Spotlight Read & Review - Good Together by CJ Carmichael

 

 

Some love stories have to begin with a falling-out-of-love story.

 

Mattie Carrigan's been helping her rodeo cowboy husband Wes Bishop run his family's Tennessee Walking Horse operation since they were married nineteen years ago. Blessed with twin daughters who've recently left for college, Mattie is looking forward to this new stage in her and Wes's life.

 

But when she finds a strange key in her husband's jacket, she's forced to admit that Wes has been quiet and distant lately. Turns out he has been keeping secrets. And he's not the only one. Even the rancher next door, Nat Diamond--a friend Mattie could always count on in the past--seems to be holding something back from her.

 

Good Together is for anyone who has ever pondered what it means to be married. Or had to reinvent her life when one breaks down. It's about having your heart broken but being strong enough to survive and love again.

 

Amazon

 

I really enjoyed Maddie's story. On the heels of her twin daughters going off to college, her husband Wes tells her he wants out of the marriage. When her neighbor, Nathaniel, begins to help out they grow closer. Good Together is a story of loss, love and hope with a little something for everyone. It's definitely worth the read.

 

 

CJ has published over 35 novels and has twice been nominated for a RITA award. She likes to write stories about romance, family and intrigue, usually in small town or rural settings. When it’s time to take a break from the computer, she heads to the Rocky Mountains near her home in Calgary where she lives with her partner Michael and their cat, Penny.

 

 

Review of Home for Christmas by Melissa McClone

Ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon.

Rachel Murphy loves the scent of gingerbread baking almost as much as she enjoys creating custom edible houses at Christmastime. But she needs a bigger kitchen if she wants to make the most of her impromptu holiday business.

Enter Nate Vaughn, handsome venture capitalist turned Montana dude ranch owner and her brother’s boss. Nate’s commercial kitchen is perfect for the baker. And he thinks she might be perfect for him…as a business partner.

After being burned by a celebrity baker, Rachel’s wary of Nate’s interest in her gingerbread houses, not to mention his mistletoe kisses. She should leave the Bar V5 ranch and return to Arizona. Or can Nate convince her she’s already home?

 

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 Melissa McClone’s degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University led her to a job with a major airline where she travelled the globe and met her husband. But analyzing jet engine performance couldn’t compete with her love of writing happily ever afters. Her first full-time writing endeavor was her first sale when she was pregnant with her first child! Since then, she has published over twenty-five romance novels with Harlequin and been nominated for Romance Writers of America’s RITA award. When she isn’t writing, she’s usually driving her minivan to/from her children’s swim and soccer practices, 4-H meetings and dog shows. She also supports deployed service members through Soldiers’ Angels and fosters cats through a local non-kill rescue shelter. Melissa lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, three school-aged children, two spoiled Norwegian Elkhounds and cats who think they rule the house. (They do!)

 

Christmas romances are some of my favorite romances to read. I look forward to them every year. Melissa McClone's Home For Christmas has the pleasure of being my first Christmas read of 2013. Rachel is visiting her brother in Montana and is trying to recover from being betrayed by people she thought were friends. She spends her time creating masterpiece gingerbread houses to sell to residents of Marietta, Montana in order to raise money for a down payment for her own business. When Nate, her brother's boss, offers advice and assistance in reaching her goals, Rachel is fearful of trusting him. Home For Christmas made me hungry for yummy Christmas goodies, hot cocoa and hot cowboys. With Rachel's struggle to trust again and Nate's need to learn how to not treat everything as business, Nate and Rachel's story will warm your heart and make you want to go Home For Christmas.

 

 

Do you like Christmas romances? Do you have a favorite?