Carolyn Brown (1) (1948–)

One of my romance guilty pleasures is a delightful cowboy read. It's a type of book that I don't see around too often in my town's bookstores, but man... when I find one... I'm a sucker. Carolyn Brown is one of my favourites for the genre, so I was delighted to be able to pick up another book by her!

Darn Good Cowboy Christmas is not my favourite Carolyn Brown book. It's obvious from the writing that it's one of her earlier books and I can easily see how much she's grown over the years. There wasn't much of a plot for this book and the lead character felt very whiny. All she wanted was a relationship and for me, I just couldn't get into it. Carolyn's later books have strong female leads who you can relate to. I just didn't bond with this lead or book at all. It was a nice read, but I struggled through it. I wanted a little more plot!

Regardless, it was nice to be able to pick up an older book by Carolyn Brown to see how much her writing has changed over the years. While I won't be continuing with her earlier books, you can bet your booty I'll be grabbing all of the later ones!

One out of five stars.… (meer)

Carolyn Brown's books are one of my guilty pleasure reads. I know I'm always in for some lovely romance and a good time when I sit down and enjoy her books with a cup of tea. When I saw a copy of this book pop up on NetGalley, I was so thrilled and applied for it instantly! And lucky me, it was the same old Carolyn Brown romance that gives me chills and makes me all warm and fuzzy inside!

Alana and Pax are adorable. They are old friends who may or may not have had crushes on each other since they were little. When Alana gets the bad news that her Father, Matt, has cancer and will die soon, she comes up with a pretty, little lie that her and Pax were engaged and going to be marrying ASAP. Only problem? They aren't. She breaks the news to Pax, and suddenly a giant wedding is being planned and gossip is spread throughout the time. Will this not-so-together couple have their happily ever after?

Seriously, these books make me feel so good. They're amazing contemporary romance with a splash of western, and always have that feel good, warm and fuzzy feeling. I absolutely love them! As sad as it is that Matt is dying, the rest of this book makes me feel so darn good! I'm so happy I picked this book up, because it was just what I needed.

Alana is a strong woman who just wants to make her Dad happy. Pax is a strong guy who wants to help Alana, because that's what friends do. Their blossoming romance is also utterly adorable and gives me the jitters. Seriously, Carolyn Brown writes one mean romance. I love it!

Five out of five stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.… (meer)

This cute romance novel following a selection of eccentric country folks is absolutely amazing! Cowboy Boots for Christmas (Cowboy Not Included) was an amazing novel. I did not read the prequel series to the novel, so I did not understand all of the references made in this novel to the past works. Despite not reading those books, this novel was easy to follow and very addicting! The relationships and how they slowly built up throughout the novel felt very real. I honestly cannot wait to get my hand on the sequel novels so I can learn more about Finn and Callie.

This novel did have a few plot holes that I found to be really annoying: how children could go missing and nobody notice they were missing, Finn and Callie magically remember near the end of the novel they had not used protection during their nights together, and many ironic situations that would just happen (such as the old owner just coming to live with Finn and Callie when they needed her).

Although there were many plot holes or situations that seemed to happen just at the right time, I did love this novel. These plot twists that happen at just the perfect time could be things the author could improve on, but do not take away from the novel.

Overall, I really did like this novel! It was a sweet romance novel that moved at a nice pace. The novel was not to long or to short, and left me wanting to know more about these characters and what would happen to them. I would love to get my hands on the sequel as soon as possible.

Anybody who likes a sensual romance novel, a pinch of comedy, a little bit of dueling families and lots of cute animals would love this novel!

Five out of five stars!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.… (meer)

Carolyn Brown's Lucky Penny Ranch series is 100% one of my guilty pleasures. I love curling up with a cup of tea, a warm blanket and this series and just binging my little heart out. It's sweet, delightful and the happily ever after book I need! Who doesn't love a super adorable romance?

I ended up grabbing book #3 a couple years back and had been working on grabbing the remainder of Carolyn Brown's books ever since. I managed to grab a few at a local book store and they've been sitting and calling my name for quite a while. I needed something ooey, gooey and lovable, so I picked this book up! I was not disappointed!

Allie Logan is a trades girl and ends up getting hired by Blake Dawson to help fix up his house. He's a new, hot cowboy in town at a very famously bad luck stricken ranch. The two end up working together on his house, and slowly but surely find out they like each other's company a bit more than just friends... well, more than a bit! It's hot and steamy levels of "a bit".

There are so many great one liners in this book! Not only do you get all the cute romance and sexy, steamy scenes but you also get comedy! I was giggling and chuckling and oohing and ahhing my way through the book. I absolutely adorable how lovable the characters were, how relatable the characters are, and just how great Carolyn writes. This book was so easy to read and fall into!

Irene is hilarious, but the boys also get some quirky one liners in there as well. That kept me chugging along through the book.

There are negatives in this book, but they are more little annoyances for me than anything. Every woman falls over every man in this book. It's kind of amusing, but also seems unrealistic. I don't live in such a tiny town though, so maybe it's more accurate than I think it is? I do know that small towns are gossipy, heck my town is and it's not that small! Somehow everyone knows everybody's business - it was somewhat annoying, but it does happen!

I highly recommend this book if you love cute romance, hot cowboys, a spectacular series or are just seeking some HEA in your life.

Overall, this is just a wonderful book! It's romantic, it's feisty and it's funny. It has everything I needed in a happily, ever after romance with sexy cowboys in it. I will one hundred and fifty percent be picking up as many books of this series (and other books by Carolyn Brown) that I can to sink into my guilty pleasure more.

Four out of five stars!… (meer)