Jeannie WattCritiques

This is not a full-length novel. Almost half the file is another two stories set in this town. That's my first dislike. The blurb should state that there is content besides what the initial title indicates. I don't care if it's free, that is annoying.

The second dislike is, despite being shorter, there is too much repetition. Of eye color. Of the past hurts. Of the wedding date. Of the dad-son conflict. More. Any good editor will notice these, and any good writer will work to edit them out. Readers aren't stupid, and the shorter the work, the less we rely on memory anyway. It was feeling like filler to meet a word count. Insulting.

The third dislike nearly made me stop reading. (Now I know I wouldn't have missed much. At the time it looked like I had a lot of story left...) The one sex scene is minimal - they go from distant to sex in a very short time, not terrible since they'd known each other before. But then after-sex is waaay too casual for the amount of angst still to be resolved. It felt like the scene was lifted whole from something else and not transitioned very well.

I won't read this author again.

Gaining new readers with free books requires offering good work. Also, please be honest about what the file contains. Don't be annoying.

Very enjoyable romance between two characters I really liked. Molly is back in Eagle Valley, Montana, teaching classes at the community college. Finn is the guy who Molly feels humiliated her on their homecoming date back in high school. Now Finn is a student in Molly’s English composition class and his grades are not so good. Sparks fly between the two, at first as adversaries, and later of a romantic nature. This story had a wonderful cast of characters (in addition to Finn and Molly) who made the story even more interesting. I really liked Finn’s grandfather who lived next door to Molly and her younger sister. Also loved the cute kitten, Buddy. I enjoyed the college atmosphere including the students, a couple of whom caused Molly no end of trouble. A very entertaining read.

Forgot to add this to Goodreads apparently.

Pretty good, but outside my typical range of romance books. Probably the best free romance I've read to date. The characters were well written, the backstories were great, the events that played out were reliable and credible, and I just liked the progression of the romance. Worth the read.

Also pretty short, which was a plus.

Lil is tired of the stares, the pity, and the sentimental looks. She's getting away to her family cabin, even if it means the entire town will think she's wallowing in sadness while her ex-fiance gets married on their old wedding date. She's got all she needs with her cat, Christmas music, food, and peace and quiet. That is, until a blizzard starts in and brings with it Casey Lanigan. Not only was he her first love, but he's also the brother of her ex-fiance. With their story unfinished, Lil and Casey have to work together to be as comfortable as they can stuck in the cabin until help arrives. Their unspoken feelings may just come to light and put them on a new path.

Easily my favorite Christmas story this year. I loved the two main characters, Lil and Casey, I liked their history and their personal background, and I especially liked how they both let their emotions make their decisions. As always, second chance stories tug at my heartstrings. In this case, there's a definite love-triangle type situation, but not one that overpowers the story. Yes, there's a past with Casey's brother that Lil wants to forget, and I kind of wish she'd never dated him, but there's more to it.. The rekindling of their romance is slow, but the feelings are strong and easy to feel through the words. I liked that Lil and Casey both dealt with some personal things that helped lead them to finally dealing with the history they share. I liked their humor and their witty dialogue, plus I really just enjoyed them as a couple. There's Christmas, family drama, and of course, a great love story in this short holiday read.

The Cowboy Rides Away (The Marvells of Montana) by Jeannie Watt  
Nothing is as it seems in this tale of star crossed romance and adult angst. What happens when doing the right thing turns out to be all wrong? The Cowboy Rides Away is a story of missed chances and mending fences.  The road to forever is littered with obstacles but the reward is the healing of two broken hearts.
 

This book had quite a twist. Collie Flanigan breaks off her engagement and escapes to Marietta. Her marriage would have ended a decades-long feud between the Flanigans and the Hawleys. Since they are no longer getting married her ex Garrett wants the heirloom engagement ring back. But Collie refuses to do so since the ring used to belong to her family and was apparently stolen by the Hawleys which is what led to their feud.

Garrett tries to outsmart Collie by sending her best friend and his employee Michael Donovan to retrieve the ring. Unfortunately, this puts Michael in a difficult position. He is indebted to the Hawleys and is under contract so going against his employers will leave him broke. And he can't hurt Collie because he knows how much that ring means to her and her grandmother. He's also always loved her and now that she is once more available, he is not going to make the mistake of letting her go.

I received an Advanced Reviewers Copy from the Publisher via #NetGalley for voluntary review consideration

Rcvd an ARC at no cost to author..(netgalley) We have a fairly drama free story. We have Shane whose body has gone thru a lot in his position as rodeo rider and Ella trying to be a little different than she normally is. This is new for them, book was ok but I like a livelier story.

This book had quite a twist. Collie Flanigan breaks off her engagement and escapes to Marietta. Her marriage would have ended a decades-long feud between the Flanigans and the Hawleys. Since they are no longer getting married her ex Garrett wants the heirloom engagement ring back. But Collie refuses to do so since the ring used to belong to her family and was apparently stolen by the Hawleys which is what led to their feud.

Garrett tries to outsmart Collie by sending her best friend and his employee Michael Donovan to retrieve the ring. Unfortunately, this puts Michael in a difficult position. He is indebted to the Hawleys and is under contract so going against his employers will leave him broke. And he can't hurt Collie because he knows how much that ring means to her and her grandmother. He's also always loved her and now that she is once more available, he is not going to make the mistake of letting her go.

I received an Advanced Reviewers Copy from the Publisher via #NetGalley for voluntary review consideration

Kira Jennings, sister of the man that sent him to jail as a teen, is back in town trying to negotiate a right of way through his family's land - and she doesn't seem to know what happened that sent him to prison.

I really enjoyed this book, the rodeo and the unspoken tension between them. I felt fully immersed in this story. I could empathize with how they were feeling and truly wanted them to communicate so they could be together. Loved this book!

Wedding at the Graff by Jeannie Watt
Holiday at the Graff #5

Fun series with additional books to read are always looked forward to and this was no exception. This was a bit different in that there was a priceless gem that was at the center of the story and the gem must have more background than we hear about here. That said, I did like the resolution that finally took place and was happy with the HEA that Colleen “Colllie” Flannigan and Michael Donovan eventually managed to achieve.

This was sort of a second chance at love romance underneath it all with onetime friends finding a relationship at the end. Sure, Michael was tasked with retrieving an expensive ring that Collie was not willing to part with BUT though the ring was priceless and had a certain value to both of them and the person who wanted it back…in the end…the value was not in the ring but in the relationship.

Fun little story that put a smile on my face and made me wonder if this is the end of this series in Marietta or if there might be more.

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

3-4 Stars½

I was super excited when I won this book. I love Jeannie Watt's books. This was a great addition to this series. The character development and the relationship between the two main characters seemed very natural and fitting. Both characters had many flaws but together they were able to overcome them. Highly recommend this series!

This book was an average read for me. The writing was very good but I had trouble connecting with the main male character as his thoughts and actions were all over the place (now having finished the book in understand why, it just made it hard to connect). I was hoping it would have been a little longer because there were so many wonderful pieces that could have created twists and turns in the plot; however, the plot line just kept moving to the end goal. Overall an okay read and a quick one.

Regan is the new science teacher at the middle school, with a difficult interim principal and a difficult 12yo student, with a charming cowboy father.

This is my first book by this author. There was a few things about her main characters that I wasn't crazy about, but I enjoyed Jeannie's writing very much. There were a lot of issues both the hero and heroine had and they addressed during the story. Romantic Western/Ranch/Cowboy is one of my favorite genres.

I really enjoyed Shane's story in the America Extreme Bull Riders series. It was a quick and entertaining read that was hard to put down. If you are looking for a good romance with the added thrill of bull riding this is a great book and series to read. I have not had a chance to read them all and I do not think they need to be read in order. I am looking forward to going back and reading the ones I have missed.½

Received an ARC for my fair review for netgalley. I was annoyed an frustrated, the writing was not bad, so it will not get a two star, but I wanted to slap both Meg and Jason. Meg, give it a break and just leave Jason alone, darn it. Jason, everyone has issues, they needed to grow up.

Austin by Jeannie Watt
American Extreme Bull Rider Tour Romance #7

This is a series that thoroughly enjoy and eagerly await each book for. From the beginning I fell for the men in the stories. There is something about the fact these men who live their lives on the edge with death a real possibility every time they get on the back of a bull that grabbed me. With a variety of authors giving voice to each story they are varied but the series cohesive and so far every man in the story has been a keeper and one I would like to have as a friend - the fact that each of these intriguing men find love and I get to read about it is just a bonus ;)

In this book Austin Harding meets up with Kristin Alexander as she works as a waitress in a casino bar. He is not sure it is HER and her denial of being who he thinks she is turns out to bite her in the fanny. In high school they had one bad incident that has remained with them over the years. There is a possibility for them to “fix” things as they go on a road trip together. Spending time together does more than allow them to settle the past but will it allow them more in the future? That is the question. Austin and Kristen definitely brought out the best in one another and now I look forward to finding out what Gage’s story will be next…and I also wonder if Gage will be the last or if there will be more books in the series than eight :)

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

5 Stars

"I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book so I could give an honest review."

Another fun read in the Cherry Lake Series. Not sure if I read this out of order, but I think it was ok as a stand alone. The story was a fun lighthearted one - similar to the others I've read in this series. I love second chance love stories and to have one set at Christmas was a nice added bonus.
I would recommend this book and the others in the series to anyone looking for a fun read.

Enjoy!

Shelby O'Connor and Ty Harding share a past. When Ty comes back to Marietta to ride in the rodeo to see if he still has what it takes to be on the rodeo circuit again, he hopes to mend fences with Shelby. But the rodeo tore them apart once before, will it happen again? I love all the Marietta stories, but Shelby and Ty just might be my favorite couple. I can't wait for more rodeo stories.

Good book, with two people who are starting over after big changes in their lives. Jordan has come back to the one place he swore he'd never step foot on again. Jordan left when he was eighteen, to join the military, because he could no longer stand to see what his stepmother was doing to his father. Not long ago, Jordan was badly injured in the war, and while he was still in the hospital his father died. Suffering from nightmares, and feeling stifled by the dead end job he had been given, Jordan decided to head back to the ranch, which he now owns.

Shae is going through an upheaval of her own. We first met her in Once a Champion, as the spoiled sister to Liv. She was accustomed to getting anything she wanted, and things being done her way. At the beginning of this book, her fiance has called off their wedding shortly before it was to take place, no longer able to put up with her Bridezilla attitude. Then, when she goes back to work, she is fired because she spent too much of her work day working on wedding plans instead of doing her job. This leaves her with no job and no way to pay the thousands of dollars she owes for the wedding that won't take place. She's stunned when she gets no sympathy from either her best friend or her brother, who both point out that she's been a selfish bitch for most of her life. Her only hope of recovery is talking her boss into giving her one more chance. All she has to do is make it possible to turn the Bryan ranch into another guest ranch for her boss.

The problem? Her boss is the ranch owner's hated stepmother. He owns the land, but Miranda owns the lease on half the property for the next twelve years. Miranda has a long standing grudge against Jordan, and is determined to make his life on the ranch absolutely miserable, and has no problem using Shae to do it. Jordan is equally determined that he will not be driven off the land where he is hoping to start a new life. And Shae is the one caught in the middle. It doesn't help that she and Jordan have some history of their own.

I loved seeing Shae and Jordan work through their own issues by seeing how the other one has changed. She starts out blindly following Miranda's instructions, having only gotten Miranda's side of the story. Seeing the changes in Jordan has her thinking about what he must have gone through when they happened, something that never would have occurred to her before. Some of the things that Miranda is doing start to bother Shae, and she begins to see her boss through different eyes. Jordan also begins to see some changes in Shae. She doesn't seem to be quite the spoiled princess that he remembers. I loved seeing them slowly begin to get to know each other, and learn about each other's pain. Shae also learns a lot more about herself and isn't always happy about the picture she sees. I did like seeing the way that she began seeing things from Jordan's point of view, and that she really wanted him to be happy. I also enjoyed seeing the respect that Jordan started to develop for Shae. He saw the amount of work she was putting in by herself in the attempt to fix her life. He would have been happier if it weren't on his land, but he couldn't help but appreciate her efforts. Neither of them counted on the attraction that built up between them. Jordan was dealing with the scars and was certain that Shae, with her previous need for perfection, would never be interested in him. What I loved about her, was that while she was shocked by his appearance at first, it wasn't that long before she was able to look past the scars and see Jordan for who he was. I liked the way that, while she felt badly about the emotional trauma he was going through, she didn't seem to pity him. And her acceptance of his problems went a long way toward helping him heal. One of the greatest things was seeing that Jordan and Shae were able to work things out by actually talking to and listening to each other's concerns.

Miranda was a real piece of work. I could completely understand Jordan's problem with her. She had completely bamboozled his father, and because he loved his dad he couldn't bring himself to tell him what was going on. Losing his father before they were able to mend their relationship was one of the things that was so hard on Jordan. Miranda's viciousness was well hidden when anyone else was around, but one on one she was nasty. I hated seeing the way she had Shae fooled at the beginning, but loved seeing how Shae began to see the real Miranda. It was fun to see how Shae dealt with Miranda's "spy". Things were getting really bad, and I wondered if Miranda was actually going to win. I liked the way it worked out, though I would have liked to see Miranda really suffer.

Good book. Ellie is going through some major life changes. She's been working as a human resources specialist in the city, until she finds herself pregnant. As the father is a loser who lied to her and then became her boss, she decides it's time to reassess her goals. Her uncle offers her the opportunity to use her skills on the ranch he just bought, to see if the people running it need to be replaced.

Ellie's first days on the ranch are pretty rough. She's so far out of her comfort zone she's not even in the same zip code. She definitely gets the feeling that she and her relatives are not the most popular people with the residents. But she figures that employees are employees no matter where they work, so it should be pretty easy to do. She soon learns that it isn't as simple as she thought when the ranch manager challenges her to learn what it takes to run the ranch.

Ryan has been working hard the last several years as the one running the main part of the ranch. His mentor, now the previous owner, takes care of the cattle breeding side. Due to a series of problems, Walt got into financial problems and had to sell the ranch and isn't taking it well, leaving Ryan to try to smooth things over. At first, Ryan and Ellie butt heads over almost everything. But there's something about Ellie that gets to Ryan and he soon finds a way to spend time with her.

I loved seeing Ryan challenge Ellie to look at the ranch a different way. He was sure that if he could get her to see the crew as people rather than just employees he could get her on their side. He also discovered that he actually liked her, which didn't do much to help him resist the attraction he felt for her. I really enjoyed seeing the way he got her involved in the ranch activities.

Ellie starts to be very conflicted. The more she gets involved in the ranch, the more she sees Ryan's point of view regarding the people. This puts her at odds with the ranch "consultant" that her uncle hired. I loved the way that Ellie's entire outlook changed as she got closer to Ryan and the others. There were some pretty funny moments as she dealt with everything from the house snake to Walt's surliness to the less than pleasant consultant. I loved seeing her take on both the consultant and Walt and use her talents for the best outcome.

Ellie also has to deal with her growing feelings for Ryan. She'd love to see where things go with him, but she also has a few issues of her own she has to deal with. Thanks to an unconventional childhood she has a deep seated need for a sense of security and to retain her independence. For her, this means a regular job with a steady paycheck and proper benefits, neither of which can be found on the isolated ranch. Her struggles were at times painful to watch, but her final decision was very satisfying.

Ryan had a few things of his own to overcome. He was the son of a single mother who had to deal with the fact that his father had never acknowledged him or been part of his life. He felt a great deal of resentment, especially on his mother's behalf. There was also a professional rodeo rivalry with his half brother that added to his stress. There were some really interesting conflicts and resolutions among the three of them. He also wanted to make sure that Walt wasn't fired from his position at the ranch, and trying to keep that from happening created some interesting situations. When Ryan's feelings for Ellie deepened he was ready to have it all, but convincing her was another matter entirely.

Good book. I liked both Matt and Liv though both had their moments of frustrating me. I did enjoy their sparring. Liv had come back to Dillon after breaking things off with her fiance. She realized that she had become someone she didn't like by not standing up for her wishes against giving in to his. When it came down to buying a horse she wanted she put her foot down and realized that she had to get out. She moved back home and started her life over. When Matt showed up trying to track down his horse, she gave him a cold shoulder. She was still angry over what she perceived as his treatment of her in high school, plus she was certain that he had been the one who had abused the horse she had now. But there was still something about him that drew her and she was determined to fight it. As she gets to know him again the sparks between them only get stronger. She knows that she's falling for him, but she is terrified of losing herself again. I thought it was very interesting the way that she went so far in the other direction from being submissive to being too independent and inflexible. She got really frustrated with her father and his attitude but couldn't see that she had become just like him. She also had been unhappy with the way her ex tried to tell her what to do with her life, but then turned around and tried to tell Matt that what he was doing was wrong. It was almost too late when she realized what she had been doing and that she needed to find a middle ground and let go of the past.

I liked Matt a lot. Though he had been a pretty typical teenager, not thinking about anything other than his own needs and wants, he's done some growing up since then. I liked the way that he steps up to look after his cousin's son Craig while she is away and how well he deals with the boy. I loved seeing the two of them become friends and how Craig went from something of a geeky loner to one who got involved with what Matt was doing. However he is still pretty blind when it comes to his career as a roper. He has had a bad knee injury and all the doctors are telling him that he cannot go back to roping or he risks permanent injury. He refuses to accept it and is continuing with his plans for a comeback, including doing some things that are questionable medically. He is also looking for the horse that disappeared while it had been left with his ex-wife and is stunned to find out that Liv has it - and believes that he had abused it. He is attracted to the grown up Liv and wants to get closer to her. He doesn't understand why she keeps pushing him away. I liked his determination to win Liv over. He does a lot of giving in to her in order to do it, until he finally has enough. I loved seeing the way it was Craig who ended up helping Matt and Liv get together.

Maddie Inherits a Cowboy (Harlequin Super Romance)

MADDIE INHERITS A COWBOY by author Jeannie Watt is an emotional feel good story.

I love a tortured hero and Ty Hopewell is tortured all the way. It's a touching story of accidental death, guilt, suspicion, conspiracy at the highest levels of academia, and romance, mixed with everyday ranch life and is a compelling story you won't want to miss.