A Small Town Bride - Hope Ramsay (Forever - Apr 2017)

Series: Chapel of Love (Book 2)

Amy Lyndon is tired of being the Poor Little Rich Girl of Shenandoah Falls. In her prominent family, she's the ordinary one - no Ivy League education and no powerful career. But when her father tries to marry her off, she knows it's finally time to stand up for herself, despite the consequences. Now that she's cut off from the family fortune, her first challenge is to fight her attraction to her handsome new boss.

When Amy shows up looking for work with his landscaping crew, Dusty McNeil thinks there's no way such a pampered princess will ever get her hands dirty. But as Amy proves him wrong and gets down to the nitty gritty, Dusty's admiration turns to like, then lust - and then love. But can a high-society woman like Amy ever fall for a man like him?

Very good story of love, family, expectations, and growth. Amy is the youngest in her branch of the Lyndon family. She is looked at as a spoiled princess, not just by the people in town but also by her family. Her greatest claim to fame is the size of the credit card bills that her father pays. When her father tells her he's had enough, he also tells her it's time to accept the proposal of the man she's been dating or to stand on her own two feet. To force the issue, he locks her out of the house and cuts off her credit and her bank account. Daddy expects her to run straight to Grady, who's already been telling people they're engaged. But Amy doesn't want to marry Grady and has told him so. After spending a miserable night in her car, she overhears that her cousin's wife Willow is hiring an assistant event planner, Amy heads for the inn. Unfortunately, the event planner job has been filled, so Willow offers her a job with the landscaping crew, fully expecting Amy to give up before the day is out.

In the previous book, Amy definitely came across as quite an airhead and started this book the same way. But that didn't last long, as Amy's pride refuses to let her give into her father's demands, especially as she doesn't love Grady. So she sucks it up and reports to head groundskeeper Dusty. Like everyone else, Dusty doesn't expect much from her, and her first assignment seems to prove him right. Amy is afraid to look stupid by asking for clarification on the task. She also takes it upon herself to do something else, which backfires on her. To teach her a lesson about asking questions, Dusty decides to send Amy on a "snipe" hunt. Completely unaware of the truth about snipes, Amy does as she is told. The result is hilarious and somewhat heartbreaking, and Dusty winds up feeling incredibly guilty. But Amy is so earnest and determined to be the best she can be, that Dusty finds himself unwillingly drawn to her.

Dusty has the reputation of being the Casanova of Shenandoah Falls. He is strictly a love 'em and leave 'em guy, as he never intends to marry. Dusty has been fighting for his reputation his entire life, thanks to a no-good drunk of a father. It seems that most people expect him to be just like his father. Dusty also owns a piece of land that has been in his family since the town was founded. He has plans for that land as soon as he has the money to carry them out. He is also fighting the county, who wants to take his land and turn it into a park. The court of public opinion is against him, and he's worried that they will succeed. His friends, David Lyndon and his wife Willow, are on his side and trying to help him. The last thing he needs is an unexpected attraction to Amy, the town princess.

I loved the development of their relationship. Amy is stubborn and determined to make it on her own. When Dusty finds out she's sleeping in her car (another hilarious scene) he works out a way for her to stay in a local hunting cabin. Amy has learned her lesson about asking questions and has discovered a wonderful thing called a library where you can find books about anything for free. I loved seeing her put that newfound knowledge to use, and she quickly starts to earn Dusty's respect. There is also an increasing undercurrent of attraction between them that occasionally leads to some smoking hot kisses (and finally a little bit more). With all the time that the two end up spending together, it isn't surprising that they really get to know each other. In spite of her apparent naiveté, Amy has an amazing amount of sensitivity when it comes to Dusty. She sees through the Casanova persona to the somewhat lonely and insecure man inside. I loved seeing her show Dusty that he is more than his father's son. Amy herself is pretty insecure also. Her family has spent so much time telling her that she's stupid and ridiculous that she believes it, too. I loved watching Dusty show her that she is neither, as she succeeds in training a dog everyone else had given up on, finds ways to help the event planner with some real Bridezillas and other crises, and even inspires Dusty to finally prepare a business plan for his land. She realizes that she's falling for Dusty, but expects nothing from him. Dusty fights the idea that he's falling for her. And when Amy's father and brothers interfere, Dusty makes a mistake that drives a wedge between him and Amy. I ached for both of them until Dusty gets some things explained to him and finally sees the light. I loved his big moment at the end, which was sweet and romantic.

There is a secondary story involving Amy's cousin Danny and his upcoming wedding to a reality tv star. Danny's intentions are honorable, but the whole event is a disaster in the making. The whole Lyndon family is involved. Pam is just as obnoxious in this book as in the first one, and I keep wanting to push her into a closet somewhere. Amy's brothers and male cousins are clueless and can't seem to see past the bride's physical attributes. I loved seeing Willow deal with the tv people and their demands. I loved how devoted Danny was to his little girl, though he was a bit blind to his options. I was surprised by the actions of a character from the previous book, who turned out to be much different than she appeared in that story.

The theme of family and expectations was strong. Dusty had to deal with the reappearance of his father and the trouble that he brought with him. I ached for Dusty because he was torn between what love he still had for his father and his disgust at his demands. I was furious with the way that the police chief and others treated Dusty after the fire. It was so satisfying to see the way that Amy stood up for him. As for Amy, I really wanted to smack her entire family for the way they treated her. Besides the way they put down her intelligence, the way they all kept pushing her at Grady was disgusting. Even though she didn't love him, they expected her to marry him anyway, because he was rich and could take care of her. What they did to her at Easter dinner was infuriating. I loved seeing her confound them all by standing on her own and being good at what she did.

A Christmas Bride - Hope Ramsay (Forever - Oct 2016)

Series:: Chapel of Love (Book 1)

A season of hope . . .

'Tis the season in Shenandoah Falls and the first time Willow Peterson has been home in years. But she's determined to fulfill the wishes of her recently deceased best friend and restore Eagle Hill Manor to its former glory-all in time to host the perfect holiday wedding. She just has to get the owner of the historic inn to hire her. Unfortunately, that means dealing with Scrooge himself...

After the death of his wife, David Lyndon has a bah-humbug approach to Christmas. But as December counts down and the wedding planning is in full swing, it's harder and harder to stay immune to the charms of Willow, especially when he sees how much joy she brings his eight-year-old daughter. After a simple kiss under the mistletoe turns into something more, David is hoping he can turn the magic of the holiday season into the love of a lifetime.

Very good small town romance, full of love, loss, family, and friends with a healthy helping of humor thrown in. When Willow was growing up, she couldn't wait to get out of Shenandoah Falls, away from her hippie, vegan, will-protest-anything mother. She succeeded and hasn't been home in years. But now she's back, trying to rebuild her life after a personal and professional betrayal. When she discovered that her company was defrauding the government, she blew the whistle. Unfortunately for her, her CEO boyfriend was also involved and has taken the lead in trashing her reputation. When she goes to visit her deceased best friend's mother, she is dismayed to discover that Shelly's dream of restoring the inn died with her. Her encounter with Shelly's husband David shows a man determined to sell the inn and move on.

David is still grieving the loss of his wife. The inn is a reminder of her and the way that she died. He plans to sell it and move on with his plans to run for Congress. But Willow's arrival throws his well-ordered life into chaos. She wants him to fix up the inn enough to host his cousin's wedding, something his family is strongly against. They want him to concentrate on his political future. Various townspeople also have no problem voicing their opinions also.

I liked Willow a lot. She may be down, but she hasn't given up. She isn't backing down from her stance on the fraud case. However, her self-confidence has taken a little bit of a hit over what she sees as her bad judgment in boyfriends. She also feels that people look down on her because of her mother. Underneath, she is a woman with a big heart and plenty of love to give. I loved her relationship with Shelly's mom, who had been like a second mother to her. And I loved her quick connection with little Natalie, who called her a "fairy godmother."

David took a little while to grow on me. He was so stiff and cold toward Willow at the beginning. I also disliked the way that he let his mother bully Natalie. I wanted to see him stand up to her. I softened a little bit when I saw how much he was still hurting over Shelly's death. He started to win me over when he stood up to Natalie's teacher over the spelling tests. The more I saw of him, the more I saw someone who buried his own needs and wants to live up to others' expectations.

I really enjoyed the development of their relationship. Willow, Shelly, and David had been friends for a long time. There had never been any hint of attraction between David and Willow until she came home, and both were surprised by it. David spends a fair amount of time feeling guilty about desiring someone other than Shelly. Willow doesn't want to feel anything for a man she thinks is too much like her ex. But she doesn't let any of that stop her from confronting him about the inn and telling him exactly what she thinks. Once David makes the decision to cooperate about the inn, he realizes that his attraction to Willow is a large part of why he did it. As he gets sucked into helping with the inn he also gets to spend more time with her. I loved seeing the effect that they had on each other. Willow is able to help David break out of the shell of grief he'd been in and start to live again. David helps Willow to see that she is much stronger than she thinks she is. The attraction between them continues to grow until it bursts into flame. I loved that scene and the morning after, as each of them begins to believe that they could have something special. But interference from David's family has him making a really boneheaded mistake, which drives a wedge between him and Willow. I loved that she stood her ground, and ached for her heartbreak over his actions. He finally realized the truth and his speech at his cousin's wedding showed just how much he had changed. I loved his big moment at the end as he opened up his heart to Willow. The epilogue was great.

There were some awesome characters and situations throughout the book. Willow's mom is still the same hippie she was when Willow was a kid, but Willow is much more accepting of her now. I really enjoyed seeing the two of them grow closer. The part with the park protest was hilarious. There is also some mystery regarding who Willow's sister's father is, though I have my suspicions. I really liked Shelly's mom and her obvious love for David. She could have been a real obstacle in his relationship with Willow, but instead she was behind him providing the kick in the tail that he needed. I loved their conversation in the kitchen the morning after he slept with Willow. She gave him some good advice from someone who'd been in his shoes. On the other side of the coin was David's mother. I didn't like her at the beginning, and absolutely nothing changed by the end of the book. She is a snob and a bully and incredibly self-centered. I loved picturing the look on her face every time he stood up to her. My favorite secondary character was Natalie. She, too, was grieving her mother's death, which made her especially vulnerable to her grandmother's bullying. David wasn't much better at the beginning, and I ached for Natalie and her unhappiness. I loved seeing her blossom under Willow's influence. It was especially satisfying, though heartbreaking, too, to see her confront David and her grandmother over the way Willow was treated. I'm looking forward to the next book and seeing more of Dusty.