Three fun short stories.
THE WEDDING GIFT
A bride with cold feet might just make the mistake of a
lifetime, unless there's a wise woman around to set her straight. Includes two
bonus novellas to help you celebrate the seasons!
A week before your wedding is no time for your ex to ride
back into town, stirring up trouble. But that’s exactly the predicament Darla
McAdams finds herself in. With practically the entire town of Tishomingo,
Oklahoma, in attendance, the last place she wants to be is at her grandparents’
60th wedding anniversary party with the whole family, her fiancé and her old
flame all in the same room.
Darla’s grandmother Roxie has seen many a bride tested,
and she knows Darla is at a crossroads. It’s time to share the truth about
Roxie’s own marriage to Darla’s grandfather - and the gift that saved their
marriage so many years ago. By revealing secret after secret, the most
startling involving a television set, Roxie gives Darla a wedding gift she’ll
cherish forever, but only Darla can listen to what’s inside her heart and know
who she’s meant to say “I do” to.
Fun story about what happens when an old boyfriend shows
up a week before your wedding and tries to talk you into running off with him.
The story opens as Darla, her grandmother Roxie, and grandfather Claud get
ready for their sixtieth-anniversary party. Darla needs some advice from Roxie
but has to wait until after the party. In the meantime, she's faced with trying
to stave off Andy's innuendo-filled comments and remind herself that she loves
Will.
As soon as she hears the problem, Roxie knows what she
has to do. I loved her stories of the early days of her marriage to Claud,
especially the marriage license, his fishing tackle, and the television. Her
downhome and practical advice are spot-on (let's hear it for Sunday
"naps."). Old Andy gets what's coming to him when Darla and Roxie
discover he has more than one iron in the fire. I laughed out loud at Roxie's
clever way of doling out justice.
I loved Darla's fiancé, Will. He adores her and intends to
give her the best life possible. His little romantic touches are sweet and
remind Darla why she loves him. An unexpected twist at the end showed they had
more in common than they knew. I loved that they learned early on that trust is
vital in a happy marriage. The wedding scene was sweet.
A SLOW DANCE HOLIDAY
Legend has it the Honky Tonk bar in tiny Mingus, Texas,
is charmed and its owners will find true love. But when new owners Cameron
Walsh and JJ Jenks meet the week before Christmas and discover the deal
includes sharing an efficiency in the back of the bar, they're not sure it's
going to be the down-home Christmas they dreamed of…
Fun story. I've enjoyed the Honky Tonk series, and this
was a terrific, if short, addition. Cameron and Jorja (JJ) are each given half-ownership
of the Honky-Tonk by its previous owner, with the collusion of their
grandparents. Cameron has run a beach bar in Florida for years and looks
forward to having his own place. Jorja is just happy to get away from Nashville.
Each believes their new partner is the same gender as themselves, and they get
quite a shock when they meet.
Jorja is a red-headed spitfire who makes an immediate
impression on Cameron when they meet. Neither is willing to give up their
portion of the bar, so they quickly learn to work together. Their conversations
are fun as they adjust to working and living together. I loved the use of
animal pairings to give Cameron and Jorja the idea that they belong together -
from spiders and snakes to robins and possums, everywhere they look, they see
couples.
Jorja also faces the obstacle of dealing with her family.
The daughter of a preacher, they are not pleased that she gave up an excellent
job to own a bar. When her older sister shows up at the bar intent on forcing
Jorja to come home, it takes some effort to convince her otherwise. I loved
seeing Jorja stand up for herself. At the same time, Cameron realizes he
doesn't want her to go. I loved the ending.
SUMMERTIME ON THE RANCH
This city girl is about to learn a thing or two about
bad-boy cowboys.
Becca McKay has been in Nashville doing everything she
can to land a country music contract, but when her grandmother, Greta, gets
sick, Becca packs up her twelve-year-old SUV and heads back to Terral, Oklahoma
to help take care of Greta. Once she arrives, she quickly gets hired at the
O'Donnells' watermelon wine-making business.
Dalton Wilson has been the foreman on the O'Donnells'
ranch for a couple of years now. He's thirty years old and has a reputation for
being a bad-boy cowboy, but deep in his heart, he is more than ready to settle
down. It's love at first sight for Dalton, but convincing Becca that he is
ready to hang up his bad boy spurs is quite another thing—until the night they
both have too much watermelon wine and open their hearts…
Short and sweet romance from the Spikes and Spurs series.
After ten years of chasing her country music dream in Nashville, she leaves it
all behind to care for her grandmother in tiny Terral, Oklahoma. She gets a job
working at Austin O'Donnell's watermelon wine business and is soon dreaming of
starting her own vineyard. The only downside is resisting the bad-boy cowboy
foreman at the ranch across the road.
Dalton has a love-'em-and-leave-'em reputation with the
women of Terral. He wasn't interested in settling down until he laid eyes on
Becca. Suddenly, being a one-woman man doesn't seem like such a bad idea after
all. Unfortunately, convincing Becca he's changed his ways is an uphill battle.
I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between
Dalton and Becca. The sparks are there when they meet, but Becca is wary of becoming
just another notch on Dalton's bedpost. Dalton doesn't seem to get anywhere
until Becca's grandmother, Greta, pulls him into her orbit of church and Sunday
dinner. Just that little bit of seeing Dalton's honorable side has Becca
looking at him a little differently. I loved seeing them start to spend time
together and discover they have more in common than they thought. There are
some sweet scenes of burgers at the Dairy Queen and picnics in the woods, and a
hilarious scene involving a bull and a watermelon.
Things are looking up for them until a bit of Dalton's
past comes calling. I wanted to shake Becca for her reaction and enjoyed seeing
Greta call her out on it. I liked that Dalton and Becca were adult enough to
talk honestly with each other about what happened. I liked the ending and
seeing them look forward to a future together.
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