Forever for Us (The Wilder Brothers #8) Carrie Ann Ryan

 

Forever for Us (The Wilders Brothers #8)

By: Carrie Ann Ryan

Recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌕 - (Out of 5 🌕)

Genre: Romance (Enemies to Lovers Romance) 

356 Pages

I know I am reading a really well written enemies to lovers story when I can feel the tension in my chest as I read. Carrie Ann Ryan nailed one of my favorite troupes with Wyatt and Ava. The tension was so intense it brought me to tears when the pair first encountered one another after their respective divorces. The story explains the why behind their dislike for one another, eventually the duo develop a healthy respect for one another as they become co-workers, a close friendship develops, and the chemistry that evolves from that friendship is off the charts. Added to the mix is a wonderful relationship between Wyatt and Ava's daughter. 

Wyatt Wilder was best friends with Aaron London. His wife Isabelle and Aaron's wife Ava shared a friendship as well. The two couples spent a lot of time together on cruises, at summer barbecues, and celebrating holidays together. That was until Wyatt found out that Aaron and Isabelle were cheating. After the separation, Wyatt managed to pull his life together. Fulfilling a life long dream, he decides to build a distillery and grill on his families property, the Wilder Resort. The final piece of the puzzle falls into place when Isabelle finally delivers the signed divorce papers. Now Wyatt can put the past behind him and move on.

Ava London wasn't as lucky as Wyatt with the outcome of her divorce. Aaron took her for all she was worth. The only thing Ava walked away with was full custody of their eight year old daughter Faith. Living in a worn down apartment and working two jobs to make ends meet, Ava is surprised and embarrassed when Wyatt walks into the restaurant she waitresses; as luck would have it he sits in her section. After learning about Ava's situation and in need of a new manager/bartender for his establishment, Wyatt offers Ava an opportunity to help her get back on her feet and move Faith to a safe home and school environment. With no ill intentions towards his ex-friends ex-wife, Wyatt never dreamed that the old chemistry between the two would resurface and ignite, bringing what he thought was his past into his future.

With each installment of the Wilder Brothers I fall even more in love. They are an overload of male hotness with a heavy dose of chivalry thrown in. Even though each character in this series has had life struggles they each have learned to overcome and conquer their challenges. This was seen with the original series of the Wilder brothers and is the same with the Wilder cousins.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Forever for Us is available August 26th, 2024.

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The Christmas Tree Farm, Melody Carlson

 

The Christmas Tree Farm

By: Melody Carlson

Recommendation: 🌕🌕🌕 - (Out of 5 🌕)

Genre: Romance, Christmas, Christian (Second Chance Romance) 

Pages: 176 (Hardcover)

I love a Christmas story in summer. This is my first time reading a Melody Carlson book and she had me feeling all warm and fuzzy. This type of story is what you want when you pull up on a snowy December day with your favorite warm blank, a crackling fire, and a hot cup of cocoa with lots of marshmallows.

Writing - Carlson's writing is immaculate. The description of the land, especially when Madison came home helped to paint a vivid picture in my mind. 'There in the midst of the defiant green plant bloomed a bright orange daisy-like blossoms. Defiantly optimistic, as if to say, "There's still like here." She bent down to pick a flow. Studying its dark center, she remembered how Grandma had called these Mule's.' I could see the vibrant orange and admired the defiance of that one lone flower Madison encountered on her walk across her grandparents land.

Madison and Addie McDowell spent their summers and holidays on their grandparent's Christmas tree farm. Madison loved the outdoors but her sister Addie would rather be curled up inside with a good book. When an opportunity arose for Madison to teach overseas in Mongolia, she jumped at the chance. Now, after a failed long term relationship, her tenure in Mongolia up, and both her dad and grandparents deceased she decides to head home to help her sister manage the farm. Unfortunately, the area was recently devastated by a raging forest fire. Saving the Christmas tree business will require a lot of work from both sisters.

The Thompson's filbert farm did not fair as well as the McDowell's. The majority of their land was ravaged by the fire. Gavin's siblings had no desire to salvage the land or the family business. As a widow with young two girls, Lucy in her twenties and Lily a pre-teen, Gavin sees and opportunity bring his daughters back from the grief of losing their mother. He decides to sell off his lucrative business and fulfill his youngest girl's dream of building a motor-bike arena.

When they were teenagers, Gavin and Madison had a passionate relationship. For Madison, it was her first crush. The couple promised to keep in touch when they went back to school but Shelby, the woman who eventually becomes Gavin's wife had other ideas. Eventually the young pair go their separate ways. But now they have both come back home. Unfortunately, Madison isn't too keen on Gavin and Lily's future endeavor.

I fell in love with Gavin and enjoyed seeing Lily grow and develop. The McDowell sisters both had some personality issues, Addie more so than Madison. At times they could both be selfish and petty; it made it difficult to cheer on a romance between Gavin and Madison. The story has some religious (christian) undertones. Both main characters talk about their faith. Gavin and Shelby had gotten together while on a mission trip. As a non-religious person, I did not find the mention of the characters faith to be distracting or off putting. Overall, I enjoyed the story. It was a quick and easy read. I recommend this for anyone looking for a solid holiday story.

Author: Melody Carlson is a well established author with over 250 published books, a number of which are bestselling Christmas, young adult, and contemporary romances. Her book, 'All Summer Long' has been adapted in to a Hallmark move.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Christmas Tree Farm will be available September 3rd, 2024. Just in time for your cold weather reading.

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