Kellie Coates Gilbert

Emotional And Visceral Series Conclusion. This is one of those books where you *feel* everything our main character feels. From the utter despair at the situation she finds herself in to the crash and crush of the white water rapids she thrusts herself into to try to escape the emotional turmoil... while telling herself that she's just doing her job.

While this is *technically* a romance, the romance is absolutely more of a side story here to the family and friend relationships of our primary show more character - so those that want a more romance-centric tale may not like this one quite as much, but those who enjoy a solid women's fiction with a touch of romance - still in the Hallmarkie type style, but with more focus on the friends than the boy, necessarily - you're going to enjoy this book quite a bit.

I personally came into this book having not read any of the prior three... which is probably not the best for a series concluding book, but even there, it worked well with fully fleshed out characters and a story that was easy to follow even coming in so late. Still, I absolutely recommend starting with Book 1 for anyone not reading an Advance Review Copy, as I did.

Overall a solid and emotional tale that will pull your heartstrings and have your pulse pounding with adrenaline in alternating measures.

Very much recommended. show less

In A Reason to Stay by Kellie Coates Gilbert, a career driven television reporter and a family oriented bass fisherman's marriage is threatened by their fundamental differences. This beautiful journey of self-discovery and healing is the third book in the Texas Gold series but can be read as standalone.

Faith Marin is a rising star at a local television station when she marries professional bass fisherman Geary. Soon after they say their "I dos", this once happy couple finds themselves show more drifting farther and farther apart due to their career demands but it is their conflict over Geary's extended family and Faith's career that takes the greatest toll on their relationship. On the brink of divorce, a sudden tragedy brings them together but will Faith allow the unresolved issues from her past drive Geary away?

Faith's ambition has its roots in her dysfunctional childhood and her attempts to leave her shameful past behind have been largely successful. She has worked hard to achieve her dream of becoming an news anchor, but instead of being content with each promotion, she sets her sights higher and takes on more responsibility at work. Unfortunately for her, these career aspirations lead to heated disagreements between her and Geary since he expects her to put family first. As their arguments escalate, Faith uses their differences to push Geary away instead of talking things through and as they begin leading mostly separate lives, she decides it is time to end their marriage.

Geary is from a close-knit, loving family who welcome Faith with open arms. Although he recognizes Faith's discomfort with his family's lack of boundaries, he does little to restrict their involvement in their personal life. Geary's belief that she should always put family first is a little unreasonable but when Faith sees her relationship taking the same tempestuous path as her parents', she shuts down. These misunderstandings erode their relationship to the point that when disaster strikes, their marriage is in serious trouble.

Although there are romantic elements to the storyline, A Reason to Stay focuses mainly on Faith's journey to make peace with her unresolved past. When it appears she is going to lose the one thing that validates her self-worth, Faith is finally forced to face the lingering effects of her troubled childhood. She also must examine her reasons for trying to distance herself from Geary. As she confronts these issues, her priorities begin to shift and in order to save her marriage, Faith is forced to have an honest discussion with Geary about her turbulent family history.

A Reason to Stay by Kellie Coates Gilbert is an emotionally compelling novel. The story is well-written and fast paced with a cast of well drawn, sympathetic characters. Faith and Geary's struggle to balance family and work is realistically portrayed and will resonate with readers. It is a heartfelt and engaging novel with a gentle undercurrent of faith that old and new fans of the Texas Gold series are going to love. show less

Friendship and family take center stage in Where We Belong, the first book of Kellie Coates Gilbert’s Teton Mountain Series. The author places us in the town of Thunder Mountain, Wyoming and makes us feel right at home. We get to know the local residents and their hopes and struggles. Charlie Grace Rivers is one of those people and I quickly was drawn into her life as she tries to turn her family farm into a working guest ranch. I love that she and her high school best friends are still show more close.

A local resident stirs up controversy over plans for a television show to be filmed nearby. To make it complicated, Charlie Grace has met a man she really likes – and he happens to be part of the production company.

Ms. Gilbert has a talent for making her characters seem very real. Her physical descriptions of the location are so vivid that the reader is transported to the site.
The story flows seamlessly, which keeps it believable.

The author provided me a copy of Where We Belong with no request or promise of a review. However, I am a fan of her work and can honestly say that this book did not let me down. I had a hard time putting this book down and am already anticipating the next one in this series. show less

My major issues with this book was that the synopsis on the back wasn't accurate. It made it seems as if the book would focus on Barrie's attempt to reach her daughter after her daughter begins spiraling out of control after being betrayed by her friends. The book quickly covers that issue and then all of sudden **spoiler alert** Pearl is killed in a car accident. I was turned off because it wasn't what I was expecting to read so I put it down. However, aside from the rushed pace, I really show more enjoyed Ms. Gilbert's writing so when I was in a better place, I picked it back up and quickly became engrossed in the story and the writing which focus on Barrie's grief as she tries to move on and continue life. That becomes much harder to do as she stumbles on some secrets that others including her husband beg her to keep quiet. Barrie decides that she must fight not just for Pearl for for everyone.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and the writing. The story still stayed fast paced but became much more thrilling as things got underway. My only issues is that I wasn't expecting Pearl to die ( or at least so soon) and that through me fore a loop. I wish that had been expressed on the back. show less