a warm, wonderful family. This is a Christmas book, and Chase juxtaposes the Shaughnessy family-centered holiday, rich in cherished traditions, with the Tanners’ redefining of their holiday as they acknowledge the grief they have associated with the season for most of their lives. The result is a book that is both heartwarming and thought-provoking. As for the romance, readers get their HEA, but with a dash of realism in the mix. Readers who have followed the series will likely be pleased with this conclusion. Readers who have not read the earlier books but like contemporary romance with meaningful family dynamics, an H/H relationship that mirrors real life conflict, and a light touch with spice (despite the title) should also appreciate it. It can be read as a standalone, but I am such a Shaughnessy fan that I can’t imagine not wanting to read all six books.

Review - - A Sky Full of Stars

A Sky Full of Stars

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: June 6, 2017
Reviewed by Janga

Owen Shaughnessy is a brilliant astrophysicist, but his social skills are still those of the awkward, nerdy outsider that he has been all his life. Even among his exuberant family, he never quite fits in, although they are devoted to him. He and his twin, rock star Riley, are especially close. With all his brothers finding love and settling into marital bliss, Owen is newly aware that he needs more than a string of degrees and challenging research. When his mentor, Dr. Howard Shields, introduces Owen to his niece, Brooke Matthews, and suggests that she is just the person to serve as an assistant on an upcoming project, Owen is overwhelmed by her beauty and her art.

Brooke, a former beauty pageant winner and former “mean girl,” is trying to establish herself as an artist. She grew up pretty and popular but essentially shallow. She has matured through some tough lessons and is determined, despite her parents’ objections, to become more than wife to a husband with the right credentials and appropriate bank account. She is excited by her uncle’s suggestion that working as Owen’s assistant on the meteor-shower project in Red Rock, Nevada, would allow Brooke to paint the desert sky and satisfy her parents’ concerns about the dangers of a solo trip. But Brooke also wonders if she, with no degree and little practical experience, can really help the brainy Owen.

Owen and Brooke are attracted to one another from their first meeting. She sees him as more than an amazing intellect. She finds his shyness endearing, and she values his decency and kindness. Owen sees her as more than a beautiful woman. He is drawn to her sweetness and to her passion for her painting. But their differences create insecurities. Brooke questions whether Owen can care for someone who is intellectually inferior to him, and Owen doubts that the poised and beautiful Brooke can be attracted to an awkward, nerd who is more apt to cite obscure facts than to converse smoothly. With time and some help from Uncle Howard who has their best interests at heart, they find their way to one another and their HEA.

This is the very best kind of opposites-attract story. The differences in Owen and Brooke challenge them to grow and enlarge their worlds. He teaches her about the wonders of science, and makes him believe in magic. Underneath the differences, their values and their dreams are remarkably similar. It is easy to believe that these two belong together. The Shaughnessy family and Howard Shields are also appealing characters who add emotional depth to the story.

This is the fifth book in Chase’s Shaughnessy Brothers series, and it is the one I have anticipated most eagerly. It was even better than I hoped. Brooke is a sympathetic heroine, and Owen is a heart-stealer, particularly for readers who love a good nerdy hero. Each brother’s memories of their mother and her understanding of who they were as individuals has played a significant part in his book and in the revelation of the hero’s character. Owen’s memories may be the most poignant and tender. Another connection between him and Brooke is the loss they have experienced and its lasting effects. I found this book satisfying on multiple levels.

If you appreciate contemporary romance that is genuinely sweet with a character-driven story enriched with family ties, I highly recommend this book. I think it is the best of a strong series. The series concludes with the release of sister Darcy’s book, Holiday Spice, on October 3. I can’t wait to read it.

Review - - One More Kiss

One More Kiss

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: February 7, 2017
Reviewed by: Janga

 

Matt Reed has known major success as lead guitarist for Shaughnessy, the band that Riley Shaughnessy (Shaughnessy Brothers series) headlines. When the band members decide to focus on solo projects, Matt chooses a lead role in a Broadway play. He is a humiliating failure. The play closes three nights after it opens, and Matt is hounded by hostile media representatives who not only question his musical talent but also cast doubt on the legitimate achievements of other members of Shaughnessy. When his childhood friend, Aaron Forrester offers him sanctuary in the luxury home Aaron has built in coastal North Carolina, Matt seizes the opportunity to escape the furor even though doing so takes him back to the hometown to which he never planned to return.

Vivienne Forrester is in the mood for celebrating. The remodeling of her brother’s guest house to turn it into her dream home is finally complete, and she will be moving in soon. She has just been named assistant editor of Modern Lifestyle, an online lifestyle magazine, which means a steady income doing work she enjoys. She and Aaron are close and she is looking forward to sharing her good news with him. She is not expecting to find that Aaron has a house guest, and she is dismayed to learn the identity of that guest and that Matt’s visit will not be a brief one. Two years earlier, Vivienne, with a little help from Riley Shaughnessy (This Is Our Song), surprised Matt in his dressing room after a concert. The band’s agent broke up the reunion but not before Matt and Vivienne shared an unforgettable kiss. At least, Vivienne has not forgotten it. When she realizes that Matt has no memory of the kiss, her reaction to him changes from awkward to angry.

Matt is surprised by Vivienne’s hostility, but he pushes past it, first to help her move in and later, after Aaron’s departure for a business trip to London, as the taste tester for the meals Vivienne prepares for her food blog. The more time they spend together, the more potent the attraction between them becomes. But both Matt and Vivienne have family issues that must be resolved before they are ready to make a commitment, and Vivienne has real concerns about fitting into Matt’s rock-star lifestyle. When Aaron returns, his disapproval of their relationship adds another complication.
  

One More Kiss is the first book in Chase’s Band on the Run series, a spin-off from the Shaughnessy Brothers series. The novel showcases the author’s strength in creating likeable characters with interesting family dynamics. Her ability to craft a story that is sweet and sexy without graphic sex scenes will appeal to readers who prefer their romance light on the spice. The novel can be read as a standalone, but fans of the Shaughnessy Brothers will be pleased to see Riley and Savannah have secondary roles.

I like Chase’s voice and style as well as her characters, and seeing heroes accustomed to success dealing with failure is an interesting take on the rock-star trend. Nevertheless, the conflict in this one seems thin to me. Once the misunderstanding about the kiss is cleared up, only Matt and Vivienne’s reluctance to talk to each other about the things that bother them keeps their romance from progressing smoothly. Their separate family issues promise much, but they are resolved too quickly for my taste. A more minor niggle but one that I found troublesome is that I could not find the name of the North Carolina town that is home to these characters.

Still, the novel is generally satisfying, and readers will root for Matt and Vivienne to get their HEA. Chase gives enough information about Dylan and Julian, the remaining members of Shaughnessy, to leave readers intrigued and primed for their stories. I would also like to see Aaron Forrester earn an HEA, either in his own story or in a secondary romance. However, we may have to wait a bit for those books. First, we have two more Shaughnessy stories to which we can look forward: A Sky Full of Stars (June 6, 2017), the story of Owen, the nerdy astrophysicist brother, and Holiday Spice (October 3, 2017), the story of Darcy, the only girl in Shaughnessy clan. Both books are on my calendar, and I am eager to hear more about the remaining Band on the Run novels.

Review - - This Is Our Song

This Is Our Song

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: December 6, 2016

 

After enjoying success with his band Shaughnessy, Riley Shaughnessy has hit a rough patch. First, he was considered and rejected as part of a documentary on rock legends, and then the rumors began to circulate that he was the least talented member of the group and would never make it on his own. The other band members seem to be doing fine with their solo projects while the band takes a break, but Riley’s insecurities are mounting. For the first time in his career, he can’t write. That means that he can’t finish the album that was supposed to be all his music. His label has grown impatient. Without quick results, they are ready to cut him loose. The only way he can win more time is to consent to an interview with a journalist from Rock the World magazine. Riley resists the interview, to no avail. The best he can do is plan to fake it and give a bland interview with smiles and no revelations.

Savannah Daly has been promised a career-making interview with Coldplay. An interview with Riley Shaughnessy, a musician whose music she doesn’t like, whose talent she questions, and whom she has relegated to just another pretty-boy-rock-star status is a poor substitute. But when her boss tells her it is the Riley interview or a move back to cutting hair to make ends meet, Savannah begins her research on Shaughnessy. She may have no choice in whom she interviews, but she is determined to write a gritty piece based on the reality of who Riley Shaughnessy is, not a shallow PR piece.

Both Riley and Savannah are surprised when their first meeting challenges all their preconceptions about one another. They are even more surprised—and uncomfortable—with the chemistry they share. When Riley insists that they move the site of the month-long interview to North Carolina, home to the tightly knit and steadily growing Shaughnessy family, Savannah discovers a very different Riley Shaughnessy. She falls in love with him and with his lively, affectionate, welcoming family. Riley finds Savannah easy to talk to and easy to love. She sees him as a man, not merely a celebrity, and she inspires new music and new plans for the future. But just as an HEA for another Shaughnessy seems certain, Riley discovers Savannah’s role in his period of despair and reacts in anger. Is this obstacle too great to be overcome?

I love the Shaughnessy family, and This Is Our Song was a book I eagerly anticipated. For much of the book it was all I hoped it would be. Riley and Savannah were engaging, interesting characters individually and credible and endearing together. The gathering of the Shaughnessys was delightful. I enjoyed seeing the in-process HEAs of Aiden and Zoe (Made for Us), Hugh and Aubrey (Love Walks In), and Quinn and Anna (Always My Girl). Seeing more of Riley’s twin, Owen, and Darcy, the only Shaughnessy daughter, and catching another glimpse of patriarch Ian involved in his new romance were bonuses.  The thread of the brothers’ ongoing sense of loss with their mother’s death and her enduring influence on their lives continues to pack an emotional punch. I found the way Chase wove his mother’s influence into Riley’s music particularly moving.

However, I thought Riley acted like a jerk when the moment of revelation occurred. I understand the principles of the black moment, but he just came across as mean and vindictive to me. I had a difficult time getting past that to the reconciliation and concluding bliss. His reaction wasn’t enough to ruin the book for me, but it knocked it from Perfect Dish rating.

Samantha Chase is a fairly recent discovery for me, and I have fallen in love with her family stories. I enjoy the tight family connection and the distinct differences among the siblings. I have been following the Shaughnessy Brothers with joy and catching up on the Montgomery Brothers, which is also good. The next Shaughnessy Brothers book, A Sky Full of Stars, will be released in June. I hope it is Owen’s story since I love a nerdy hero. (Band on the Run, Chase’s new series, a spin-off from Riley’s book, debuts with One More Kiss on February 7, 2017.) If you like family stories with lots of warmth and teasing, a satisfying central romance, and a moderate sensuality level, I suggest you give Chase a try. This Is Our Song will work as a starting point.

 ~Janga

Review - - Always My Girl

Always My Girl

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: July 5, 2016

Anna Hannigan and Quinn Shaughnessy have been best friends since they were six years old when the Hannigans moved next door to the Shaughnessys, and Anna has been in love with Quinn almost as long. Unfortunately, her love is unrequited.  Quinn sees Anna strictly as his best bud, just one of the guys. Anna exchanges her job at a local pub, a jeans-and-tee shirt position, for a career in real estate that requires more feminine attire, not as an upwardly mobile career move but as a way to make others see her differently. But the change is not enough to alter Quinn’s perspective.

Quinn, a former NASCAR driver, is a serial dater whose only serious commitment is to his business, a chain of auto repair and restoration shops. When he arrives at the beach site where the wedding of his brother Aidan and Zoe Dalton (Made for Us) is taking place, Quinn sees a curvy beauty in a bikini and is set to make his move when he realizes the beauty is Anna. Then he insists she cover up all that she is exposing. He is uncomfortable seeing Anna as a woman who stirs his libido, and he fights the attraction until desire proves more powerful than fear. But this couple still has major obstacles to overcome.

The pattern of Anna and Quinn’s relationship, with Anna as the giver and Quinn as the taker, is a long-established one, and it does not change when they become lovers. Anna has to learn to assert herself and Quinn has to lose the selfish jerk he often is before this romance has any hope of leading to forever.

This is the third novel in Samantha Chase’s Shaughnessy Brothers series, and it has the strengths and the weaknesses of the first novel. The characters are deftly drawn with intriguing layers, and the Shaughnessy family dynamics, including the effect of their mother’s death on each of them, are complex and interesting. Anna has been part of their family for so long that they regard her as one of their own. The affection they have for her complicates matters when she and Quinn move from friends to lovers. I found Anna a sympathetic character. Even when I cringed at her patient Griselda ways, I understood her and rooted for her to take a stand.

All of these factors make for an interesting, engaging read. But Quinn, like Aidan before him, is a hero with a high jerk quotient. In fact, in a contest for jerkiness, Quinn would be the winner. For much of the story, he is selfish and self-absorbed, incapable of seeing any view but his own. Flawed characters often win my heart, but the flaws need to be balanced by appealing qualities. For me, Quinn failed the balance test. Even the transformed Quinn is not enough to overcome my initial dislike.

Final verdict: I wavered between 3.5 and 4 stars for quite a while before settling on 4. As a small-town romance, Always My Girl deserves kudos for its solid characterization and credible creation of tangled familial ties and strong sense of community. Chase excels in weaving humor and poignancy into her stories, and she does not disappoint with this one. Some readers may find Quinn more likeable than I did. Regardless, I like the Shaughnessy family enough to have added This Is Our Song (December 6, 2016), rock star Riley’s story, to my book calendar.

~Janga

Review - - The Christmas Cottage / Ever After

The Christmas Cottage/Ever After

By Samantha Chase

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: October 6, 2015
3.5 stars / 2 stars

This is a dual reissue of connected books released originally in 2012 and 2013 respectively.  In The Christmas Cottage, Lacey Quinn, as maid of honor, has been charged with preparing the legendary Callahan Christmas Cottage to the specifications of Ava Callahan, Lacey’s life-long best friend. According to Callahan family lore, everlasting love is assured any couple who spends the night in the Christmas Cottage, and Ava is determined to give her marriage this protection by spending her first night as a married woman in the cottage. In fact, Ava is so determined that everything be perfect that she has prepared a notebook with seventeen sections of instructions for Lacey, and just in case the preparation may be too much for Lacey, Ava has enlisted the help of her older brother and her fiancé’s best man, Ean Callahan, much to Lacey’s dismay.

Ean was Lacey’s first love, and no one else has ever measured up to him. She also associates him with the most humiliating moment of her life. The evening before Ean was scheduled to leave for college, fourteen-year-old Lacey kisses him and tells him she loves him. Ean is horrified. Lacey has been a part of his life forever. She is his little sister’s best friend, and their parents are close friends as well. He is fond of Lacey, but at eighteen, he sees the four years between them as enormous. Plus his attention is on college, the new world awaiting him, and the realization of his dreams. He handles the situation gracelessly, and Lacey is crushed. She spends the next decade avoiding him, a task made easier by his infrequent trips home. She takes off for the Callahan ranch outside Asheville, North Carolina and the site of the famous cottage, expecting to get a head start on Ava’s to-do list so that the time she has to spend with Ean is limited.

Ean has found greater professional success than he ever imagined, but his life in Boston has begun to seem empty. He realizes how careless he has been about spending time with his family and determines to change that, beginning with his trip home for Ava’s wedding. But he wants some time to himself to think things through before the wedding, and what better place to be alone than the family ranch.  Predictably, Lacey and Ean get snowed in, but being forced into one another’s company gives them an opportunity to sort out the past. Once they do so, they discover love blooms even in the snow.

Lacey and Ean’s romance is a sweet one, and once they deal with their past, which they do in a manner befitting two adults, the obstacles to their HEA are relatively minor with the real messiness being reserved for Ava’s love story. I liked Lacey and Ean (although I kept wanting to see his name spelled Ian) and thought their story was a heartwarming Christmas story. The only thing I disliked in this story was Ava’s behavior.

Ever After takes place eight months after The Christmas Cottage. Ava Callahan hasn’t seen Brian McCabe since the night before her scheduled wedding to Brian’s best friend, Mason. Brian paid a visit to Ava, armed with a list of reasons she and Mason were all wrong for each other. His reasons must have been persuasive—or perhaps it was that sizzling kiss and his confession of love for Ava. At any rate, Ava and Mason called their wedding off, and Ava hasn’t seen Brian since that night. Although she has no regrets about her cancelled wedding, the obvious happiness of Lacey and Ean plus the news that Mason is newly engaged and Ava’s realization that her life is not going according to her plan has her feeling a bit sorry for herself.

Brian knows Ava is the one for him, and he is willing to be patient. He has bided his time for eight months, giving her space to get over her breakup with Mason. But with Mason engaged and Ava about to graduate with her degree in library science, he thinks it is time to make his move. He is disappointed but not discouraged when she turns down his dinner invitation. He just regroups and anticipates another chance.

Ava cannot deny that she finds Brian attractive, but the idea of dating the best friend of her ex seems strange. But Brian is persistent, and he is so-o-o good-looking and so thoughtful. And he knows her so well, remembering details like her favorite flowers and her dreams of travel. And her family likes him. Her dad even invites him to play golf, something he never did for Mason. Soon Ava is falling in love, and everything is grand—until Brian refuses to go along with her idea of perfection. Maybe he is not the right man for her after all.

Brian is a dream come true. He truly knows Ava, and he loves her for who she is. Unlike Mason, he is not interested in changing her. He is infinitely patient, incredibly kind and thoughtful, capable of romantic gestures, great with babies, and a terrific lover. But Ava is so hung up on her obsession with the legend of the cottage and every detail of her happily-ever-after love playing out according to her notion of the perfect romance that she can’t appreciate what she has.

Ava is a shade less irritating in this book than she was with all her self-absorption and bitchy moments in the previous book, and she does become self-aware eventually—although typically even then her reaction is over the top.  As for Brian, he is endearing, but I would have found him more credible if he had been less longsuffering and rather more humanly flawed. The best part of the second book for me was seeing Lacey and Ean living their HEA, sleep deprivation and all.

I liked The Christmas Cottage and have no hesitation in recommending it for contemporary romance fans who like their books heavy on the sweet, low on conflict, and light on sizzle.  One caution: despite the title, the holiday is very much sketchily drawn background in this book with no substantive Christmas connection. And unless you are a reader who must read all connected books, I cannot in all honesty recommend Ever After.

~Janga