Steal My Magnolia

de Karla Sorensen (2021) - SmartyPants Romance

Résumé : Life lesson from Grady Buchanan: If you're going to fall in love with the untouchable girl in town, don't hire her as your only employee. Even after he bungled the interview with Magnolia MacIntyre, he knew better than to hire her. The list of why it's a bad idea is a long one. Her father could ruin his fledgling business. She is completely overqualified. And he’s attracted to her. What does Grady do? He offers her the job.

Magnolia knew better than to take it. Normally, she'd make the safe choice, and working for Grady is anything but. He's new in town--and entirely too charming. Her dad will be furious. She hates the outdoors and working for an outdoor adventure company is not exactly the right fit. What does she do? She says yes on the spot.

Grady and Magnolia will have to prove to everyone in their life that they're not crazy. And prove to each other that the list of why it's a bad idea should be tossed out the window. For these two opposites, sometimes doing the wrong thing is exactly right.


Je suis restée un peu sur ma faim avec ce roman, j'ai trouvé qu'il était très mal équilibré entre la phase de séduction et le moment où le couple est formé. En gros, le bouquin se termine sur le moment où ils passent enfin aux choses sérieuses, on a un chapitre et un épilogue qui nous montrent Magnolia et Grady ensemble...

L'histoire est pas mauvaise, mais c'est beaucoup trop long. Ils ont beaux être choupi-chou les deux là, passé un stade on n'attend plus qu'ils se jettent l'un sur l'autre xD .

J'aurais voulu avoir plus de scènes de couple, où Grady va passer du temps avec les parents de Magnolia, des moments avec la soeur de Grady, Grace, et son copain Tucker (l'ex de Magnolia) (on peut pas dire qu'il n'y avait pas du contenu à creuser sur cet arc narratif).

Le livre se termine sur un avant-goût de ce que sera le tome de Hunter, le Buchanan qui a fuit Green Valley et sa malédiction. ça promet !

I was a little unsatisfied with this book, I think it wasn' very well balanced between the seduction's phase and the moment when the couple is formed. Basically, the book ends with when they finally get together, we have a chapter and an epilogue that show us Magnolia and Grady as a couple...

The story isn't bad, but it's way too long. They may be the cutest people, after a time, all we want is for them to throw themselves on each other xD.

I would have liked to have had more couple scenes, where Grady is spending time with Magnolia's parents, scenes with Grady's sister, Grace, and her boyfriend Tucker (Magnolia's ex) (we can't say that there wasn't content to dig into this story arc).

The book ends with a taste of what will be Hunter's book, the Buchanan who run away from Green Valley and his curse. Sounds intruiging !

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Engagement and Espionage

de Penny Reid (2020)

Résumé : Jennifer Sylvester made her deal with the devil . . . and now they’re engaged !
But all is not well in Green Valley. A chicken choker is on the loose, 61 dead birds most "fowl" need plucking, and no time remains for Jennifer and her devilish fiancé. Desperate to find a spare moment together, Jenn and Cletus’s attempts to reconnect are thwarted by one seemingly coincidental disaster after another. It’s not long before Cletus and Jenn see a pattern emerge and the truth becomes clear.
Sabotage!
Will an undercover mission unmask the culprit? Or are these love-birds totally plucked ?


Si vous faites partie de celles qui ont besoin d'une dose supplémentaire de Cletus Winston dans leur vie, ce livre est fait pour vous : c'est un mixte entre le cosy mystery et la romance, dans la suite direct du tome de Cletus et Jennifer (Beard Science), il vaut mieux l'avoir lu avant de vous plonger dans celui-là, sinon beaucoup de choses vont vous échapper.

Branle-bas de combat à Green Valley après que des poules d'un éleveur soient sauvagement assassinées. Ce sont leurs oeufs que Jennifer utilise pour ses pâtisserie, très vite d'autres de ses producteurs fétiches vont avoir des déconvenues et cela devient vite un drame pour son activité (en plus de celle des producteurs hein ne l'oublions pas xD). Alors que le chérif et ses adjoints doivent se concerntrés sur des affaires impliquant biker, Cletus et Jennifer décident de tout faire pour résoudre le mystère qui leur tombe dessus et qui en est responsable... Très vite plusieurs personnes sont suspectées, restent à Cletus et Jenn a rassembler les preuves discrètement.

Outre cette affaire à élucider, ce roman nous offre une vraie suite de Beard Science, en nous montrant Jenn et Cletus dans les premiers temps de leur relations, avec tous les nouveaux challenges que cela représente pour chacun d'eux. Malgré l'ambiance légère et un peu loufoque du roman, il y a quand même de sérieuses étapes de couple qu'ils vont devoir passer ensemble, des discussions importantes et, comme son nom l'indique, des engagements à prendre !

Ce roman montre aussi comment la relation entre Jennifer et sa mère évolue. On a pu avoir des infos furtives dans les tomes des Winston, ici on approfondi les choses. Penny Reid nous donne aussi quelques scènes entre frères qui sont toujours adorables (Billy, soupirs...).

If you are one of those who needs an extra dose of Cletus Winston in their life, this book is for you : it's a mix between cozy mystery and romance, it directly follows Cletus and Jennifer's book ( Beard Science ), you better read it before you dive into this one, otherwise you might not understand some things.

Uproar in Green Valley after a breeder's hens are brutally murdered. It's their eggs that Jennifer uses for her pastry, very quickly other of her favorite producers will have troubles and it quickly becomes a tragedy for her activity (in addition to that of the producers let's not forget xD). While the sheriff and his assistants must work on matters involving biker, Cletus and Jennifer decide to do everything to solve the mystery that falls on them and find the culprit... Very quickly several people are suspected, Cletus and Jenn must discreetly gather the evidence.

In addition to this mystery to be elucidated, this novel offers us a real sequel to Beard Science, showing us Jenn and Cletus in the early stages of their relationship, with all the new challenges that this represents for each of them. Despite the light and a little wacky atmosphere of the novel, there are still some serious couple stages that they will have to go through together, important discussions and, as the name suggests, engagement to make !

This novel also shows how the relationship between Jennifer and her mother evolves. We were able to get some sneaky info in the Winston tomes, here we dig deeper. Penny Reid also gives us some scenes between the brothers who are always adorable (Billy, sighs...).

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Love in Deed

de L.B. Dunbar (2020) Smartypants Romances

Résumé : Sometimes it takes an outsider to force us to see who we are. The real struggle is accepting what we learn.

For Beverly Townsen, nothing could be closer to the truth. Virtually a shut-in, Beverly has pulled back from Green Valley’s community, preferring the isolation of her farmhouse and her daily routine of viewing home improvement television shows. When the opportunity arises for her own home improvement and a personal re-assessment, she’s not so excited about the reality of real life versus DIY programs.

Jedd Flemming understands physical pain and personal loss, but it’s never stopped him from bucking forward in life. A former military man and rodeo star, his life as a nomad comes to an end with false accusations and a family matter back in the Valley. It’s been a long journey to find his way home and once there, there’s nothing he wants more than to reclaim what he’s lost…and maybe the elusive female reclusive who holds a sliver of his past.

With an unprecedented proposition, Beverly finds a stranger living in her barn, raising horses on borrowed pastures, and plowing his way into her vacant heart. Old hurts linger, but sometimes love in deed is louder than words.


Même si cette romance a de très bons atouts : des héros ayant +40 ans, des histoires de vie bien compliquées, une complicité qui s'acquière à un bon rythme, un pitch intéressant... C'était pas le coup de coeur, et j'ai eu un peu de mal avec le trop plein de drames et de dramaturgie.

Disons que je n'ai rien contre lire des histoires sur des gens qui ont souffert d'une façon ou une autre, mais quand ça cumule trop ça donne un peu l'impression de tragédie grecque... et du coup le roman est majoritairement dépressif, assez chargé émotionnellement, et même avec un happy end on est soulagé de le finir.

Bon, tout ça ne veut pas dire que la romance est pas bien hein ^^ . L'histoire entre Beverly et Jedd est touchante, ils sont comme deux animaux sauvages qui s'apprivoisent l'un l'autre. Jedd réveille la Beverly qui s'était enfouie tellement profondément qu'elle-même ne savait plus qu'elle existait.

Par une connexion bizarre du cerveau, je me suis imaginé James Hetfield en Jedd, le chanteur de Metallica, je sais pas, le côté bourrin sans être méchant xD bref...

Even if this romance has very good assets: heroes over 40 years old, very complicated life stories, a bond that grew at a good pace, an interesting pitch... It was not my favorite, and I had a little trouble with the overflow of drama and dramatics.

I have nothing against reading stories about people who have suffered in one way or another, but when it accumulates too much it gives a little the impression of a Greek tragedy... as a result the novel is mainly depressive, quite emotionally charged, and even with a happy ending you are relieved to finish it.

Well, all that doesn't mean that the romance is not good ^^. The story between Beverly and Jedd is touching, they are like two wild animals that tame each other. Jedd awakens the Beverly who had buried herself so deeply that she herself no longer knew that she existed.

By a bizarre connection of the brain, I imagined James Hetfield as Jedd, the singer of Metallica, I don't know, the naughty side without being mean xD anyway...

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