Figure It Out - My Review of Great and Precious Things by Rebecca Yarros

Title: Great and Precious Things

Author: Rebecca Yarros

Publisher: Entangled: Amara

Publication Date: February 25, 2020

Source: ARC from publisher through Netgalley

How do you define yourself when others have already decided who you are? 

Six years ago, when Camden Daniels came back from war without his younger brother, no one in the small town of Alba, Colorado, would forgive him—especially his father. He left, swearing never to return.

But a desperate message from his father brings it all back. The betrayal. The pain. And the need to go home again.

But home is where the one person he still loves is waiting. Willow. The one woman he can never have. Because there are secrets buried in Alba that are best left in the dark.

If only he could tell his heart to stay locked away when she whispers she’s always loved him, and always will…

Great and Precious Things is a heart-wrenching story about family, betrayal, and ultimately how far we're willing to go on behalf of those who need us most.

I’m a hopeless romantic and adore all things chocolate, coffee and paleo. No, seriously, I need to have a caffeine IV put in. I’ve adored reading all my life, and writing naturally evolved from my love of late nights and promises of one more page.

I’m also a military wife of sixteen years. During my husband’s deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, I was devouring a book a day, and during his third deployment, I finally wrote my own. With a somewhat ironic timing, I received my book deal for Full Measures during his fourth deployment, and published a month after he returned home. We’re currently preparing for his fifth deployment, so check out the blog for the latest!

On the homefront, we have six kids. Yes, you read that right—six. If I’m not writing or playing guitar, I’m usually tying hockey skates for our four boys, or sneaking in John Hughes marathons with my two daughters. We fostered and adopted our youngest daughter from the foster system and we’re passionate about helping others do the same through our non-profit, One October! We’re always busy navigating the winding road of our daughter’s recent autism diagnosis, getting our boys to hockey, prepping for a deployment, and generally trying to stay sane. We’re die-hard Mets fans, but our hearts call Colorado home.

If you’ve read all of that, haven’t fallen asleep, and still want to know more about me, check out my blog: http://www.rebeccayarros.com/blog! 

Connect with Rebecca Yarros:

Website: http://www.rebeccayarros.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RebeccaElizabethYarros

Facebook Reader Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RebeccaYarrosFlygirls

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccayarros

Twitter: https://twitter.com/RebeccaYarros

Blog: http://www.rebeccayarros.com/blog

Rebecca Yarros writes with incredible depth and an elegance that is unmatched. Her stories are heartbreaking in their tenderness and soul-destroying in authenticity. Her characters are strong but flawed and always seek to make something better of themselves.

Cam and Willow are amazing characters who find themselves putting on a show for the world, each for a different reason. Cam is punishing himself for not saving his younger brother. Willow is hiding from her feelings for Cam.

I adored the setting of this novel. I felt like I was transported to this mining community and could totally picture the mountains and mines and old buildings as they were discussed in the book. I was impressed with the amount of research Yarros must've done in order to accurately depict the town meetings and mine opening. I also appreciate the thoughtfulness that Yarros put into writing Arthur's Alzheimer's and the way it affected him and the family. It was tough to read, but I'm sure it would be tougher to live through. The choices the family had to make in regards to Arthur and his illness were painful and ones I've witnessed friends have to make. The whole situation was handled delicately and with dignity.

There was such an amazing family connection in this story. All through the animosity between Cam and his father, you can read the foundation that was formed from love. Xander and Cam, while butting heads and generally pissing each other off, also share a love and respect for each other and their decisions, while opposing, were made because of their love for their family. And then there is Sully, who never makes a formal appearance, but whom you get to know fully anyway. I love their history and the way it comes full circle in the present.

Great and Precious Things sets up this town to be used in a future book and I hope that sometime Mrs. Yarros decides to re-visit Alba, CO so we can catch up with the Daniels family and the many other characters in town that I grew to love.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an early copy to read.

5 out of 5 Stars.

Anthony Ramos - Figure it Out

The Bones - My Review of Chasing Cassandra by Lisa Kleypas

Title: Chasing Cassandra (The Ravenels #6)
Author: Lisa Kleypas
Publisher: Avon
Publication Date: February 18, 2020
Source: ARC from the publisher

Everything has a price...

Railway magnate Tom Severin is wealthy and powerful enough to satisfy any desire as soon as it arises. Anything—or anyone—is his for the asking. It should be simple to find the perfect wife—and from his first glimpse of Lady Cassandra Ravenel, he’s determined to have her. But the beautiful and quick-witted Cassandra is equally determined to marry for love—the one thing he can’t give.

Everything except her...

Severin is the most compelling and attractive man Cassandra has ever met, even if his heart is frozen. But she has no interest in living in the fast-paced world of a ruthless man who always plays to win.

When a newfound enemy nearly destroys Cassandra’s reputation, Severin seizes the opportunity he’s been waiting for. As always, he gets what he wants—or does he? There’s one lesson Tom Severin has yet to learn from his new bride:

Never underestimate a Ravenel.

The chase for Cassandra’s hand may be over. But the chase for her heart has only just begun.

LISA KLEYPAS is the RITA award-winning author of 21 novels. Her books are published in fourteen languages and are bestsellers all over the world. She lives in Washington State with her husband and two children.

Lisa Kleypas completely owns me. Her stories never fail to enthrall and entertain.

Chasing Cassandra is the newest installment in The Ravenels series. I've been excited to get Tom Severin's story since we were first introduced to him. I knew it was going to take a particular type of woman to be able to wrangle his attention and Cassandra is proudly that woman.

Tom and Cassandra meet and do a little back and forth dance, as per usual, but they are met with some out of the ordinary roadblocks. First, Tom is a singular sort of man. He is unusual in the way he deals with people and focuses so directly on his businesses. He takes in stride the millions of pounds that he has in his bank account and simply works for the love of the job.

Cassandra sets her sights on Severin at first but then backtracks as he claims to be a man who will never love another. She knows she could never live in a loveless marriage and fights her attraction to him in order to hold out for love.

This story (and series), while well-plotted and written, is really all about the characters for me. Each book has a strong set of characters that could be planting corn or reading almanacs and I would still love them.

I was grateful to receive an early copy of Chasing Cassandra from the publisher.

4 out of 5 Stars

The Bones - Maren Morris & Hozier

I'm Not In Love - My Review of Promised by Leah Garriott

Title: Promised
Author: Leah Garriott
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Publication Date: 2/18/2020
Source: ARC from the publisher through Edelweiss

Margaret Brinton keeps her promises, and the one she is most determined to keep is the promise to protect her heart.

Warwickshire, England, 1812

Fooled by love once before, Margaret vows never to be played the fool again. To keep her vow, she attends a notorious matchmaking party intent on securing the perfect marital match: a union of convenience to someone who could never affect her heart. She discovers a man who exceeds all her hopes in the handsome and obliging rake Mr. Northam.

There’s only one problem. His meddling cousin, Lord Williams, won’t leave Margaret alone. Condescending and high-handed, Lord Williams lectures and insults her. When she refuses to give heed to his counsel, he single-handedly ruins Margaret’s chances for making a good match—to his cousin or anyone else. With no reason to remain at the party, Margaret returns home to discover her father has promised her hand in marriage—to Lord Williams.

Under no condition will Margaret consent to marrying such an odious man. Yet as Lord Williams inserts himself into her everyday life, interrupting her family games and following her on morning walks, winning the good opinion of her siblings and proving himself intelligent and even kind, Margaret is forced to realize that Lord Williams is exactly the type of man she’d hoped to marry before she’d learned how much love hurt. When paths diverge and her time with Lord Williams ends, Margaret is faced with her ultimate choice: keep the promises that protect her or break free of them for one more chance at love. Either way, she fears her heart will lose.

Though she earned degrees in math and statistics, Leah Garriott lives for a good love story. She's resided in Hawaii and Italy, walked the countryside of England, and owns every mainstream movie version of Pride and Prejudice. She's currently living her own happily ever after in Utah with her husband and three kids. Leah is represented by Sharon Pelletier at Dystel, Goderich, and Bourret. You can visit Leah at www.leahgarriott.com.

"Neither of us seems to make the other perform to our best selves"

Promised was a very Austen-esque novel that fully entertained and spoke to my romantic side.

Margaret, who is in search of a husband, thinks she has finally found the perfect candidate, Mr. Northam, who can take on her family and her baggage but would never touch her heart. Before she can make a choice that would be irreversible, Northam's cousin, Lord Williams, steps in and warns her that Northam would never truly care for her and chases Northam away. When Margaret hangs her head and returns home, she finds she is already engaged... to Lord Williams.

Margaret quickly finds herself in what seems to be a game between Lord Williams and Mr. Northam. They both seem to view her as a prize to be won. It seems their attentions have more to do with out-doing the other rather than anything to do with Margaret herself

Lord Williams, or Gregory as he begs Margaret to call him, sets out to woo Margaret and it is rather glorious. There is a delicious tension between them, and animosity that sets off sparks whenever they are together. He wins over friends and family members and stirs Margaret's heart in ways she would rather not think about.

When Mr. Northam returns, pressing his attentions, Margaret has to decide if she could take the safe option or step out on a limb and offer everything to the one man who has the power to destroy her for good.

I really enjoyed the story and had a hard time setting it aside to do my everyday tasks like work and momming, but here I am, just a month later and I am struggling to remember the story. I feel like there were too many components that it shares with typical Historical Romance novels and therefore it is hard for this particular story to stand out. It was lovely and kept me coming back to read it, it just wasn't memorable.

My first reaction after reading Promised was to give it 5 stars so I am going to leave them here. It was a good debut and I'm looking forward to more from this author.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an early copy for me to read and review.

10CC - I'm Not In Love