I don't know, maybe it's me... This is the second 3.5 read I've read lately. Maybe it's not fair for me to be rating these right now, but in this case I'm wondering if it's not more that I'm too close to the subject matter at the time?

I know what it's like to have a narc. parent, in my case it's a step-parent, but still...And maybe that's why parts of this book felt both a little too close to home at times and a bit unbelievable other times? So fair warning, I'm doing my best, but this one's a little harder to give an unbiased review, but I am glad Mandi Blake chose to write this one and that she did write it this way, it's just hard to accept some truths in certain seasons of life, I'll just assume that's the issue here...?

I loved meeting Jameson and Ava in this one! I knew them from later books, but hadn't actually read the earlier books in this series yet, which brings us to why I'm reading this one now. Haha. Interesting timing, but God knows what HE's doing, so everything has a reason and I am choosing to believe the timing of this read isn't random either.

Still, I enjoyed the story overall as well! It's a sweet cowboy romance. City girl falls in love with her family's ranch, a ranch that she was forbidden to enjoy until recently. The romance was clean, although there was kissing and some people might not enjoy some of the kissing and subtle innuendos. There is also a faith element that I enjoyed seeing explored in this story, but it is a Christian book, so for those who aren't fans of that...Well, here's your heads up. It also mentions Christmas, which I tend to avoid (I avoid reading stories that focus on any holiday, not just this one.) but I was actually somewhat surprised how it was handled in this one!

I also loved seeing this new side of Mr. Chambers! I'd seen him in books #4 & #5 so far, but this was a new side and I loved seeing him slowly open up and grow in this one! Likewise, Paul provided some fun surprises of his own! I loved seeing both men interact with the younger men and women around the ranch. I love a good older mentor/parent who teaches the younger generation, and this one was a wonderful example of both types of relationships, both a more parental role (grandfather) and a mentor/skilled worker that others around the ranch look up to. ( )