Pamela Britton (1)

Wonderful story. Jasmine is a hardworking oil engineer, a woman in a man's field. It has taken her awhile to find a job and now that she has it she doesn't want to mess it up. She is also the single mother of twin girls, which adds another layer of stress to her life. Things are going well until she's assigned to work with Jet.

Jet isn't known for commitment to anything. He has a job at the company, but is rarely at the office. He's more known for his rodeo activities and the number of women show more he has dated. But he's getting more involved with the company, as he's going to have to step up while his sister, who really runs things, is out on maternity leave. On his first day as the new Jet, he is scheduled to meet the new engineer at a prospective site. When he gets there, he sees a beautiful woman that he assumes is a stripper that his friends have sent to prank him. Open mouth, insert foot. The woman is the new engineer and she has no trouble setting him straight. I loved seeing the way that he shows he's much more knowledgeable than she expected, but that he also has some balance in his life.

From the beginning Jet is drawn to Jasmine in a way he's never been drawn to a woman before, He's always avoided women with kids, but Jasmine and her girls get under his skin and into his heart. While he is definitely attracted to her, Jet realizes that what Jasmine needs more than anything else right now is a friend. I loved seeing him be there as a shoulder for her to lean on or to cry on. It was great to watch as he overcame the confusion of his feelings to realize exactly what he felt for Jasmine and her girls. It was fun seeing him getting into being with the girls, playing with them, but also worrying so hard when Brooke got sick. I loved seeing the changes in him, from the carefree and sometimes careless guy at the beginning to the loving and responsible man at the end.

Jasmine's life has made her very independent and self reliant. She is used to doing everything on her own. She isn't quite sure what to make of Jet when she discovers that he's not the careless and clueless guy she thought he was. His help and support are hard to resist and she finds herself falling for him. But Jasmine is reluctant to believe that anything between them can last as she's had far too much experience with good things coming to an end. She pushes him away, telling herself she's doing it to protect her girls, but in reality she's afraid to believe that that kind of happiness is possible for her. I loved the ending and seeing how Jet's patience and understanding of her fears enabled her to overcome it all and reach for the happiness she wanted. show less

Very good and emotional book. It opens with Ethan delivering his deceased friend's military working dog to Claire, who runs a rescue organization for MWDs. He's still hurting over the loss of his friend and not sure about what he wants to do with his life now that he's left the army. When Claire invites him to spend some time at the rescue, he accepts.

Claire started the rescue as a way to honor her husband, a former MWD handler, who had died of cancer. Her life got more complicated when her show more son was also diagnosed with cancer. He's well on the way toward remission now, but Claire can't let go of the fear that she could lose him too. A connection with Ethan is something she just can't handle right now.

I loved both Ethan and Claire. Ethan's love for animals, especially the military dogs is obvious. His pain over the unknown future of his friend's dog Janus is clear, and he's glad that Claire has the care of him. When he arrives at the rescue ranch, I loved the immediate connection he made with Thor, and how working with Thor helps Ethan heal from his own pain. I really liked how he bonded with Claire's son Adam and tried to show Claire that she could let go a little. Claire has been through so much, and I was impressed with how strong she has been. Her overprotective attitude is completely understandable. Since Adam has been sick, he has become the focus of her attention.

I really enjoyed seeing the relationship grow between Ethan and Claire. Both of them are a bit broken, emotionally. Ethan is suffering from a bit of PTSD and between that and his inability to decide on his future, feels like a bad bet romantically. But the more time he spends with Claire and the animals, the stronger he feels. He is also increasingly attracted to her, but she is fighting it. Claire is attracted to Ethan too, but tells herself she has no time for a relationship, that Adam is her sole focus. Each time that she gives in a little, she ends up feeling guilty. As the weeks go on, her feelings for him grow, but she's afraid to give in to them. I ached for Ethan as she pushed him away, and for her as she let her fears win. The ending was sweet and intense as they were brought back together by their love of a dog. The epilogue was great and not quite what I expected from the beginning of it. I loved the decision that Ethan had made about his future and how it was working out.

I really loved the three main secondary characters of Janus, Thor and Adam. Janus was so lost after the death of his handler. I ached for the way he looked for Trevor when he saw Ethan. It was fantastic that the rescue was working to find him a new and loving home. Where he ended up was absolutely perfect and had me crying happy tears. Thor was a different case altogether. I loved seeing Ethan figure out what his issue was, and the total change in him once Ethan started working with him. His fate was exactly what I expected to happen, and I loved his part in the epilogue. Adam was a terrific kid. His illness had made him pretty mature for a six year old. I thought he had an amazing amount of patience with his overprotective mother. I loved seeing him continue to improve throughout the book and behave more like a kid. His part in getting Ethan to stay at the beginning was really good - he made a great little bulldozer. show less

Very good book. Lauren has moved to Via Del Caballo with her ten year old son, to live with her brother. She has been struggling to make a life for the two of them since her husband's death, along with getting her nursing degree. She is independent and stubborn and slightly resentful that she needs her brother's help at all. She is very protective of Kyle, frequently overly so. When Jax encourages Kyle to get involved in steer riding at rodeos, she's alternately furious and terrified. She show more meets Bren at Kyle's first rodeo, when he tries to calm her down as she watches Kyle compete.

I loved seeing Bren try to help Lauren deal with what is happening. He's a cool and calm voice of reason in the face of her fears. He also makes an instant connection with Kyle, who is over the moon at meeting one of his heroes (Bren being a former bull rider himself). It isn't just her fear that Bren notices either. He's drawn to her like he's never been drawn to another woman, but he's determined to resist.

I loved seeing the development of their relationship. The sparks between them just leap off the page, making me root for them to get together. But neither one is looking for a relationship. Lauren's marriage hadn't been a very good one, and she has no interest in getting involved with another former military man with a dangerous job. Bren has never been a big believer in love, plus she's so much younger than he is. With his campaign for reelection going on, the last thing he needs is to be seen as a cradle robber. But whatever is happening is too strong to resist.

It took a little bit for Bren to get past the age difference and get up the courage to ask Lauren out. There was also a pretty significant push from her brother. Lauren had her own fears and insecurities that had her questioning her decision. I loved how both of them showed a little bit of vulnerability as they enjoyed their evening. Bren was quite the romantic and things were going well until they ran into that councilman. I ached for Bren as his fears about their age difference were renewed, thanks to the man's comments. I loved Lauren's reaction and comebacks. Later in the evening it was her turn for her insecurities to rise up, and I loved Bren's patience and obvious appreciation for her.

I loved seeing them get closer, and also get a little more comfortable with what was happening between them. I loved the parade scene, as Bren made their relationship more obvious. But there was also trouble brewing thanks to that same councilman. I ached for the effect it had on Kyle, and the guilt that Lauren felt because of it. She had also come to care enough for Bren that she didn't want to hurt his campaign, so she tried to pull back. I really enjoyed seeing Kyle, who was pretty mature for a ten year old, lecture Lauren about being a coward. I loved the final rodeo scene and the changes in all of them. I loved seeing Bren and Lauren accept what they feel for each other and move forward together. The epilogue was great, with a nice lead in to Jax's story. show less

Very good book with some pretty intense emotions. Cabe said yes when his friend Alana (A Cowboy's Pride) wanted to hold her wedding on his ranch, but he didn't know it would be a Christmas wedding. After losing his wife and brother at Christmas he hates the holiday. He has to work with the groom's friend Saedra to get the wedding planned in just two weeks. The two of them are like oil and water, but he can't deny the feelings she's stirring up.

I liked Saedra. First, she is determined to make show more sure the wedding is everything the bride and groom want and she won't let anything stand in the way, not even grouchy Cabe. There's something about him that makes her lose control of her mouth when he's around, so she always seems to make him mad. One thing she knows for sure is that she's really attracted to him. After discovering that it is mutual, she propositions him. Since she has terrible luck with men and relationships she has gotten into a "use 'em and lose 'em" attitude, and tells Cabe they can feed the attraction without getting involved. She doesn't expect to actually start to like him. She also sees the pain that he is still in from the loss of his wife. I loved the way that she always seemed to be able to tell when things were getting too much for him and stepped in to help him. It wasn't long before her "no strings" plan fell apart and she wanted more from him. It was heartbreaking to see the way she wanted to give him everything she had but he wasn't ready for it. I loved the courage she had to wait for what she needed.

Cabe has been hiding out for a long time. He hasn't been able to move on from the loss of his wife and hadn't really been able to face his memories either. With Saedra's arrival at the ranch things started to get out of control pretty fast. He's furious when she decorates the house, but has to allow it because of the wedding. Then he discovers that all that passionate anger has opened the door to another type of passion. He's attracted to Saedra and that makes him feel guilty, as though he's betraying his wife. He makes sure she knows that he's not interested in any kind of relationship and is kind of shocked when she tells him she just wants the physical, not the emotional. The more he's with her, the more he wants her, but the guilt just doesn't go away. When she helps him deal with some of the grief his growing feelings scare him and he pushes her away. He doesn't want to open himself up to that kind of grief again. I loved his epiphany right before the wedding and the wedding itself was priceless. show less