Cowboy Take Me Away

Cowboy, Take Me Away (Harlequin Special Edition)

About the Book:

Her camera didn't lie. When photographer Skyler Quinn first fixed her lens on gorgeous cowboy Trace Wolf Track, she liked what she saw but didn’t give it much thought. Until everywhere she went—the rodeo, the Double D Wild Horse Sanctuary— there he was, and the heat between them built to the boiling point.

As a widow struggling with debts and loyalties from a former life, Skyler needed to stay focused, especially if she wanted to achieve her dream of becoming a mother. Was Trace a fatal distraction, a mere summer fling? Or did this younger man—so deep, so passionate—hold the key to a future that would make all her dreams come true?

My Comments:

As short romances go, the characters in this one have more depth than many.  Unfortunately, like many of them, the couple falls in lust quickly, and goes to bed shortly thereafter.  Still, there is some depth to Sykler's character--she a former local pageant queen turned nanny turned stepmother turned widow who is setting goals and working toward them.  Trace has some pain in his past, and suffers from physical injury in the book but he doesn't want a nurse or a mom.  Guess how it ends?  An overworked phrase describes the book best "It is what it is" and if a quick predictable happy ending is what you want, I think you'll enjoy Cowboy, Take Me Away (Harlequin Special Edition)

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

Hats off to BYU!

In case you haven't noticed, I'm Catholic, not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  For the record, I have serious disagreements with much of their theology, and while we hold some moral standards in common (chastity for one), there are plenty of things they consider immoral that I do not (like drinking coffee or alcohol).  That being said, I'll tell you that I'm highly impressed with actions taken today by BYU, a university run by the LDS church which unabashedly calls on students to uphold the teachings of that church and to follow the lifesyle it promotes.  BYU, a school with a big-time (and I'm sure big-bucks) sports program, suspended a star athlete because he violated their honor code and had pre-marital sex.

While it is true that I share BYU's belief that pre-marital sex is wrong, I'd be just as much in their corner if they had suspended him for a latte grande from the local coffee shop.  He signed an honor code saying he would abide by certain behavioral norms, norms with which he was quite familiar having been raised, according to the article I read, in the LDS faith.  The school put its principles first, and the sports team second.  How many schools at that level can say the same thing?

When I started this article, I went to BYU's website, thinking I'd grab some graphic to illustrate this article, and I have to say, I was impressed.  First of all, I really had to dig to find the athletic links.  The university's website is about the school, not the football or basketball team.  Secondly, they put forth very strongly that they are about teaching their students how, in their opinion, to reach everlasting life.  Would that our Catholic universities were as strong in their support of Catholicism.

My Review: Already Home

Already Home

About the Book:

After nearly a decade as a sous-chef in a trendy eatery, Jenna is desperate for a change. She’s supported her ex-husband’s dreams for so long that she can’t even remember her own. Until she sees a for-lease sign near her parents’ home andenvisions her very own cooking store.

Her crash course in business is aided by a streetwise store manager and Jenna’s adoptive mother. But just as she’s gaining a foothold in her new life, in walk her birth parents—aging hippies on a quest to reconnect with their firstborn.

Now Jenna must figure out how to reconcile the free-spirited Serenity and Tom with her traditional parents, deal with her feelings for a new love interest and decide what to do about her ex’s latest outrageous request. In the end, Jenna will find that there is no perfect family, only the people we love....

Coming Unraveled, Mallery's story in THE KNITTING DIARIES anthology (April 2011), is loosely linked to the story in ALREADY HOME.

My Comments:

I got this from NetGalley, and as I've expressed before, one thing I like about NetGalley is the total lack of pressure to review books, and therefore, a total lack of pressure to stick with books I'm not really enjoying.  When I started Already Home I didn't care for the writing style, and after about 10% of the book,was considering abandoning it.  However, shortly thereafter, it grabbed me.  It is a love story, but not really a romance.  We learn about the love her birth parents have for each other, and for her birth siblings, the love her adoptive parents have for her,and for each other, the love she learns to have with her birth parents and the love that develops between her and a guy, and between her friend and another guy.  Jenna also needs to  learn to love herself again.  

I enjoyed watching Jenna's business grow and prosper.  I really liked her friend and employee.  She'd had a real lack of love in her life, and now is thriving under the love of Jenna and her family.  

Jenna's birth parents are portrayed as aging hippies, but in doing the math, I discovered that they were my age, and the hippies were definitely before my time.  Still, by the end of the book I had learned to care for them and realized that I had pre-judged them by outward appearances.  

I'll give this book a B.  It has a couple of intimate scenes that happen before marriage but they aren't graphic. 

Review: The Knitting Diaries

The Knitting Diaries: The Twenty-First Wish\Coming Unraveled\Return to Summer Island

About the Book:

Knitting is many things to many people.

Knitting is a way of life

The Twenty-First Wish by Debbie Macomber
Anne Marie Roche and her adopted daughter, ten-year-old Ellen, have each written a list of twenty wishes—on which they included learning to knit. Like many of their wishes, it’s come true and now they knit practically every day. But Ellen has quietly added a twenty-first wish: that her mom will fall in love with Tim, Ellen’s birth father, who’s recently entered their lives.…

Knitting is a passion

Coming Unraveled by Susan Mallery
When Robyn Mulligan’s dreams of becoming a Broadway star give way to an intense longing for her childhood home, she decides it’s time to make a fresh start back in Texas, running her grandmother’s knitting store. But the handsome, hot-tempered T. J. Passman isn’t making it easy on her. If he can learn to trust Robyn, and overcome his tragic past, they just might discover a passion like no other.

Knitting is a comfort

Return to Summer Island by Christina Skye
After a devastating car accident, Caro McNeal finds healing on Oregon’s sleepy Summer Island, where she’s warmly embraced by a community of knitters. She also finds meaning and purpose in the letters she exchanges with a marine serving in Afghanistan. But when life takes another unexpected turn, will Caro untangle her fears and pick up the threads of hope, opening her heart to wherever it takes her?

My Comments:

What could an anthology of three short romances by these authors be but sweet?  All feature knitters, and all three stories are preceded by knitting patterns.  The Twenty-First Wish is the continuation of Macomber's Twenty Wishes (my review) and like Macomber's recent work, it is squeaky clean.  With its short length, I didn't really get a feel for the characters, but since I "knew" them from Twenty Questions, it wasn't a problem.  Without that background, it is simply a predictable story with an overused plot--should she go for Mr. Steady and Reliable, or Mr Makes Her Heart Go Pitter Patter.  

The hero and heroine in Coming Unraveled are better developed than Macomber's characters.  Mallery's characters begin the book disliking each other but end it....  Both are hurting in their own way, each brings healing to the other and Grandma and her friends make this as cozy as a hand-knit scarf.  It is the only one of the three stories with an intimate scene, and I'd describe it as moderately graphic.

Return to Summer Island is about a young woman recovering from physical injuries and a young Marine she meets on the day before he is to return to Afghanistan.  While a bit unrealistic, the story was heartwarming, and if you are an animal lover, you'll be glad to know that a dog and cat are major characters.

While I doubt any of these stories will make any list of classic literature, they were all fun reads and if you like these authors and/or clean romances, give them a try.  Grade:  B-

Thanks to the publisher for making a complimentary review copy available to me via NetGalley.  I was not obligated to provide any review, much less a positive one.