Four short stories, each set in a different season of the year, featuring the mail order bride trope. The common thread between the stories is each story's couple had sought a partner through the Hitching Post catalog where the interfering editor rewrote letters between couples to play matchmaker. They inevitably discover the deception early in the story, but of course the marriage (or some kind of chaste partnership) must continue and eventually feelings develop.

Each couple has a different backstory and set of circumstances which was interesting. It is all terribly cliche, of course, but in a nice cotton candy sort of way. Happy endings all around. I believe this is technically under the Christian romance sub-genre and there are no sex scenes in any of the stories - although there are a few saucy sentences!

It was a cute and comfortable dozing-off-in-bed kind of read.

Operation : Married By Christmas : Mule ...

I enjoyed this Love Inspired Romance. I received this book for free and I voluntarily chose to review it. I've given this a 4.5* rating. This clean romance sure stirred up a lot of emotions. The heroine and the hero have a lot of baggage they have been carrying around for 10 years and it took time for their talks got around to the heart of the matter. Found myself getting a little teary eyed a few times.

Reeling from divorcing her philandering husband, Cassidy Starr arrives late at night to begin moving in to the Texas farmhouse she inherited from her beloved great aunt Roxie. Jarrod Monahan, the cowboy-next-door, is quick to check on the lights over at the neighboring farmhouse that had been empty for five years.  While his arrival is timely, it is not an ideal way for Cassidy to encounter the man who had broken her young heart.  But it is fun for the reader...

Between rattlesnakes, wild hogs and other critters, rustlers and roundups, festivals with fireworks, women matchmaking and men gathering at the local feed store, this contemporary romance has much in common with the historical western romances that are my more usual reading fare.  There is the humor I enjoy, the integrated faith that I appreciate, and the engaging hero and heroine as well as the wonderful secondary characters that I love.  

Cassidy is endearing in her emotionally wounded, slightly accident prone way, and Jarrod is a stoic cowboy to crush on (if you crush on fictional characters) who finds himself nearly waxing poetic to the woman who he let get away.

"Have you ever seen anything so perfect?"

"Nope," he said honestly. "Nothing.  And the lambs are cute too."  Her eyes widened and he realized he'd actually said that out loud.  "I'm just telling it like I see it." (p138)

As this is the third book in a series, I was a little apprehensive about reading it first.  While there are some obviously recurring characters, including the main couples from the prior two stories, it did not suffer from my not having read them.  The secondary characters are a delight.  Jarrod's brothers and their wives are charming, the people of the town are amusing, and the secondary romance of two of the older townspeople added so much to the story.

Debra Clopton's writing is deceptively easy-going and quite approachable.  One of the things she does so well is giving the reader a consistently strong feel of the setting.  This was both helped and hindered, for me, by some of the word choices.  I could have done with a few less uses of "y'all" in the dialogue, while I was absolutely charmed by some fun turns of phrase in the narrative.

Holy smokin' pine cones!  Cowboyin' kept a body in shape. (p268)

This story was a delight to read.  Sprinkled with nice touches of humor, just the right amount of drama and action, integrated faith that is lived - not preached - by the characters, and a great blend of the daily life of a ranch and farm, secondary storylines, and the development of the primary relationship.  Definitely one I would recommend and I hope to read more from Debra Clopton.

The original, full (well, slightly longer) review is on my blog at http://wp.me/p5Tcfi-RO

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through Thomas Nelson and Zondervan's Fiction Guild. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in
Advertising.”

Having lived through her parents' endless string of "matrimonial bliss gone wrong," Cassidy Starr knows when the odds are not in her favor. Divorced and humiliated, her faith on rocky ground, Cassidy is through with love. She's been bucked off that horse far too many times. Instead, she returns to Wishing Springs, Texas, and the rundown farm she's inherited from her great aunt Roxie. She'll reopen the strawberry farm and a bed & breakfast and follow in her aunt's footsteps, remaining forever-independent, happy . . . and single. Rancher Jarrod Monahan's hands are full running the ranch, looking after his ailing grandfather, and chasing down a group of rustlers on the loose. He's pushed his longing for a family to the bottom of his list of priorities. Besides, he was in love once but ran scared and lost his shot at happiness. But suddenly, the biggest regret of his life has moved in next door with a wounded heart, determined to become a spinster ... and that's a challenge that Jarrod can't pass up. Jarrod sets his mind to breaking down the walls around Cassidy's stubborn heart. How can he show her that a cowboy's kiss lasts forever?

Amazon.com

Divorcee Cassidy Starr comes back to her hometown of Wishing Springs, Texas to try to heal and rebuild her life after getting out of an emotionally abusive relationship. Burned by love, she has no interest in getting involved with any men ever again, only wants to run the farm and B & B she inherited from her great aunt Roxie. What she doesn't count on is her old friend Jarrod still being in town. Jarrod runs the Four of Hearts Ranch, raising cattle, fighting off cattle rustlers and helping take care of his grandfather who is battling Alzheimer's. Jarrod has his own reasons for having emotional walls up, but is willing to let them down around Cassidy. Cassidy is a different story though. She feels a pull to open up to Jarrod as well, but her past pain doesn't want to let her unconditionally trust anyone again. There's some past romantic history between them as well, a hint of something that got bungled up that drove them apart years ago. "Jarrod had a few regrets in his life and Cassidy was one of them." It's never made all that clear what all happened except that Jarrod gave her one kiss one time and then ran off spooked. I feel like there'd be more to the story to that, given Cassidy's slight iciness at the memory, but that backstory isn't explained too well. 

There is also a smaller, secondary storyline regarding the relationship between longtime friends (and maybe almost old flames?) in their "golden years", Rand and Pebble. 

This is #3 in the Four of Hearts Ranch series. I haven't read any of the others, but I feel like this can do perfectly well as a stand-alone since I didn't feel in the dark about anything while I was reading. The story here is not too bad, my trouble with it is I found it to be pretty formulaic and predictable. Jarrod as a character was cute and charming but after awhile Cassidy got on my nerves a bit (I give props for Clopton making her a redhead though!). I get why Cassidy wants to swear off men but the constant "I am woman, hear me roar" attitude -- I mean, even when some guy just wants to be neighborly and help her carry something -- got really old. Honestly, I found myself more entertained by Jarrod's brothers and sisters-in-law, with their country encouragements and sass. 

"It's just going from point A to point B," she'd tell Cassidy. "You can do anything you want in life if you think about it like that -- and read lots of books." To prove that belief she had shelves and shelves of books on every subject imaginable. 

 

The bottom line was her aunt Roxie wasn't afraid of anything. She'd lived fully and on her terms until she'd dropped dead in her garden. She was probably up in heaven right now with her big, floppy, brimmed red gardening hat and her oversized chambray shirt and her gardening gloves, telling the Lord where she wanted the strawberries, tomatoes, and marigolds to go. 

 

And he was probably saying, "Have at it, Roxie. Things have never looked so good before."

Cassidy really lost my support after the first scene where Jarrod has to potentially face cattle rustlers that may or may not be armed. He's trying to explain how dangerous it is and she can't get past the "I don't need a man telling me what to do!" ranting. He wants her to stay back and when she refuses she claims he just can't handle her bucking his authority. As a woman I was wanting to scream NO! He maybe just cares about you and doesn't want you to get shot! UGH. 

Jarrod was off his horse in an instant, and before she knew what was happening he reached up, circled her waist with his arm, and lifted her from the horse and into his arms. And he held her there. Her pulse shot to the sky and she stared into his eyes, stunned by his actions and the electrifying way she connected to the concern in his gaze as his eyes dug deep into hers. 

 

Emotions tangled between them and she couldn't breathe. His eyes dropped to her lips and then yanked back to her eyes. "I can't stand to see you hurt," he growled. "I can't."

I also have to say the dialogue in this book drove me bananas. WHY does everyone in this town have to talk like their on that Hee Haw show?! I lived in Texas for a few years. There actually whole cities of people who don't sound like they stepped off the set of Lil' Abner. 

So yeah, I'd have to say this had it's cute moments but overall it's pretty much your generic romance with the typical HEA you'd expect. Not bad, but didn't leave me all swoony either. 

FTC Disclaimer: TNZ Fiction Guild kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.