Another small town tale from Carolyn Brown. Ms. Brown is my go to comfort author. Whenever I wish to escape the hustle of everyday life, I download one of her books. I suggest any of her books for a plane ride or beach read. ( )

Rating 4.32 out of 5 stars
Jennie Sue has returned to her home town of Blossom after her ex-husband leaves her and runs off with his new girlfriend and stolen diamonds. She wants to be independent and live her own life but her very wealthy parents want her to be the perfect Southern Belle. So she leaves to live in a little apartment above a garage, cleaning houses and working part-time at a bookstore. As if that isn't enough to get the rumors flying in a town that loves to gossip, a romance seems to be blossoming between her and Rick Lawson, a disabled vet and farmer.
I really enjoyed this book. I never had any interest before in chick-lit. So I was really surprised how much I enjoyed this book. It has really opened my eyes to how great chick-lit can be. I found I could relate to Jennie Sue in wanting to find myself and my independence from my parents. (Minus all that money lol) And I love how imperfect Rick is. Although described as handsome, hes a scarred disabled vet who is prone to really bad moods. Not the normal, overly handsome, perfect men normally in romances. I think I even fell in love with him a little bit.
This book had some very emotional moments but it never brought me to tears. I felt too fast. It didn't slow down enough for me to take it all in and really feel what she was feeling. I was also a bit bothered by the end, here's why. If I read it right. After only 2 weeks after her parents death, they end up engaged. Seriously? That to me is just crazy and way to fast. Plus soon after they get married and they are already pregnant? I'm use to see this in historical-romances, but not for a modern romance. All in all it was a good book, with a sweet romance, and lots of relate-able things, as well as some that are not so relate-able.
My rating system:
initial feeling= 4.5
writing=4.5
story= 4.5
originality= 3.75
unpredictability= 4
ending= 4
interest= 5 ( )

3.5 stars for this read! Small towns can be great...but the rumor mill is fierce. Bloom, TX is no different, people will know what you did, before you do! Jennie Sue comes back home after her unhappy marriage ends, this setting tongues wagging. She learns a lot about her parents, herself and her community in this endearing read. Likeable characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Publisher for this ARC. All opinions are my own. ( )

What do you get when you have a small town full of busybodies? Rumors and gossip that spread like lightening. And in small-town Bloom, TX, the folks thrive on them. So when Jennie Sue Baker, daughter of wealthy businessman Dill Baker and snooty southern belle Charlotte Baker, is seen getting off of a Greyhound bus looking ratty and carrying a single suitcase, rumors start flying. What happened to her charmed life in NY, and why is she back in Bloom? Opinions vary about Jennie Sue. Some think she’s a spoiled brat who deserves to know what it feels like to suffer adversity. Others see her as a loving, caring individual who’s nothing like heri stuck-up, snobbish mother who’s more interested in keeping up appearances than she is of people. Who’s right?
Cricket Lawson, a farmer’s daughter who grew up alongside Jennie Sue, chooses to despise her and doesn’t mind letting her know.
Cricket’s brother, Rick, disagrees with his sister’s assessment of Jennie Sue. In fact, Rick has always had a bit of a crush on her.
There’s one thing that everyone living has in common whether they’re good, bad, rich or poor—unforeseen occurrences that can change our circumstances in an instant. And when that inevitably happens, to Jennie Sue and others, everyone’s true colors come to the fore.
There’s much to love about this book. The small-town setting where everybody knows your name (and situation🙄); the highly developed characters, including my favorites, a pair of feisty, sassy old sisters (octogenarians) who have Jennie Sue’s back; life-altering tragedies and redemption.
I chose this book because of the title, cover and positive reviews. And thanks to Amazon's offering me a 3-month Kindle Unlimited trial for 0.99¢ a month that I couldn’t pass up, I was able to download both the e-book and audiobook for my reading and listening pleasure. 😌 This was a great way for me to discover a new author, Carolyn Brown, and I’m glad I took a chance on her. I see more of her books in my future. ( )

Charming but very slight western romance. Well written but just not in my wheel house. I think I might have liked this more in a different period of my reading preferences. The characters were nice, the plot was basic (their conflicts were not great), and the environment well described. I think the thing that most intrigued me was whether this was an accurate description of small town life, at present or at any other time. In the age of the opiate epidemic and the dying of rural towns and rural jobs, it was an interesting question. I did return my other Carolyn Brown books to Kindle Unlimited unread. ( )