GRR Her Heart's Promise by Carolyne Aarsen

Nadine is one of the editors of the town newspaper, and she's clashing with the new owner Clint. Nadine's father died under mysterious circumstances at work and was blamed for the accident that took his life, something completely out of character. And Nadine held his employer accountable and suspected a cover-up, and used her position to investigate the company. But Clint, as the owner, knew that the paper is running on paper-thin margins and can't afford a lawsuit, something that big company CAN afford, and he needs her to kill the story. It doesn't help that Nadine had a secret crush on Clint back in high school, only to fall for her younger and prettier sister (like all other men do), then broker her sister's heart. On top of that, her mother's sick, her grandmother is matchmaking her to ANY bachelor in town, and her FAKE boyfriend (one made up to appease grandma) turned out to be a real guy and actually do wanted to date her...

Uh, there's a HUGE plot hole in the background that seems the author forgot. Clint supposedly broke Nadine's sister's heart. In reality, he agreed to keep a secret for her. This was revealed in one of Clint's own musings. Yet he couldn't understand Nadine's hostility toward her. WTF? Is this guy STUPID?! Or just absent-minded?  Clearly, author tried to stack on the complications and forgot to verify that they actually make sense while stacked together.  Some parts of it was quite good, esp. when we got to about the half way point when more secrets are revealed and there was a plot twist, but pace is slow, and add logical errors, the book was "okay". 3/5

GRR Reviews A Cowboy's Reunion by Carolyne Aarsen

Kane can't believe his fiancee Faith actually abandoned EVERYTHING, including him, and ran off with a music band... along with his brother Elliot, of all people. He lost himself for a while working on an Alaskan oil rig, but when his pa broke his leg on a horse, he had to come back. And now, his pa told him that he may have to sell the ranch... And who did he spot on the side of the road in the rain? Faith herself, with just a bag and a guitar, and completely broke. // Faith sacrificed her future as a lawyer to follow her dream of being a singer, but when she had a conflict with a band member, she had to leave, and ended up broke, and practically back where she started. When food poisoning struck, she had no choice but to accept her ex-fiancee's help... As the couple slowly discover each other and recover from their shared past, someone dropped off two toddlers... Belonging to Kane's sister... who has been missing for several days. Faith is shanghaied into nanny duty, but she's heading to her friend's place to start over... right? Is pa really going to sell the ranch? What happened to the missing sister? Can two bachelors take care of 2 toddlers without Faith's help? Will Kane and Faith ever get over each other?

Wow, nicely escalations and new twists that keep coming, and coming. This is a great way to start a series, that introduces enough angst to last a while, without any info dump.

Category: Contemporary Western

Overall Rating: 5/5

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