ARC REVIEW The Luckiest Cowboy of All by Carolyn Brown

Happy Texas #3, Jace Dawson probably the nicest, caring, unselfish guys I've ever read. He's also great with his niece and nephews and he has a way with animals. So what did he do to deserve this? I enjoy Carolyn Brown's writing it's emotional and well paced, the characters are likeable for the most part, Carlene not so much but she grows on you. The situations isn't overly angsty and aside from the times you really just want to smack Carlene upside the head for being stubborn and kind of stupid at times the characters are fun. Especially Granny Hope who has a bit of a side story going on and Valerie, which I am glad to say she has gotten that stick removed from her butt and she is a delight in this book, and of course Lila, Brody, Kasey, Nash, and the kids they are awesome. I how Carolyn Brown doesn't depict a picture perfect small town, Texas small towns are often super judgmental, close minded, and very gossipy but at the same time very friendly and will go out of the way to help and I love living in a small Texas town.

Carlene and Jace feel in love in highschool, but unfortunately Carlene's Dad was in the military she had to move shortly after graduation. They kept in touch for about a week or two then Carlene cut off all communication. Jace's heart was broken and never became seriously involved with another woman after that. Nine years down the line Carlene inherited her Great Aunt's farmhouse and after spending her whole life moving first with her father then with her sister, who also was in the military, she decided it was the perfect place to put down roots mostly for her daughter Tilly. Carlene loved Happy Texas and the few years she spent there were the happiest memories. Her first day back and Jace shows up, she knew he would eventually she just wish she had time to prepare she wasn't ready to tell him about Tilly, his daughter. The reason Jace showed up was two fold, one he wanted to see Carlene and two he needed to tell her the house she inherited was sold to him a couple of months before her aunt's death. One look at Tilly and Jace knows she is his daughter, she is the spittin' image of his sister but with his eyes. It's a good thing Jace found out first because with how fast gossip spreads in that town can you imagine how pissed Jace would have been if he found out through gossip, heck I'm surprised they managed to keep it from Tilly as long as they did and when she does find out she adamantly proclaims she doesn't need a Daddy. Carlene has some adjusting to do as well, she so use to being the only one there for Tilly that suddenly having a big family to help when needed is a little overwhelming. It's a long journey for Jace, Carlene, and Tilly to become a family with lots of bumps along the way, the biggest one being Carlene herself.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one. I don't know if I would have called Jace the "luckiest" he did miss out on almost nine years of his daughter's life, but he is lucky that he finally has them in his life again. I absolutely adored Granny Hope's side story.        

   

ARC REVIEW Long, Tall Cowboy Christmas by Carolyn Brown

A Little bit of Christmas Romance for you ever growing TBR list...

Happy, Texas book 2, While I did enjoy the book there were a couple of aspect that kept me from loving it. I loved the main characters and their romance and the situation they are having to deal with, what bugged me is how backwards Happy sounds, it's like the whole town is a bunch of old biddies gossiping about each other and how hypocritical some of the secondary characters acted. Another thing, and this one is personal preference, I know the other books have the religious aspect in them and it's normally not that bad it just this one seemed a little to overly religious for me.

Nash finally thought he could move on with his life, raise his sheep and live a quiet normal life after being in the military. Why not a town like Happy seemed just the place to do it. He didn't know that he was going to be living next door to the widow to one of his soldiers that never made it home, one of his friends someone he feels immense guilt for how he died.

Kasey Dawson moved back home with her three children after her husband's death. After the rough first meeting with her new neighbor Kasey is willing to give him a bit of leeway since he's a veteran but when he hits his head and gets concussion induced memory loss and confusion and thinks that Kasey is his wife and her three kids are his own and the doctor recommends she go along with it, she thinks that's going too far, it feels like she's cheating on her dead husband, but she's going to do it anyways. After spending time with him and seeing how good he is with her kids and even after the confusion passes and he remembers things as they should be Kasey and the kids stay. Nash still hasn't told her about her husband and he's afraid that will be the thing that keeps her from giving her heart to him.

Overall, it's a good Christmas Romance, and aside from my nitpicking certain thing if you love Carolyn Brown you'll love this. 

ARC REVIEW Toughest Cowboy in Texas by Carolyn Brown

The first of a new series by Carolyn Brown, Happy Texas is a spin off of her Lucky Penny Ranch series which is a spin off of another series, Lucky. It's a typical Carolyn Brown western romance, funny and loveable characters with a heartwarming story and a steamy romance.

Happy, Texas isn't the place where you go to let the past die it's quite the opposite for Lila Harris. When Lila lived in Happy she was known as the wild child, there isn't anything she wouldn't do. She was also secretly dating Brody Dawson; it had to be done in secret because it was very obvious that his mother and grandmother didn't approve of her. It never mattered to them they were young, dumb, and in love until Brody broke her heart. Lila left Happy heart broken and changed she became studious and worked hard to leave the wild child reputation far away from her but Lila goes back to help her mother sell the diner and as soon as she crosses the city limit sign she itching to do something crazy as long as it has nothing to do with Brody.

Brody never left Happy like he was supposed to, he was all set up to go to college but both his father and grandfather died and Brody was left to take care of the ranch and keep the family afloat. Life went on and Brody stayed the same just older and wiser and a lot more cautious. Twelve years down the line Brody is still at the ranch and Lila has come back into town for the summer or less if the diner gets sold sooner. They try to avoid it but all the unresolved things left between them, the sexual charge, and all the people telling them to stay away from each other just pulls them together. The romance is rekindled but Lila still plans on leaving and Brody wouldn't be happy any other place than his ranch can they survive another short lived romance or will they finally burn out the young love or let it grow into something so much more.

Overall, it's another fun and good read from Carolyn Brown. I can't wait for the other books. Brody has a sister with a brood of kids who lost the love of her life overseas and a younger brother and they need HEAs of their own.