Not as fun as the first book in the series. This one just seemed to happen too fast. I didn't mind the hero's continual feeling of guilt about not being able to save his buddy during the war because I looked at it as a symptom of PTS. I didn't mind the heroine at all although I know some readers did. I think the real problem for me is the way the couple fell into a physical relationship too fast. There was no time to enjoy any sort of build up of sexual tension. ( )

Okay I have very conflicted thoughts on this, so I'll begin with the positives:

I like how Cora Seton brought out the PTSD/survivor's guilt that our soldiers often come home with from tours overseas. They don't see themselves as heroes but as regular every-day people who are simply doing the job they were assigned to do. But no one wants to lose their buddy in war. It's a terrible thing to experience and reliving the details in your mind are just horrific.

I also like how Ella wants to get away from the pressures and stigmas of Hollywood. Even with all the glamour, Hollywood is a brutal world of climbing over everyone else just for an award. Just to "make it to the top." Old Hollywood was more about talent. Today's Hollywood is about sex appeal. Ella just wants to get away from it all, especially Anthony (who is a real jerk). And I love that. Coming to Montana gives her a much-needed opportunity to just be herself--a real person without the lights, cameras, and scripts.

The brotherly camaraderie is pretty cool too. I can't imagine having three or four brothers.

Negatives:
1) There's an awful lot of sex in this book. Fortunately, Austin and Ella are already married at this point, so it's not promoting premarital sex. But sex is sex and I often question how necessary it is to highlight all their sexual adventures between the sheets...

2) There is a part of the book where it is revealed that Heather slept with Austin AND his brother Colt. That, dear readers, doesn't exactly sit well with me. While people do make mistakes in their youth, I'm not wild about reading something this nasty.

So all in all, the writing is excellent, but due to the sexual contents of the book, I'd say that this book should be marked as "18 Mature Audiences Only." ( )

DESCRIPTION, NOT REVIEW: Staff Sergeant Austin Hall has a brilliant record in the Special Forces—except for one disastrous decision that cost his best friend’s life. Now he’s heading home to Chance Creek, Montana, where he’d like to spend the rest of his days in the obscurity of his family’s ranch. Too bad Great Aunt Heloise won’t hand the ranch over unless all four of the Hall brothers marry and one of them produces an heir within the year. Austin is too broken to marry for love, so he places an online ad for a fake wife. What could possibly go wrong?

Ella needs to leave Hollywood—fast. It’s bad enough another actress stole her fiancé—on national television. Now she’s ruined her comeback by decking her ex on a morning talk show. Pursued by paparazzi, Ella needs a new life, a new name and someplace to hide. When she reads Austin’s ad for a stand-in wife, she knows she can act this part perfectly. To the rest of the residents of Chance Creek, they’ll be a happily married couple. In private, they’ll just be roommates. In a year when she’d old news and the Hall brothers secure the ranch, she and Austin will quietly divorce and she’ll go on her way.

Or will she?

Austin’s already finding it hard to remember his promise never to love again. Ella’s finding it hard to keep her hands to herself. But when they’re asked make a back-up baby, Ella realizes she may have stepped into a lifetime role.

Can this pretend marriage go the distance? ( )

This one wasn't as good for me as the first one. I loved the idea of the starlet running away and it's convenient that she had been on a ranch and worked with horses. Fine. Even Austin's survivor's guilt that he just refused to deal with. I'm fine with all of that. I loved their chemistry, but it took a little away from the story for me to have them just jump right into the sex and stay there. They didn't know each other at all, so I have a harder time of understanding and buying into their falling in love. I ultimately gave this four stars because the author's writing style is great and she tells an intriguing story. But the believability on this one was way down for me. ( )

"I don't want Hollywood. I don't want to be a star. I don't want anything else." - Ella Scales

Cora Seton, you devious, wonderful woman, you did it again! Why, why must you torture me with your freaking perfect male characters? Why can't Chance Creek be real, damn it?! I would move to that place in a heartbeat!

Austin Hall knows he's not the perfect hero everyone thinks he is. And he sure as hell doesn't deserve happiness. Not when he has screwed up so badly. But when it's his turn to get married to meet his aunt's conditions, so that he and his brothers can take their father's ranch back, he knows he has to at least pretend the whole "happy" part. So what happens when "pretend" becomes real, as his new bride, a hurt and cheated Hollywood actress, Ella Scales, proves to be much more than he expected? When two souls as scarred as those two act like they're in love, can they keep up the performance? Or will they finally let themselves free to enjoy the best thing that ever happened to them?

I said it before and I don't mind saying it again, Mrs. Seton's men are true masterpieces - too bad they're impossible to find in real life... Austin is one of the twins, and the second to get hitched in order to help his brothers take back their land. However, unlike Mason who had a clear view of what needed to be done, and what he truly wanted, Austin was in deep, deep trouble. Because his mind AND heart were set on making him miserable. Having lost a friend in the field, he blames himself, and refuses to be happy because it feels like he's cheating on the dead guy by living his life. This goes to show how awesome he is as a character. Austin is not perfect in the Prince Charming kind of way. He's got the looks, he's got the personality and the manners, but he's so broken a girl wouldn't know where to start to get him fixed. And that's what makes him so amazing. Because it shows that even strong men like him are not invincible. And because, despite his trauma, he's still trying to make things right, to get back on the straight path and be whole again.
The fact that he was so adorable while doing so was a major bonus, of course.

Now, I said that a girl would have trouble fixing such a guy, right? Oh, but you see, Ella is no girl - she's a damn fine woman! One that is so rare to find in female heroines these days.

You see, the poor actress was broken, too. Losing an OSCAR to a bimbo who also stole your husband-to-be in front of all cameras, and then getting humiliated? Anyone would be scarred for life after that. But not Ella. She replies to Austin's add, becomes his wife, and proves to be just the female the delicious man needed by his side. She was sweet, and helpful, and she supported Austin in any way she could. It was hard watching her try to help him, while at the same time she knew that he might not return her feelings. But it was necessary - Austin couldn't heal instantly, this needed to be done in stages and slowly, and I like that we got to watch all the steps, one by one, without being bored, and that Ella was the major trigger in them all. Though I still cried for half of the book, it was just so heartbreaking to see her hold her pain in so that she wouldn't bother him...

The thorn in my side when it comes to this series, though? (damn, and just when I had started thinking there would be no more annoying characters like certain other Chance Creek citizens...)
Colt.
Yup.
That's right.
Freaking. Effing. Colt.

I liked him so much in the first book - well, his humor, at least. But now I saw another side of him. The irresponsible, playboy-ish one. And not only did it infuriate me, it also made me feel sick. I was like "I hope you get the worst shrew out there and get stuck madly in love with her, you jerk!" during most of the book, I swear! Thank God the next book isn't his. Oh, yeeeah, next up is Zane - oh, I'm so gonna enjoy this...

"I have loved you since I've first laid eyes on you, back when I was too damaged to even remember what love was." - Austin Hall

***I was given an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinion stated in this review is solely mine, and no compensation was given or taken to alter it.*** ( )