Book Review - Summer at Willow Tree Farm by Heidi Rice - #HolidayReading Book 27

Book 27 of 30 that I read on my holiday to Fuerteventura in December 2017

Title: Summer at Willow Tree Farm

Author: Heidi Rice

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: HQ

Publication Date: 20th July 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

Is home always where the heart is?

When Ellie spent a summer with her mum on a Wiltshire commune in the 90s it was a bigger disaster than Leo DiCaprio’s trip aboard the Titanic – so fleeing to America seemed a perfect plan.

But now, with her marriage falling apart, running back to her mum seems like the only option for her and her son Josh.

She wasn’t expecting Art, the boy she once had a crush on to still be working at Willow Tree Farm…And still be as hot and bothersome as he was when they were teenagers.

Ellie came to Willow Tree Farm for a fresh start. But is she ready to risk sailing her life – and her heart – into another iceberg?

I absolutely loved Willow Tree Farm, and the main male lead of Art is brooding and sexy and a real challenge of a man!

Ellie on the other hand is wondering just why she came back to the scene of her worst ever summer holiday,  although the fact she is in need of her mum despite their fractured relationship speaks volumes. 

I loved the growing friendship between Toto and Josh the two teenageers who gain a lot from each other. 

The community of people at the farm were a joy to get to know, a mixed selection of friendly characters, that really helped Ellie a lot, and I loved seeing what they were trying to achieve at the farm. 

This was a entertaining romance to read, with clearly sizzling chemistry between the leads, and a good underlying set of storylines too. 

I also really enjoyed spotting that all the titles for the for parts were Take That song titles. The fan in me was jumping for joy!

This isn't the first book Ihave read by Heidi Rice, but it is is the most enjoyable so far. I am eager to see what she writes next, and would love to see a return to Willow Tree Farm in the future. 

Thank you to Netgalley and HQ for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Tempting the Deputy by Heidi Rice - Fab Firsts

Fab Firsts is my new regular Sunday feature, that is going to be highlighting books that are firsts. When interviewing authors, it will be about their first book, as well as other firsts in their lives. When reviewing books for this feature, there will be a mix of debuts, first books in a series, the first time I read an author, and possibly other firsts depending on what I can think of!

If you are an author wanting to take part in Fab Firsts then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you.

I hope you enjoy this look at a variety of hopefully fabulous firsts, while making some sort of dent in my review and paperback TBRs which are my current main focus!

Tempting the Deputy is the first in the Men of Marietta series, where each of the five books has been written by a different author. 

Amazon UK

Title: Tempting the Deputy

Author: Heidi Rice

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Author supplied review copy

Publisher: Tule Publishing

Publication Date: 21st March 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

Tough, taciturn and wounded in ways that no one else knows about, Marietta rancher and part-time Deputy Sheriff Logan Tate is a man in total control of his life. Until he catches British photographer Charlotte Foster hitchhiking and ‘insists’ she gets a ride into town in his squad car… 

After her run-in with Deputy Hardass, Charlie Foster is ready to ride her thumb right back out of Marietta the very next day. But that night, a trip to Grey’s Saloon fires up her imagination – and her wild side – when she overhears the town’s first responders panicking over how to come up with the money needed to repair Harry's House in just 90 days. 

Charlie has an ingenious solution to their problem, that might just require her to photograph twelve smokin’ hot guys naked. And, as luck would have it, also involves getting some much needed payback on Deputy Hardass–who isn't too enthusiastic about participating in the calendar shoot. 

But as he spends more time with Charlie, Logan can't ignore the chemistry sizzling between them. Can a man who lives by the rules fall in love with a woman who breaks all of his?

Sexy cowboy - check! 
Sexual tension - check! 
Nude calendar of first responders - check!
Female who clearly has a connection with sexy cowboy - check!
Remote ranch in Montana as a backdrop - check!

Really not sure what else I would have on a checklist for a cowboy romance book, as this one seems to hit all the buttons are more, and has left me needing either a cold shower, or to jump inside that pages of the book and to borrow Logan or Lyle Tate! 

And wow the sexual chemistry is dripping off the page from the first meeting of Charlotte, who is innocently taking photos alongside the highway, and Deputy Sheriff Logan Tate, who doesn't want this random tourist on the side of the road to freeze to death when the sun goes down soon! 

Their first dialogue is electric and sets the tone perfectly for the rest of this hot and heavy book!  I thoroughly enjoyed the sex scenes, and I couldn't help but picture all of the potential men for this fundraising nude calendar. 

What can I say, I'm female, and I would quite happily stare at a calendar of hot cowboys, paramedics, firefighters, and other first responders, in order to raise the funds for Harry's House a worthwhile project for the town of Marietta. 

Tempting the Deputy has everything I want from a western romance, and a bit more as both Charlotte and Logan have quite a bit of depth to their back story, which makes them feel quite realistic. I loved the other first responders and just wish I could get to know them more, but I think that is what the other books in the series are for! 

Thank you so much to Heidi Rice for this copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - So Now You're Back by Heidi Rice

Amazon UK

Title: So Now You're Back

Author: Heidi Rice

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: MIRA

Publication Date: 25th February 2016 

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Halle Best, TV's Domestic Diva, is proud of everything she's achieved.

Halle took her passion for baking and built her media empire alone after her ex Luke walked out on her sixteen years ago, leaving her a single mum to their two-year-old daughter Lizzie in a dingy flat in Hackney.

Now a bona fide celebrity success, she only speaks to Luke via her lawyer. But as he is threatening to write a tell-all book exposing some of Halle's deepest secrets, keeping him at arm's length won't be so easy anymore.

When Luke suggests a getaway to work through their past, Halle thinks he's crazy; if they can survive two weeks together it will be a miracle.

Yet reconnecting with her past, could be the only way to start her future.

I freely admit to having the lyrics to I Will Survive running through my head, pretty much every time I have come across this book's title, so in some respects very glad I read it on my kindle, so didn't have to stare at the pretty cover continuously, and thankfully I loved the book every bit as much as I do, the classic disco/karaoke hit!

There really are two romances going on in this book, one for Halle, and involving her 18 year old daughter Lizzie. Lizzie's story is more of a coming of age, realising your maturity style of story, as well as her possibly inappropriate crush that could turn into more. 

However for Halle, its the reappearance in her life of  Lizzie's father who she has refused to speak to for 16 years is a shock. As is the way she ends up being tricked into spending two weeks in the wilderness in Tennessee, on an extreme couples retreat. Needless to say some of the consequences could be regarded as predictable and the rest are generally highly amusing. 

There is clearly still a spark between Halle and Luke, however she goes to great lengths to try and deny it. I loved some of the banter between the pair of them, and throughout the book there were small sections of dialogue that would make me smile and giggle to myself. 

This is generally a very upbeat book which doesn't have a huge amount of depth to it, until you start learning about the key males childhoods and upbringings at which point, there is a more serious thread there. 

I found So Now You're Back to be a really easy to read book, that was a sheer delight, and I will definitely be looking out for future releases by Heidi Rice. 

Thank you to Netgalley and MIRA for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.