Avon Impulse | May 10, 2016 | Western Romance
Healing Harts, book 5
★★★★1/2
SOURCE: TASTY BOOK TOURS
Bad luck has plagued Leah McCarran most of her life, until the tide turns and she lands her new dream job as a therapist at Heart Fire Ranch. But when her car breaks down and she finds herself stranded, the playboy who shows up to her rescue makes Leah wonder if her luck just went from bad to worse.Gage Granger has risen above the circumstances of his youth, enough that people now believe he has the Midas touch, especially in business. But when one mistake suddenly threatens everything he’s built, he takes some time to visit family near Heart Fire and figure a way out of the mess. The last thing he expects to find is a feisty therapist who needs his help, even if she won’t admit it.Leah learned a long time ago that other people will always let her down. She doesn’t want that kind of hurt again, but Gage isn’t giving up. And finding out he’s staying next door isn’t going to make it any easier to avoid the kind man who is set on changing her heart.
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{ about t.j. kline } .
T. J. Kline was raised competing in rodeos and rodeo queen competitions since the age of 14, She has thorough knowledge of the sport as well as the culture involved. She has had several articles about rodeo published in the past in small periodicals as well as a more recent how-to article for RevWriter. She is also an avid reader and book reviewer for both Tyndale and Multnomah.
{ excerpt } .
“We should start over.” Gage held out a hand. “I’m Gage Granger, your neighbor. It’s nice to meet you.”Leah bit the corner of her lip as the horse nudged her hand. “Don’t do that,” she said quietly. She rubbed her hand over the animal’s face the way Jessie had told her they liked. “We’re both old enough that we don’t need to pretend we get do-overs in life.”
“Ah, another cynic.” He reached out and patted the horse’s neck. The second horse seemed to take notice and ambled slowly in their direction.
“A realist,” she corrected. “Another?”
“Like my brother, or at least, he used to be one.” Gage shrugged but looked back at her, curiosity clear in his dark eyes. “So, you don’t think you can forgive and forget? There’s no starting over?”
“Not really. You can forgive, but it’s a conscious choice. Forgetting something ever happened? That’s impossible. It’s like saying there’s such a thing as love at first sight.”
“Next you’re going to tell me you don’t believe in happily ever after either.” He clucked his tongue and shook his head with a grin tugging at the corners of his full lips. “What kind of therapist are you?”
She didn’t return his smile. “A good one. One who knows what I’m talking about and uses hard facts to get through to people who’ve see far too much reality in their daily lives to believe in fairy tales.”
She leaned one elbow on the railing and faced him. “The people I work with don’t need illusions. They need coping skills because life isn’t some kind of fantasy. Most people you meet aren’t good, and they don’t want to help you.”
Gage narrowed his eyes, trying to see more than what she would allow anyone to see. Leah wondered for a moment if she should have just kept her mouth shut. There was something about this man that made her usual calm, reserved demeanor take a vacation and made her tongue run away without her brain. If she wasn’t careful, she’d end up telling him her life story, and no one deserved to bear the weight of that nightmare.
{ review } .
I have loved every moment of this series.
When we were first introduced to Dylan, we watched as his brother Gage talked him through a panic attack. We watched as Gage tried to talk him into a therapy dog. We watched as Gage showed his brother unrelenting support. From the very first moment, I knew I wanted Gage to have a story.
And he got one.
And it was beautiful, and oh so very Gage.
Gage has proven to be cocky on the surface, with his one liners and easy going smile, but as we get to know him even better, we learn just what is beneath all those things -- and that that very easy going smile is just 100% Gage.
When Gage meets the new therapist for sister-in-law, Jessie's, program, the meeting doesn't go exactly smooth (I will add, I love how he stands so very firm -- throughout the book and through their lives too I'm sure -- that he was "talking about the car"). Leah is a tough nut to crack; her upbringing was less than ideal and because of it, she fears her inadequacies. She essentially overcompensates by doing what she does... but she does it so incredibly well.
Gage is a rescuer, a fixer... Leah doesn't want fixing. These two...
This is a story of owning up to your mistakes and being the type of person you want to be -- especially when you meet someone who is so incredibly good.
This is a story of learning to trust you heart, your head, and the eyes in front of you -- they don't always lie.
This was a beautiful story for two beautiful people who needed a good person in their lives to help them see the remaining path in front of them. It's certainly not an easy one, and they're both a little bit stubborn... but it was a good path for both these characters.
I will say though... I was a bit disappointed with the end. I wanted just a little bit more, a bit further out, to whet my happily ever after appetite. Perhaps we'll get a chance to see more of this ranch and therefore more of this couple, but I'm not entirely sure who's left to fall -- that and this one is being marketed as the last (...for now) book {hmm... babies?!?! Ha, I always go that far; seeing lives through their grown children's eyes}.
When we were first introduced to Dylan, we watched as his brother Gage talked him through a panic attack. We watched as Gage tried to talk him into a therapy dog. We watched as Gage showed his brother unrelenting support. From the very first moment, I knew I wanted Gage to have a story.
And he got one.
And it was beautiful, and oh so very Gage.
Gage has proven to be cocky on the surface, with his one liners and easy going smile, but as we get to know him even better, we learn just what is beneath all those things -- and that that very easy going smile is just 100% Gage.
When Gage meets the new therapist for sister-in-law, Jessie's, program, the meeting doesn't go exactly smooth (I will add, I love how he stands so very firm -- throughout the book and through their lives too I'm sure -- that he was "talking about the car"). Leah is a tough nut to crack; her upbringing was less than ideal and because of it, she fears her inadequacies. She essentially overcompensates by doing what she does... but she does it so incredibly well.
Gage is a rescuer, a fixer... Leah doesn't want fixing. These two...
This is a story of owning up to your mistakes and being the type of person you want to be -- especially when you meet someone who is so incredibly good.
This is a story of learning to trust you heart, your head, and the eyes in front of you -- they don't always lie.
This was a beautiful story for two beautiful people who needed a good person in their lives to help them see the remaining path in front of them. It's certainly not an easy one, and they're both a little bit stubborn... but it was a good path for both these characters.
I will say though... I was a bit disappointed with the end. I wanted just a little bit more, a bit further out, to whet my happily ever after appetite. Perhaps we'll get a chance to see more of this ranch and therefore more of this couple, but I'm not entirely sure who's left to fall -- that and this one is being marketed as the last (...for now) book {hmm... babies?!?! Ha, I always go that far; seeing lives through their grown children's eyes}.
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