Review: The Welcome Home Garden Club

The Welcome Home Garden Club: A Twilight, Texas Novel

About the Book:

Caitlyn Marsh stopped believingin happily-ever-after when high-school sweetheart, Gideon Garza, left for Iraq. Now she raises her small son whjile her matchmaking gardening club members drive her crazy. Then Caitlyn's world turns upside-down when Gideon swaggers back to Twilight.

Gideon had left town in the middle of the night with threats ringing in his ears. A lot of things have changed since then. This bad-boy-turned-Green-Beret bears scars from the war, the timid girl he loved is an independent mother, and the father who refused to recognize his son in life has, in death, left him a vast cattle ranch.

He still aches for Caitlyn, and now there's a dark-haired boy who looks exactly like Gideon did at that age. Could the child be his? And can this war-weary soldier overcome the scars of the past to claim the family he so richly deserves?

My Comments:

Once you get past the highly improbable premise on which the story is based, this is a better than average romance novel.  Caitlyn and Gideon were high school sweethearts.  She was the rich girl, he was the illegitimate son of a rich man and a poor woman.  Their fathers teamed up to send him off to the Army to get him out of town.  She thinks he died; he thought she forgot about him.  His father died, and decided to make him the heir (rather than the two legitimate sons).  She found out she was pregnant shortly after he left town, and married someone else, who conveniently enough was struck by lightening and killed just a few months ago.  

As I said, a very improbable premise, but I really liked the characters themselves.  Caitlyn was learning to be independent--and that it was ok to ask for help.  Gideon is trying to put the horror of war behind him.  They have their past, but have to work for a future.  

The book is mass-market romance and it has some very steamy intimate scenes and they happen before marriage.  Despite the sweet-looking cover, this is not a Macomber-style romance.  Oh, and just in case you are wondering--they live happily ever after.  

I'd like to thank the publisher for offering a complimentary review copy via NetGalley.  Grade:  B