Barbara White DailleRecensioner

ARC Review: Snowbound with Mr. Wrong (Snowflake Valley) by Barbara White Daille

Snowbound with Mr. Wrong has all the right ingredients to heat things up. Take two clueless exes, add kids and an unexpected snowstorm for good measure and than wait for the sparks to begin. Things are about to get naughty this holiday season. Ms. Daille brings on the laughs with Nick and Lyssa. Lyssa is adorably frustrating, She has no clue how falling in love works. Nick is equally dense, but a temptation all the same. If the romance doesn't take away the chill, the laugh out loud antics sure will.

Ms. White creates tales of all encompassing love. It's so easy to hand over your heart and forget to ask for it back. Family meets romance and the rest is history. She slowly reveals the meaning of love with a sweetness that is as erotic as any naughty novel. Heart is sprinkled on every page and permeates each character and word that works it's magic on the romantic in our souls. Love is the greatest factor and it serves as a beacon to guide both the characters and readers home. One Week to Win Her Boss is just another example of a gifted storyteller.

Very good book. Andi has brought her two kids back home to Cowboy Creek for an extended visit after the death of her husband. Part of her time will be spent working as a wedding planner for the family business. She's still trying to deal with the truth behind her husband's death and the fallout from it. Dealing with her grandfather's matchmaking ways is not something she wants to do, but when her high school sweetheart comes back to town, she doesn't have a choice.

Mitch left Cowboy Creek years ago to become a cop in Los Angeles. At the time, he was also escaping a broken heart. Now he's back, recovering from an injury received in the line of duty and trying to deal with his guilty feelings over the death of his partner. Seeing the woman who broke his heart all those years ago is the last thing he needs.

Mitch was still harboring a lot of anger from their parting as teenagers, and he was ready to let it loose when he saw Andi for the first time. That anger swiftly dissipated when he finally got the explanation of what happened, though honestly I didn't understand her reasons at all. Be that as it may, both of them had moved on with their lives, though tragedy has brought them back together. It quickly becomes obvious to them both that the attraction is still there, but neither wants to do anything about it.

Enter Andi's grandfather, Jed. He's been very successful getting his other two granddaughters matched up, and now he's decided to help Andi along. Simply on his memories of them as teenagers, he has decided that Mitch and Andi are a perfect match. Even before seeing them together as adults, he has made his plans. Not only does he find multiple creative ways to throw them together, he has enlisted help in doing it. One of those helpers came as a surprise to me.

The development of their relationship was not an easy one. Mitch is a great guy, wonderful with her kids, and happy to help with the things he's asked to do. He is definitely still attracted to Andi, but is avoiding any idea of a relationship with her. He no longer trusts his instincts thanks to what happened on the job. He has also buried his feelings about what happened and refuses to talk about it with anyone. Andi senses that something is wrong, but he dodges every time she tries to get him to open up to her.

He does trust one instinct and that's the one that tells him that something is eating at Andi. Though he doesn't want to talk about his feelings, he has no trouble pestering her about hers. Andi's issues are complex, but all stem from her husband's death. One of the biggest of those issues is her refusal to get involved with anyone who has a dangerous job, as she doesn't want to suffer that kind of loss again.

Both are dismayed by Jed's matchmaking attempts, but rather than stand up to him, they decide to pretend to give in. They stage a fake engagement that is supposed to give them the space to escape his machinations. Instead, they find themselves wishing it could be real. Unfortunately, their fears keep them from seeing the possibilities. Both of them have to find a way to overcome those fears if they want to have a future together. I have to say that Mitch's solution was not a surprise, given his background. I liked his realization that just talking to Andi had helped him sort through his feelings, though it took a visit back to LA to see it. I loved seeing who helped Andi with hers. The ending was really sweet.

Lyssa & Nick were a couple until the night Alyssa fell asleep waiting for Nick to finish up a work call before they could head out for dinner. Lyssa can see Nick always putting work first & trying to buy his way out of trouble by taking her for fancy meals. She doesn't think she can be with someone like that & she ends the relationship. Fast forward several months to a holiday party that Lyssa's sister is putting on. Lyssa is tricked into playing an elf helping Santa. Nick has been roped into playing Santa. They end up snowbound with three kids & have to make the best of it.

I loved Tommy, Mollie & Brent! Tommy was a sweet mischievous child. Mollie was a moody preteen & Brent ended up being a really nice young man. They added a lot of humor & fun to the story. Nick & Lyssa's characters were written in such a way that they had blinders on. They both could only see their side but preached to the other that they needed to open their eyes & realize that the others position had merit. There seemed to be some unnecessary fluff in the middle while they were snowbound. It went on a little long with very little contribution to the plot. It was a very pleasing holiday story.

Good second chance story as Cole returns to Cowboy Creek to help his sister. Besides helping her, he has some mistakes from his past to face up to and make up for. He had left five years earlier and hadn't been back since.

While in high school, Tina had had a huge crush on Cole. During their senior year she tutored him in a couple classes and they got closer. Then that closeness was destroyed by Cole's betrayal and his departure, leaving her to face heartbreak and an unexpected pregnancy. She never tracked him down to tell him about the baby, and his reappearance has her worried about his reaction.

Cole came to the ranch to apologize to the man he worked for and left without a word. He's surprised by Jed's easy acceptance of his apology and offer of a job. Tina's reaction isn't as pleasant. She's not as happy to see him and doesn't mind telling him so. When Cole finds out about Robbie, he's furious with her for not telling him, and determined to be a father to the little boy.

Tina and Cole had a lot to overcome in the rekindling of their relationship. Both have realized that their actions in the past have led to where they are now. Cole had been forced into the role of father, brother and caretaker of his sister when their father died, leaving Cole as the only one to care for her. He had dreams of leaving Cowboy Creek, and felt trapped. He was a bit of a playboy in school, never making any kind of commitment. When he started to have feelings for Tina, a girl who was the forever kind, he panicked and ran. Now he wants to put all that behind him. Finding out about Robbie brings his old fears back to the surface. With the kind of example his own father was, how can he possibly be any kind of a father for Robbie?

Based on her experience with him, Tina's not so sure either. But as Cole spends more time with her and with Robbie, she sees that he is already showing himself to be just what Robbie needs. Tina feels more and more guilty about keeping them apart as she sees them get closer. Her own feelings of rejection, both by Cole's actions and, further back, by her parents' behavior, had left her feeling wary of trusting her heart to him again.

I liked how both Cole and Tina owned up to the mistakes of the past and wanted to move beyond them. Their cautious cooperation as Cole got to know Robbie also gave them a chance to get to know each other again. The attraction is still there though they try to resist its influence. I loved seeing Cole with his nephew Scott and with Robbie. He was so wonderful with them, yet couldn't see that it was contrary to his beliefs about himself. It took both his sister and Tina to show him that he wasn't his father and open his eyes to what he can have.

The secondary characters are all well done. Tina's cousins give some more insight into why Tina is the person she is. Their presence gives her a chance to see some things from the past in a different light, and indicates some changes for all of them in the future. Cole's sister Layne, the reason for his return to Cowboy Creek, shows him that the past, while influencing the present, doesn't have to dictate it. I really liked her positive outlook, and hope that she gets a happy ending of her own.

Good story of second chances and the importance of family. Carly has come home to help take care of her dad, but she's also going to have to face Luke again. Years earlier they had parted ways when she accused him of using her to get a job on her father's ranch. Seeing him now brings back painful memories, but also the knowledge that her feelings for him never really went away.

Carly was known as the wild child in her family. Everyone saw the way she was trying new and different things, but never really settling for any one thing. What they didn't see was that it was her way of trying to figure out where she fit in her world. Being with Luke had given her that sense until it all went wrong. Now that she's back she's putting on a great show of being the tough and independent wild child, but it's still hiding a world of insecurity. She's tempted to see if there is still a chance for them, but the secret that she is hiding could ruin it all. Her fears are such that she is afraid to be around Luke's daughter.

Luke grew up on the poor side of town and worked hard for everything he got. He couldn't believe that Carly was really interested in him, especially when she wanted to keep their relationship secret. He wanted a job on her family's ranch so he could be closer to her and because it was a better job than working on cars. He was hurt when she accused him of using her, and rather than defend himself he just walked away. Years later he's got the job he wanted and is raising his little girl with the help of his mother. Having Carly back on the ranch shows him that he's never forgotten her. He really wants to see if they have a chance to get it right this time, but she keeps pushing him away. He's determined to break through her barriers and show her that they can have it all.

The search for Carly's mother is ongoing, though Carly and Savannah are the only family members who are doing it. A few more leads have come to light, and they are pursuing them as best they can. Carly's determination has her confronting her father about what he knows, and getting frustrated by his unwillingness to talk. It will be interesting to see what the other books reveal.

Very good book. Ryan has been living on the edge for the past year, ever since the deaths of his wife and son in an accident. He has been getting angrier and angrier over their loss and the fact that there were no answers as to how it had happened. It created a need in him to control everything and this bled over into his work. His boss has sent him to Flagman's Folly to run the ranch there, getting him away from his memories and giving him a chance for a fresh start. But on the way into town he has a confrontation with a woman about a child that ran into the road. This gets him off on the wrong foot with several locals including Lianne, the woman in question. It turns out that she's the manager in charge of getting the school for disadvantaged boys set up. What he doesn't know until after they've worked together for awhile is that Lianne is deaf. While he's sure that she knows her job, he looks on his new position as a test by his boss to see if Ryan can handle the job. Therefore, Ryan plans to oversee every little thing to make sure that nothing goes wrong on his watch. At first, all the interactions between him and Lianne end in quarrels. But it's not long before that heat has taken a different direction. There's so much about Lianne that appeals to him and being around her is easing his pain, but he's not sure he can open himself up to more loss. Plus, his need to control everything runs up against Lianne's need for independence. I felt so bad for Ryan's pain and the trouble he was having dealing with it. He was so worried about making sure that everything went perfectly that he couldn't see what his attitude was doing to Lianne. I loved seeing the way that he finally saw what he was doing and moved to fix it. I really liked his explanation of his feelings and his attitude.

Lianne had recently ended a long relationship with a man she thought was the one. Until she discovered that he had no confidence in her abilities to care for herself or exist without his help. This caused her to doubt her own judgment when it came to relationships, and even worked on her self confidence in her work. She has never allowed her deafness to slow her down, finding ways to adapt her activities if she needed to. She is very happy to have the opportunity to supervise the establishment of the new school. Everything is going great until Ryan shows up. She can see the doubts that he has and it does nothing for her confidence. She hates having to report every little thing to him. The attraction between them isn't doing her any good either. But the more time they have to spend together, the easier it gets. Lianne starts feeling that maybe he's finally coming to accept that she doesn't need to be protected all the time and that there might be hope for a future together. She's heartbroken when she finds him doing something that she sees as just another indication of a man who doesn't think she can handle her job. I loved Lianne's independence and determination to live her life to the fullest. She tries not to let anything stop her from doing what she wants to do. There were times that she may have been too independent, when it would have hurt to let Ryan help her, but I could see that she was still trying to recover from being hurt before. I liked the way that she was able to explain her feelings to Ryan.

In Daille’s romantic novel, Gabe and Marissa Miller’s marriage ended so fast it was a blur. Month’s later, Gabe can hardly believe his eyes when Marissa returns claiming they are still legally married and that the child she carries belongs to him. Can they mend their broken relationship and move forward as a couple to raise their child? With a future at stake, they’ll jump in with both feet and work to do just that.

Good addition to the Cowboys at Heart series.