Caitlinallycesmum's Blog: family

Saturday, 30 January 2016

REVIEW Hope for Christmas by Becky McGraw

SYNOPSIS

Cowboys are a different breed...
They work hard, play hard and love harder.
It's all about the ride, until the right woman
makes them fall.

Cord Dixon, Mr. Laramie in the world of western clothing modeling, loses his job because he refuses to sleep with his female boss. Christmas is coming, and his bills are due, so he takes the only job he can find. A mall Santa. Socialite wedding photographer, Hope Carlisle’s life disintegrates when she ruins the wedding of the year. In one fell swoop, she loses her best friend, her business partner and her fiancé. Unemployed and needing a job fast, Hope takes a job as an elf photographer at the local mall. She is not looking forward to her new job, until she meets her sexy Santa. Individually, Hope and Cord’s lives seem to be a hopeless mess.

But with the magic of Christmas in the air, they work together to reclaim their lives and find love in the process.

Hope For Christmas was originally included in the holiday anthology Santa Wore Spurs. This novella launches The Cowboy Way series.

REVIEW

I started and finished this book in one day because I could not put it down. This is the first book that I have read by Becky McGraw and it will not be my last.

Cowboys, socialite, models, mishaps and Santa all lead to a fabulous story of about guilt, family, loyalty, jealousy, love, and learning to trust.

Cord Dixon left his family ranch home to become a model for Laramie Jeans and due to him saying no to a certain proposition he finds himself jobless and dressed in a Santa suit and not sure if he would be welcome back home. Hope Carlisle meets said Santa as she is his elf photographer because of a certain mishap in her past. On Hope's first day Cord loses it and decides to quit which leaves Hope without a job till she has a brainwave and makes her own offer to Cord - which he accepts.

This story held me captive with the ups and downs of Cord making amends with his family, the budding romance/attraction between Cord and Hope, both frightened to say how they felt and what they wanted. The show of friendship from Cords friends to help him repair his family home, throw this all together and it all lead to an amazing love story that give you that feel good factor after finishing a book. Congrats Becky McGraw - LOVED it. 5 stars.

ABOUT BECKY

A Jill of many trades, NYT and USA Today Bestselling Author Becky McGraw has been an optician, a beautician, a legal secretary, a real estate broker, web designer, graphic artist, and romance writer. She knows just enough to make her dangerous, and her humor-laced contemporary western cowboy, and military, police procedural romantic suspense novels varied and interesting. Becky resides in Florida with her husband of thirty-three years and her dog Abby. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America Published Authors Network.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

Facebook: www.facebook.com/beckymcgrawbooks

Website: www.beckymcgraw.com

Twitter: @beckymcgrawbook

Email: beckymcgrawbooks@gmail.com

Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/beckymcgraw

Wednesday, 5 August 2015

BLOG TOUR & REVIEW MONTANA CHERRIES by KIM LAW

MONTANA CHERRIES

Montlake Romance, Contemporary

July 28, 2015

Paperback & Kindle

After her mother’s tragic death, Dani Wilde had no choice but to abandon her dreams. She left Columbia University and returned to her family’s Montana cherry farm, intent on being a maternal figure to her brothers. Now the kids are grown, and it’s finally her time to fly. Her sights are on New York City, and nothing will stop her—not even an old flame with gorgeous green eyes.

Celebrity photographer Ben Denton hasn’t seen Montana in years—and hasn’t spoken to Dani since "that night" so long ago. When he discovers he’s a dad to a four-year-old—and the child’s mother refuses to care for her—Montana and the Wilde farm spring to mind. The orchard is the only place that’s ever felt like home, but will the warmth of the Wilde family be enough to help Ben figure out how to be a father?　

As the Wilde family gathers for the yearly cherry harvest and Dani struggles to figure out what she really wants in life, she discovers the shocking truth about her own mother—and learns that following her heart may lead her to her dreams after all.

Dani Wilde is in college when her mum dies and she has to return home to look after her brothers, now years later the boys have grown up and Dani has decided to get on with her life and move to New York and do what she has always wanted to do - live and work in a big city, while her brothers take over the running of their family cherry farm - or that is what she thought would happen.

Ben Denton a now famous photographer and an old friend to the Wilde family, when finding out that he has a four year old he knew nothing about, when the mother hands his daughter over to him and leaves, decides to return to Montana and goes to the Wilde family to see if he can get his life in order and to try to bond with his daughter.

Dani and Ben have a history of friendship and 'one night' together 10 years ago and they have not seen each other since then so when Ben returns to the farm, she is shocked to still feel the same for him that she did all those years ago and she decides that she will not go there again!! but she is also determined that his returning will not stop her from finally leaving her home. No other woman has ever stood out more than Dani to Ben, he knows that she is leaving after the cherry harvest but he can not seem to stay away from her, she helps him to see what he needs to do to become a father to his daughter and slowly he falls in love once again with her. Now he has to try and win her once again, but winning her may mean that she has to give up her dream once again or winning her and then losing her again may be his only option but will he survive a second time?

Dani has made a life looking after her brothers and the cherry farm, she has opened a shop in town and made a success of it but something in the back of her mind tells her she is missing something vital but she can not put her finger on it, memories flash up that she can not remember but leave her sad but she can not remember it all. When the sadness takes over Dani escapes either for a walk thru the farm or she sits on the dock to try and process what is going on, this is where Ben finds her and they fall back into their friendship and when Dani's world falls apart, he is there to help her through it.

This is a story that deals with mental illness with grace and dignity, old friendships, love, family bonds, and a family growing to learn to trust and love once again. The background story of Dani's family and the cherry farm all add to this fantastic story, I know I will be reading this book again as Kim draws you into the story and keeps you there with wanting to know what will happen next. I definitely call this a MUST READ and I hope that we get to read about the other characters in this book as I hope their story gets told too.

KIM LAW

BIO:

As a child, award-winning author Kim Law cultivated a love for chocolate, anything purple, and creative writing. She penned her debut work, "The Gigantic Talking Raisin," in the sixth grade and got hooked on the delights of creating stories. Before settling into the writing life, however, she earned a college degree in mathematics and then worked as a computer programmer. Now she’s living out her lifelong dream of writing romance novels. She’s won the Romance Writers of America’s Golden Heart Award, has been a finalist for the prestigious RWA RITA Award, and has served in varied positions for her local RWA chapter. A native of Kentucky, Kim lives with her husband and an assortment of animals in Middle Tennessee.

CONTACT LINKS:

www.kimlaw.com

kim@kimlaw.com

twitter.com/kim_law

facebook.com/kimlawauthor

pinterest.com/kimlawauthor/