3.75 stars
I grabbed this title because I have enjoyed books by the author in the past. I was a little hesitant because I mainly enjoy her cowboy books, but a New Year’s theme fits the season, and Marin Thomas hasn’t disappointed me yet, so New Year’s at the Graff was invited to occupy some space on my Kindle.

Lucas is a San Diego businessman, and he’s been banned from his newly discovered family’s holiday celebration. After offending his father’s wife, he is invited to take some time off, using his father’s company credit card to pay for his departure. Since he has the time off, Lucas decides to head to Marietta. He was born there, and his single mom lived there briefly when he was a baby. Going through her belongings after her death, he discovered that she had wanted to thank the people who helped her out when she was pregnant, homeless, and penniless.

Ava is a young widow, and she’s struggling to raise her young daughter, Sophie after her husband died in service to the country. Moving to Marietta, her mother-in-law helps her out. Ava works at the Graff, which helped her pay bills while she attended college. Now that she has a degree, she is attempting to start an organization that helps single mothers help themselves earn an education.

When Ava and Lucas first set eyes on each other, they both feel a zing. Later, at the New Year’s Eve fund raiser, Ava and Lucas meet and they can’t deny the connection between them. Lucas, however, makes it clear that he has a job in San Diego that he will have to eventually go back to, because he feels that he has to prove himself to his father. He’s trying to get a real estate deal closed in Marietta, too, which he believes will cement his position at his father’s firm. Too bad it’s the same property that Ava wants to use for her new business.

I really enjoyed this gentle story. Lucas, while tracking down the townspeople who gave his mother a helping hand when she most needed it, learns a lot about both her and himself. Because of his childhood, he has decided that having a family just isn’t for him. He watched his mom struggle to keep a roof over his head, and he doesn’t feel that he needs that kind of pressure in his life.

Watching Ava and her daughter, though, he feels an instant connection with both of them. Ava is wary of allowing Lucas into their lives. She knows that he’s going to leave, and that Sophie will be broken hearted when he does. To protect her daughter, she tries to keep her distance from him.

Lucas’ father makes an appearance, and I really liked the guy. I was not expecting to. He’s a little misguided and didn’t own up to his mistakes and his responsibility, but after getting to know Lucas, he accepts his blame and tries to make it up to his son. While I enjoyed the relationship between Ava and Lucas, it was the one that developed between Lucas and his father that I found most compelling

This is a quick holiday read with a satisfying resolution. I am firmly convinced that both Ava and Lucas have found their HEA.

A string of coincidences lays the groundwork for a happily ever after. New Year's at the Graff is a story of small town living, family, and new beginnings. City slicker Lucas hits small town Marrietta with an agenda. Plans change when his heart becomes tied up in a feisty country girl and her equally adorable daughter. Ava is a woman on a mission to follow her dreams and help others in the process. When a handsome stranger and a New Year's kiss disrupt her life, will she have the strength to risk her heart and dreams for a big city man? My favorite reads are small town stories. What may seem complicated, can often be simple and the helping hands and family atmosphere speak to the sentimental aspect of my personality.

I absolutely loved this book!! I agree with one of the reviews that relates it to the movie "Sweet Home Alabama" with some bits of the sarcasm of the TV show "Mom".

I don't know how Katelyn did it. Putting up with that mother-in-law (Shirley Pratt) of hers. She was ghastly. HA!

I could relate to a lot of these characters. I think I pretty much talk to my friends the way Shirley talked to Katelyn, but to hear it from your mother-in-law? 

It gets even funnier when Katelyn and Shirley take a road trip to see Katelyn's mother in Little Springs, Texas. Thinking back, I am laughing all over again.

This is a very enjoyable, entertaining and hilarious read that I just sped through.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Twins for the Texas Rancher - Marin Thom... 3.75 stars

Review to follow

Late in March, I was visiting author Kristy Harvey's blog,www.kristywoodsonharvey.com. Harvey is the author of fan faves such as Dear Carolina and Lies and Other Acts of Love. While reading Kristy's posts, I ran across a book giveaway that caught my attention immediately. I entered right away.The Promise of Forgiveness by Marin Thomas was that book. Kristy notified me a couple of days later that I had won. Yay me, right?! Thank you, Kristy, for introducing me to Marin Thomas!! Coincidentally, I found Kristy Harvey through a group of talented female authors at www.tallpoppy.org. Marin Thomas is also a part of this fabulous group and I highly recommend that you check each of these ladies out, if you haven't already discovered them for yourself. All are a great, supportive bunch and each brings her own unique charm to Tall Poppy Writers. Now, back to Marin and her brilliant women's fiction debut, which, if you're still following along, I won through a blog giveaway.

Hot diggity dog! As promised, I received my prize package and I was delighted to find not one but TWO SIGNED BOOKS from Marin!! Thomas was kind enough to send a signed copy of A Cowboy's Claim. I quickly sent an email thanking her for her generosity. Marin answered back right away, confirming what I had suspected. Marin Thomas is an author that cares about her fans and those that read her stories. Does this influence my opinions of Thomas's books? Nah. The book stood out on it's own. But it does make me a lifelong fan.

Ruby, accompanied by her fourteen year old daughter Mia, steps off of a Greyhound bus at the desolate, windy four corners of Unforgiven, Oklahoma. Thomas was brilliant here, creating a small town that represents her characters life choices, decisions, and emotions. Unforgiven is Ruby's birthplace but she didn't return to reminisce. Ruby received a summons of sort from her birth father, a man she has never met. To Ruby, Hank McArthur is yet another person that deserted her. Ruby has come to Unforgiven to meet the coward that gave her away when she was but days old. Filled with anger and false pride, Ruby plans to give ole Hank a piece of her mind. But Unforgiven has other plans for the thirty one year old Ruby, a single mother who has made bad decisions of her own. Ruby and Mia have a strained mother/daughter relationship and before Ruby can judge others, perhaps she needs to take a step back and fix herself. Mia is not speaking to her mother, she blames Ruby for almost everything and like a typical teenage girl, rebels against her mother. The bleak and dusty Unforgiven seems like the last place in the world for Ruby and Mia to find happiness and hope. After all, what's to love about a town filled with nothing but grit, grime, secrets, and unrealized dreams? Well, there's Joe, the quiet ranch hand at Devil's Wind that Ruby takes an interest in. Then there's Hank. Mia attaches herself to Hank and his rescued horses immediately, putting more distance between mother and daughter. Ruby didn't plan to spend much time in this Godforsaken town but Unforgiven has plenty in store for Ruby, Mia, Hank, and Joe. Each of these characters are seeking forgiveness and a place to call home. Living in Unforgiven might teach some to forgive and the unlikeliest of families to form, moving past hurt and resentment.

I enjoyed this book from cover to cover. I liked that Ruby was raw and oh so flawed. I don't like my protagonists to be perfect. Where's the challenge? Ruby was honest and real, someone easy to root for. In fact, I fell in love with all of the characters and felt a strong connection to each. Again, Unforgiven was the perfect place to put these people who desperately need to work through their own issues. Unforgiven seems hopeless but after the dust settles, hope shines through. I would've liked to stay a bit longer in Unforgiven myself. There's s great story going on here. Please, Marin! Give us more.