Fireside is an absolute charmer! It is sweet and romantic without being sappy and it has such genuine heart to it that you can't help but grow to adore the characters, both main and secondary. Another hugely appealing factor (which is often hard to find in romance novels) is how tastefully mannered the physical relationship is throughout the story. Here, the love scenes are actual love scenes and they are neither rampant nor rabid...just special and nice.

As one of the main characters, Abby, says in a very emotionally raw and tender scene: "First, I need you to know this about me. At this stage in my life, I couldn't possibly be sexual...I couldn't possibly make love to someone, Mac, unless I was in a committed relationship. It simply isn't in me. Perhaps it's some kind of odd British prudery. I don't know, but there you have it."

Cate Culpepper writes about women who deeply value relationships and take their time getting to know each other.

Mac is a restless spirit who has never stayed at one job for more than two years, while Abby has sealed herself off from love out of self-doubt of her own worthiness. Her strong work ethic comes from a good place but also because she "found a kind of insidious safety in her solitary life. Devoting all her energies to her work carried certain advantages."

The author captures scenes and people in a way that makes the fact you reach for a tissue while you happily cry seem perfectly natural. She reminds you that love really is special and that it's something worth waiting for. It makes me smile to think about reading more of her novels! :) ( )