Anne McAllister

Valentine Charms by Anne McAllister

Heartwarming, wonderfully sweet romance with a happily ever after ending that swept me up in the story and charmed my soul…

Jane Kitto teaches second grade at the Catholic school she once attended. When Zack Stoner sweeps back into her life to do a story on the school they are both alumni of she is a bit taken aback. When she was seven he was the bad boy she was warned against but even then she found him…intriguing. Zack had a rough childhood and acted show more out but did make good by going to college and becoming a successful football player. Now retired he wants to help the school that he feels helped him move in the right direction. The two will need to work together to make the TV segment all that it can be but working together will also require them to spend time in close proximity and give them a chance, as adults, to get to know one another better and perhaps find a future together. And, that is just what Jane’s students are intent on helping happen for the teacher they love.

This is a delightful book. It has a secret admirer sending charms to Jane for years. It tells the backstories of both main characters. It captured me and made me feel part of the story and left me with a warmth and happiness not many books achieve. It may be simple in some ways but oh so very complex in others. And, it made me wonder if perhaps there are choices we have made as children or youth that have impacted someone as greatly as Jane impacted Zack one school day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tule Publishing – This is my honest review.

5 Stars show less

I try reading a lot of free ebooks since currently that's what I can afford. There's good stuff to find in any price category, and this novel's a prime example of a gem among rocks, though I couldn't tell until I got to the fifth chapter, when I knew I'd have to finish reading it.

It is all told from Luke's point of view, and he is the quintessential cantankerous cowboy. I grew up among those. The worse they're hurt, the harder they'll turtle up. The ways the author uses to crack his shell show more are gorgeous. I can't think of a better word for it. There's not just one, they come from different directions, and it still takes time and danger, and then it's still not simple. The last few chapters had me in tears several times.

Yeah. Read this one. show less

Romance novels are ... well ... let's face it. Fluff. We read them because we want a formula of boy-meets-girl, not-too-insurmountable difficulties, and then a happy ending where the girl gets the boy. On the way, hopefully the author will teach us something and make us fall in love along with the characters. This was one of the ones that met those goals.

Luke Tanner is poignant as the cowboy-turned-stunt double-turned-cowboy who retreats back into his original trade after the tragic death of show more his best friend after the friend died after insisting on doing his own stunt. Not only mourning his friends death, but also to escape unresolved feelings for his deceased best friends grieving fiance, Luke turns back to the hard, solitary life of a cowboy to find peace. When his best friends fiance suddenly shows up two years later to interview him for a memoir about their mutual movie actor/friend, old wounds are suddenly reopened.

Unlike most romance novels, this one was written entirely from the viewpoint of the hero. We get to inhabit Luke's head as he keeps pushing Jillian away despite his resurging feelings for her and realize he isn't doing so simply to be a jerk. His guilt over not talking his friend over doing the stunt the day he died and the fact he had always possessed feelings for the woman now at his doorstep feel palpable and genuine, not contrived.

Especially realistic was the authors descriptions of the daily duties of a cowboy. No glamor here. Just lots of hard, repetitive, lonely, dangerous work. I know little about the real life of a cowboy, but the job description felt gritty and real, not some watered-down romantic version of what it meant to be a cowboy. I learned something.

Keeping in mind a 5-star rating for a formula romance novel isn't the same thing as, say, 5-stars for Charles Dickens, I would say put this one on your reading list. You'll feel good at the end. show less

This story was a delightful read until nearly the very end when the author decided to write in an explicit love scene. I am just not a fan of graphic descriptions of lovemaking. They always seem too forced and are definitely unnecessary to furthering the plot. The best romance stories I've read are when the author eludes to the physical intimacy but focuses instead on the emotional intimacy between the main characters therefore establishing a relationship that is truly believable and show more sustainable. This particular author did a fantastic job with the emotional rollercoaster of falling in love and learning to care about the other persons feelings and experiences. But I wish they would have left the bedroom details to the imagination of the reader. Authors always seem to try too hard in their love scenes to make it sexy and and end up describing things in ridiculous terms that are outright laughable. This book was not an exception to that. I absolutely adored Zack and Jane. Their love story, 20 years in the making was so sweet and delightful. Who doesn't love a tough "bad boy" with a soft heart and a heroine who is a genuinely nice person? I just wish I could recommend it to my friends and book club but they too do not care for x-rated scenes. Would have been 5 stars if the author could have trusted her own story and writing abilities and not resorted to unnnecesary sex scenes.

*I received a free copy from Librarything in exchange for my honest review* show less