Megan CraneRezensionen

The Cowboy's Mail-Order Bride by Megan Crane
This story starts out with Kendall and she's in town to meet the man she's bound to marry. She answered the mail order bride ad and she thinks with her situation that she can fit the bill of helping out on the ranch and all duties she'd have to learn to do. She comes with a past and doesn’t think her relatives can find her...
Harlan meets her at the saloon and he had decided out of hundreds that he'd give her a meet and see what she was about. He gets a few signals while talking to her... He had learned his father was not much longer for this world and he wants grandkids so he decided to find a wife and have children with her. He is married though, to his ranch.
She fits in so well, she loves the ranch and mountains and is able to follow him some days to learn what it’s all about. The family and community also envelope her in with kindness and love.
Received this review copy from the publisher and this is my honest opinion.

2.5 stars

I received this book for free, this does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review

They'd come from places where people didn't care, not on the regular, and Camp Phoenix had shown them they were worth something.

The Comeback Cowboy was an anthology with a cool concept of having four different authors continue the story of the same characters, giving each couple a starring role. I thought this would give four different perspectives and vibes to each couple but set in the same world, instead it delivered a whole lot of sameness. The men are all tall with “barely reaching” shoulder height women and except for one couple where it was reversed, the guys are the ones wanting to keep it to just open door bedroom scenes and fearing love. All of the men work/ed in law enforcement, along with one woman, but the stories were too short to really delve into that, they are all just “protective”. The setting is a camp that they all spent time at as teenagers, it's a juvenile retreat to try and help teens change their life path, and after the death of their mentor, Bill McClain, one of the former campers buys it and asks/guilt trips for volunteers to get it back running. Until the last story though, the camp setting wasn't really felt by me and I was kind of disappointed in that aspect. If you were looking for a certain kind of vibe, short, not deep, men scared of love, teenage crushes finally getting fulfilled, then each story had these notes. I was looking for different perspectives and instead got same one after the other.

The One With the Hat by Jackie Ashenden 2 stars

Flint Decker. Sheriff Flint Decker and his stupid hat.

This story had the added responsibility of introducing all the characters, setting, and the whos and whys of everyone. When Bree was fourteen, Officer Flint Decker took her in for stealing food, she says arrested but he really took her to Sheriff Bill McClain, who sent her to Camp Phoenix. Flint was twenty at the time and while Bree had a crush on him, he obviously never felt anything. I started to get a little “ok, enough” over how many times it was brought up how she was fourteen and his “arresting” her, it started to feel a little nothankyou, I wanted a focus on here and now. He remembers her and when Bree moved back to town (Jasper Creek, this is #4 in the city named series) he gets up in his feels how she ignores him. All our characters, well, except for one, come from families of neglect or crooks, providing the issues our characters have to work to deal with or overcome. Bree has worked to become a real estate agent and distant herself from her no account brothers but still has some problem with authority and feeling ashamed of how Flint first met her. Flint is the new Sheriff and feels he has to always be setting an example, his self-righteousness ruffles Bree's feathers.

“Am I getting to you, wildcat?” he murmured as she got in, his deep voice sending the most delicious chills right down her spine.

With the crushes going on, there was also our four heroines bunking in a cabin together and starting off a bit cool and adversarial to each other. They start to bond as they come up with the plan for Bree to steal Flint's hat to teach him a lesson. It's a theme that runs through the whole book, each heroine trying to steal something from their hero. It was at turns cute and immature, most of the heroines had an immature feel to them while most of the heroes were production line tough, stoic. When Bree goes to steal Flint's hat the attraction flairs and it kicks off a bedroom relationship. We seem to miss all the good bonding as it's said weeks go by of them continuing their bedroom antics. It comes to ahead as Bree wants more and Flint has to get over his issues for the eventual happily ever after.

The One With the Locket by Caitlin Crews 2.5 stars

Lincoln Traeger was not easily riled.

As Bree and Flint's relationship is getting settled, Violet and Lincoln move into frame. Lincoln is a calm, cool, U.S. Marshal and Violet an argumentative lawyer. As with the other couples, for forced proximity trope, they get paired up and are supposed to clean up the campgrounds chapel. Violet had a crush on Lincoln when they were at camp, she, 15 and he 19, and now grown up, she's still annoyed that she can't wind him around her little finger like she does all other men. It forces her to want to be seen for other than looks but also be scared to be liked or disliked for who she really is. Lincoln catches on to this about her and after he kisses her when she says she only thinks of him as a brother, he then ignores her. This prompts Violet to want to steal a locket of his to prove that she really does hate him to her bunkmates, who she's growing closer to.

This man was trouble. There was no getting around it.

As with the first, Violet gets caught stealing and it ends with Lincoln and her hitting the bedroom scenes. This did the same thing where all the time they spend together is basically skipped and I was left not seeing or feeling the emotional developments between these two. These two had logistics issues with some of Violet's emotional (Lincoln seemed to just accept the seriousness between them right away??), Violet lives across the country. This has Lincoln just boldly stating that Violet needs to quit her job and move to him. There's a tiny little background on Violet wanting a change in life but it was side-eyeing how comfortable Lincoln was with only saying she should move to him and not ever a consideration for the reverse. This one had a little more enjoyable heat to it for me but, again, lacked the emotional depth and Violet just expected to upheaval her life was meh.

The One With the Bullhorn by Nicole Helm 2 stars

Because Kinley was not a rash, belligerent person. She was shy. She liked to hide and be left to her own devices.
But when she was mad...well.
Jackson Hart better watch out.

Jackson is the leader of the camp and putting his whole energy behind it because he's been forced to retire from the DEA, he has leg damage after being shot and trying to run into a burning building to save his partner. Kinley has always been a wallflower and after only feeling like she could belong at camp, she moved to Jasper Creek years ago but has felt stagnated. Jackson hires her on as the camp's cook but his militant attitude has her destructive tendencies flaring, she used to act out to try and get attention from her parents, and mixed with the crush she's had on him, it has her agreeing to steal his beloved bullhorn. Except he catches her and she blindly snatches up his cane he sometimes uses for his limp. Jackson decides to teach her a teasing lesson and, you guessed it, it leads to them starting up the bedroom antics.

No one had ever treated her like this. Like she might be precious, or someone to be careful with. She found herself wanting to cry and hold on to him forever.

Kinley was a character that had probably the deepest hurt, she has a burn scar from an ex now in jail, and frequently talked about therapy but the shorter page count had her issues getting rushed through. She's also the one who was afraid and running away when Jackson told her he was all in. Jackson was a pretty stoic guy, some little flashes of lighter personality, I never felt like we got a look behind his brick wall, but he did feel the most mature of all the characters. I would have liked a better look at the guys' friendship in his story as he's the one who brought them all together, we really only get quick mentions of poker night and a few short conversations here and there in the short stories, the women's friendship gave more of a growth thread. Jackson's calm, steadiness eventually has Kinley feeling deserving of his love, but while the words were said on paper, I'm not sure I felt their romance.

The One With the Trophy by Maisey Yates 3 stars

He worried about her, and he shouldn't. He worried about her, and it made her feel special. He worried about her, and she wished he wouldn't.
And she wished he would.
Forever.

This was my favorite of the anthology, Clementine, the daughter of Sheriff Bill, she spent her summers at the camp. As she wasn't forced or sent there because she wasn't a juvenile delinquent, she always felt like an outsider and then growing up without a mother, while her father loved her, he never seemed to know what to do with a little girl, she has also always felt like an outsider with women. Working now as a deputy with Flint and Duke, another of her father's proteges, she always tried to hide her feelings for Duke. Being ten years older than Clementine, Duke has always tried to watch out for her as his mentor's daughter but the last few months have had him seeing her in a different light. He's trying to say she's like a sister to him but when he overhears her tell the other women that she's going to lose her virginity tonight, his emotions are all over the place.

He kept imagining it. Some guy kissing her. Putting his hands on her.

Clementine was really talking about losing her thief virginity and stealing his MVP football trophy from highschool but when he catches her and alludes to attraction to her, Clementine decides to take her chance. This had more of that emotional feelings I was looking for and had some light laughter with heat. Duke was still missing some fully formed character feel but Clementine came out stronger with working out her issues and growing from someone who felt they had to hide their emotions and feeling like an outsider. I also thought their prior friendship helped me believe in their romance more. This did follow the same old, same old trend of the anthology of having the guy scared to trust in love and move it from casual with the woman declaring her love first and saying she wanted more. Duke does get over his parental hang-ups and they get a happily ever after.

This also wraps-up the Camp Phoenix setting with the camp welcoming in a new generation of juveniles that need help. This didn't have much of a camp setting and while it seems at least two of the guys wear cowboy hats and own ranch/land, there really wasn't a western feel that the cover looked like to promise. But, again, if you're looking for the particular vibes I mentioned, those pretty much get repeated in all four stories.

Good read, truly enjoyable

Una storia trita e ritrita che sarebbe stata anche carina se non fosse per i due protagonisti che non sono riusciti ad intrigarmi e che, anzi, mi sono risultati piuttosto antipatici. Molto indisponente e alquanto pieno di sé il principe Rodolfo, troppo poco decisa nei suoi confronti Natalie, soprattutto nei momenti in cui avrebbe dovuto imporsi.
Si legge ma non è di certo entusiasmante.

Ivan Korovin estaba decidido a cimentar su evolución de pobre niño ruso sin un céntimo a estrella de cine de acción, multimillonario y filántropo. Pero antes de nada, tenía que resolver un serio problema de Relaciones Públicas: la socióloga Miranda Sweet, que intentaba arruinar su reputación llamándolo neandertal en los medios de comunicación siempre que tenía oportunidad. ¿La solución? Darle al hambriento público lo que deseaba: ver que los enemigos se convertían en amantes. Desde la alfombra roja en el festival de Cannes a eventos en Hollywood o Moscú, fingirían una historia de amor ante los ojos de todo el mundo. Pero cada día resultaba más difícil saber qué era real y qué apariencia.

Kiara Frederick llevaba una vida normal hasta que, tras su arrebatadora aventura con el jeque Azrin, se vio con el anillo de diamantes más grande de todo Khatan y descubrió que no solo se había convertido en princesa, sino también en propiedad pública de la noche a la mañana.

Nadie le negaba nada a Lucas. Las mujeres caían rendidas a sus pies, y en su cama, en cuanto chasqueaba los dedos. Su vida estaba llena de encanto y despreocupación. Era, sin duda, un bala perdida.
Grace Carter sabía que el impredecible Lucas podía arruinar su carrera profesional y no iba a tolerar aquel comportamiento caprichoso, a pesar de la química que había entre ellos. Sin embargo, trabajar a su lado era apasionante y, tras recibir una pequeña dosis de su magia, incluso la formal y remilgada fachada de Grace comenzó a resquebrajarse.

Rating: ★★★★☆ (4/5 Stars)
Title: Untamed
Author(s): Caitlin Crews
Character(s):
― Lucinda Graves: 28 years old, Red, Blue Eyed
― Jason Kaoki: Black, Black Eyed
Setting: Pacific Islands
Tag(s): Romance, Contemporary
Content Rating: R
POV: Third Person
Smexy Level: Hot
Favorite Quote(s):
― “When failure wasn’t an option, she liked to tell herself, the only remaining possibility was success.”
― “This man is dangerous and you’re a fool to get this close to him.”
― “Some of us weren’t blessed with athletic prowess and matinee idol good looks. Some of us can’t smile our way into a better future, we have to claw for it. One broken fingernail at a time.”
Overall Opinion:
Five separate emissaries had already been sent from competing hotel conglomerates to convince the notably impossible Jason Kaoki to develop the unspoiled private island in the Pacific he’d inherited from his late father, international playboy and real estate tycoon Daniel St. George. Lucinda Graves had no intention of making herself the sixth and just when she thinks she has this in the bag, she finally crosses paths Jason who is distinctly and unarguably more male than any man she’d ever encountered before.

Oddly, disregarding the previous reviews, I liked this a lot more than I was expecting. The relationship between Lucinda and Jason didn't fall into a romantic relationship straight away, it purely started as sexual attraction and gradually built over time, ultimately leading to their happily ever after. Throughout the series, the storyline did not see rushed and it was well paced. The characters were realistic and relatable, and the sex scenes were scorching hot. A fun read with overall good content and characters.

Decent but I thought it lacked a bit of tension/conflict between the hero and the heroine. The heroine also seemed to have a massive over reaction to something that happened when she was a teenager. Although I suppose that having received no counselling it could have lingered on for years and she just got stuck in a rut. I also felt like I would have liked to know more about the hero's history. He was pretty melodramatic. Still he was an interesting, different sort of hero. I did like the way they were together and how they helped each other.

Started off decently enough but after the marriage the sheikh's reasons for keeping her at arms length were not believable.

Really pretty readable. Maybe I should have read the others in the series. The heroine's plan didn't make much sense. The hero gave hints that he had stayed away from the heroine for years because he was a sexual deviant. At least that's what I got out of all the agonizing in his head. That really went nowhere though. So why put it in? So it was all kind of silly with the sex trafficking thing not really well thought out. I didn't buy that the bad guy would ever have needed to set up such a ring in the first place. Seems like he could get any girl he wanted through regular rich powerful guy channels. Did he need the money? That was never addressed.

Still the scenes between the hero and heroine were well written and fun so I overall enjoyed the book.

sorry, had to stop as soon as I realized she gave her baby up for adoption. I just can't read that story line

This one was severaldifferent kinds of crazy. The heroine has decided to quit her job as the hero's PA after 5 years. He doesn't want her to quit so he kidnaps her. Her response was pretty crazy too but fun. He had a lot of issues and was one of the best representations of an unfeeling hero I've ever read. He had a hard time dealing with her no longer being his buttoned up assistant when she started letting her true self loose because she wasn't trying anymore to keep her job. This was pretty wacky and fun. Although I don't think it was written for laughs. It was definitely one of those train wrecks you couldn't look away from.

review to come

Summer Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews
3rd and final book in the Kittredge Ranch series. Contemporary romance. Can be read as a stand-alone.
Nurse Janie is in Cold River to take care of a patient that wants live in companionship. Sheriff Zack Kittredge is sure she has ulterior motives and he’s watching her closely. She bothers him.

Tender and sweet. Poetic writing in the sex scenes and beyond. Enchanting turn of a phrase. A story full of warmth, family and facing the emotional hurdles.

“You do what you have to for the woman you love, came that voice within him. Even if it’s charm school.”

“People are complicated.”

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.

Sweet Home Cowboy
Jasper Creek #3

Standalone quartet of splendid stories that put a smile on my face today as I watched four half-sisters find their happily ever after cowboy partners in Jasper Creek. The four women settle into their new home, soon to be The Four Sisters Farm, and in so doing the bonds that began to form at camp when they were thirteen only become stronger. I liked all four of the sisters and the men that they ended up with. Every couple had issues to contend with and did so admirably.

TEDDY by Nicole Helm:
Teddy ends up with Beau but only after she feels ready and he deals with some past demons from childhood. Teddy is a bee whisperer and loves chickens…sweet and charming but with a backbone

JOEY by Maisey Yates:
More mechanically minded, Joey likes to learn from experts when tackling new projects. Hollis is the man to help with the old farm equipment and perhaps he will help with a few other things, too.

GEORGIE by Jackie Ashenden:
Con is best friends of Georgie’s brother and has been there pretty much always until one day things begin to change and prickly Georgie is not sure what to think…even though Con is sure what he wants.

ELLIOT by Caitin Crewes
Elliot is the sister with the freest spirit and she openly embraces what she wants, Colt. Colt’s sense of duty almost derails the couple’s budding romance…until he sees the light.

All of the characters have some growing to do as individuals and as couples. It was fun watching them interact as I got to know them and the men they ended up with.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQN for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

Caitlin Crews returns to Cold River for another engaging romance. Sheriff Zack Kittredge is from one of the founding families. He left the ranch where he had had a difficult childhood, moved to town, and became the sheriff.

Janie Atwood is a traveling nurse who came to Cold River to look after a patient. She also came looking for her past. After being raised by her grandparents until their deaths, Janie finally had a chance to look for the part of her past that had been kept from her. It maybe led her to Cold River.

Janie doesn't make a good first impression of Zack when she trips and douses him with a coffee drink. In fact, she humiliated at her characteristic clumsiness and embarrassment. But Zack, who has kept his emotions on a tight leash, is intrigued by this newcomer.

Through this story, love grows, secrets are revealed, and relationships are healed. While I thought the story could have been a good deal shorter, it was still a nice romance.

This story brought me to tears. The sadness that each family member carries from years of being mentally abused by their parents actually gives everyone a common ground to stand on.

I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an advance reader copy of this story.

All Night Long With A Cowboy is book 2 in the Kittredge Ranch series. It's a stand alone book but you'll have characters from other books in the Cold River, Co series from Catlin Crews. This time we have Jensen Kittredge, the 2nd son and most laid back of the family. Jensen thinks if he laughs first and loudest then people will like him. He's got guilt for miles and insist on punishing himself, forever it seems. Until he meets Harriet Barnet the high school librarian. Tow more unlikely people you'll be hard pressed to find. Turns out Jensen has a librarian fantasy, about this particular librarian. They each break every rule they live by and it's a difficult road to an HEA. I like Jensen but wish he'd stop being such a big kid sooner. Harriet is just plane odd and she knows it too. I never would have thought of making a romance of them but then I'm not a writer with a vivid imagination.

#CatlinCrewes #AllNightLongWithACowboy #KittredgeRanch #romance #cowboy

Cowboy and the school librarian
Emotional amd hot

I received an ARC of this book to read through NetGalley. All opinions are my own. All Night Long With a Cowboy is the second book in Caitlin Crews steamy Kitteredge Ranch series.
It can be read as a stand-alone, but the first book in this series and the adjacent Cold River Ranch series are all delightful reads, so I suggest reading them all. Librarian Harriet Barnett is teaching a summer school course for kids at risk of failing. She is willing to do just about anything to help her students succeed, and if that means tracking down Jensen Kitteredge in a seedy dive bar and strong-arming him into coming in to speak to her class, then she will. What she didn’t expect is to become friends with the taciturn cowboy. Jensen Kitteredege gave up all his future plans after the tragic death of his high school best friend. Buried in grief and guilt, he’s been punishing himself all this time, and it’s not until tiny Harriet Barnett storms into his life that he begins to believe that he is worth more and deserves happiness. I enjoyed this friends to lovers story immensely and highly recommend reading it. Steam Level: Medium. Publishing Date: August 24, 2021. #AllNightLongWithACowboy #CaitlinCrews #KitteredgeRanchSeries #StMartinsPaperBacks #StMartinsPress #ContemporaryRomance #CowboyRomance #RomanceReader #bookstagrammer #bookstagram #NetGalley

Megan Crane has a way with words. This romance novella has a chick-lit spin - it's deeper than a typical romance novel and we get a glimpse into their psyches. Aside from that, In Bed with The Bachelor is a book I couldn't put down. The chemistry between Jesse and Michaela is smoking hot and there are lots of curl your toes moments. I couldn't put it down and the only thing I'd change is to make it longer!

Couldn't put this book down till it was done. Scottie and Damon have major chemistry and the dialogue was witty and so well written - humorous, yet intense. Megan Crane had me engaged from start to finish. I didn't want it to end.

Lucinda flies out to Jason's deserted island to try to convince him to develop its abandoned hotel, only to find that she gets much more than she bargained for. A quick, entertaining, sexy read.

Harriet Barnett is the new librarian in town; she's only been there three years. Harriet considers herself odd since she doesn't enjoy or even understand so many things that others her age do. She prefers solitude and reading and research. She's perfectly content being known as the local cat lady.

Jensen Kittredge is a local who has a reputation as the town playboy even though he's hiding his facility with numbers and business and he is hiding guilt at the death of one of his high school best friends. He is also a fire jumper which has made him something of a local hero. He's quick with a joke or a laugh and is a bigger than life presence.

The two characters don't sound like they would have much in common. But Harriet needs Jensen to come and be a role model for some students she's working with during summer school. She confronts him in the more disreputable of the local bars and convinces him to come speak to her students.

This starts a romance that changes both of their lives in very positive ways.

I liked both main characters. I could understand Harriet's desires to march to the beat of her own drummer. Jensen was a great hero, too, once he finally managed to get over the guilt that had been guiding his choices since high school.

Fans of Western romances who like quirky characters will enjoy this story.