Sarah Morgenthaler

Zoey Caldwell has finally saved up enough tip money from her waitress job at a truck stop to take her dream vacation to Alaska. She will stay on the couch of her rich friend, Lana's suite for two weeks while she enjoys her Alaskan adventures. What she doesn't count on is running into a murderer in the woods with a chainsaw. After she kicks him in the groin and calls the police, she finds out that is just Graham Barnett, owner of the local diner called The Tourist Trap, using his chainsaw to show more make carvings outside of his cabin. Graham has had his eye on Zoey ever since she came to town, but he has a strict rule about not associating with tourists. He might let his rule slide, however, just this one time because Zoey is the cutest woman he's ever met.

The Tourist Attraction is a breezy romance filled with quirky characters and laugh-out-loud situations. The snappy, sarcastic dialogue between Graham and Zoey makes them easy to like along with an entertaining supporting cast of both humans and animals. The only minor negative in this book is the ridiculous length of time that it takes for Zoey and Graham to come to the obvious solution to their problem, but overall, this is a pleasurable romance that is very enjoyable reading. show less

Light-hearted verging on silly, Mistletoe and Mr. Right takes readers back to the absurdity of moose shenanigans and pets in clothing in Moose Springs, Alaska. Unfortunately, the issues of the first in the series are exacerbated here. The heroine is a capitalist with a heart of gold, something difficult to swallow given our current reality, and the hero's personality seems to consist of being sad that his business is floundering and pampering his pets. Morgenthaler needs an editor with a show more heavier hand to trim these books by about 75 pages. One can only handle so much talk of Christmas-hating moose and temperamental hedgehogs before the rest of the plot is lost. show less

The Christmas You Found Me by Sarah Morganthaler
Heart of the Wilderness series #1. Contemporary romance. Chick lit. Single parent troupe.
Sienna Naples’s divorce is final. The painful marriage is finally over. It cost her more than she wanted to think about, but she was able to keep the ranch that’s been in her family for generations.
When a handsome man stands in front of Sienna and tells her he is applying for the job of her next husband, he is not joking. Funds are tight because his show more daughter Emma has stage-five chronic kidney disease and she won’t be able to stay on the transplant list if he can’t afford the medications and treatments she needs. She’s only four. Guy Maple is willing to do any job necessary to care for her. Sienna tells him the advertisement was an ill timed joke but seeing the sadness, the desperation and care he give his daughter, she wants to help. Sienna agrees to marry Guy so Emma can be covered on her insurance and they move to her ranch the very next day. Married. Sienna falls in love with both of them. They become a family. But Emma is a very sick little girl and no one knows if a miracle will occur in time.

🎧 I listened to an audiobook version of this story narrated by Haley Taylor. The performance is well done with distinct voices for Sienna and Guy and Emma. Tension came through clearly as well as the love they found. A lot of the dialog felt like it was being deliberately pitched low and soft to keep the sadness and worry front and center. It was a whisper at times though the volume was fine. Given the medical worry, and the practicality of a very restrictive diet for Emma and that she’s only four, there isn’t an abundance of joy in the book, so the tone fit. Of course there are tender moments and growing love so it’s not all sad either.
I listened at 1.5 to match my reading and speech standards.

Beautiful but on pins and needles the whole book. Knowing that kidney disease is a real condition and there simply aren’t replacement parts for everyone that needs them, this story is heartbreaking. Without spoiling it too much, read without the tension I had and know it’s romance at the core and yes, you can trust the author.
The story is sweet as the three grow close and become a loving family. The last ten percent is tense until the very end. I need some recovery time. My heart doesn’t like that level of stress.
Romance books. Because I need the happy.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Dreamscape Media. show less

I really liked the first book in the Moose Springs, Alaska series, but I found this one more problematic. Lana Montgomery is the rich outsider determined to build condos in the tiny town that doesn't like visitors. Rick Harding is a native, running an unsuccessful pool hall and living with his grumpy teenage ex-brother-in-law, a mean cat, and a hedgehog he likes to dress up for different occasions. (What is it with the bachelors in this place and dressing up their pets?) They don't have much show more in common, or maybe they do?
It's a quick read and an okay story, but I guess I would say that I found it too slick, if that makes sense. The quest for the Santa moose, the too coincidental bailouts by Lana, and Rick's bad luck combined into a story that didn't quite work for me. It wasn't bad and it had its funny moments, but sometimes I want something not so polished. show less