Review copy was received from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
On the Way to Us by Carolyn Brown Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca on December 12, 2023
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 423
Format: eARC
Source: NetGalley
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He's a tempting heap of Texas trouble…
Mercy Spenser promised her friend and roommate she'd spend her vacation in west Texas for a charitable mission—she didn't agree to the oppressive heat, massive spiders, or the rowdy cantina next door drowning out her gospel singing. She's not the type to sit idly by, so when she clashes with the sexy-as-hell man who runs the place, her temper is hot enough to nearly burn down the entire town.
Despite refusing to turn down his jukebox and inviting Miss Mercy to leave his cantina alone, Hunter Wilson can't get that gospel singer with the ice-blue eyes out of his mind. Finding her again in their tiny town isn't the problem. Convincing her that he's interested—well, that's another story. But if Mercy will give Hunter one more chance to show his true feelings, they just might find the love of a lifetime.
Country charm and small town romance that is cozy entertainment by a gifted storyteller. On the Way to Us contains the title story and a second novella, Love Struck Café, to give readers double the pleasure.
On the Way to Us is retitled from the older version ‘An Old Love’s Shadow’ and offers a standalone romance about two people who have a fiery meet cute, a wariness about the attraction that builds up, and the patience to wait for a heroine to get out of her own way.
Mercy Spencer has been coasting through her own life for a few years now and her wake-up call happens on a two-week mission trip to a backwater place in Texas when she marches into a cantina and demands the sexy bartender turn down the jukebox so the church goers next door can hear themselves sing. Hunter Wilson is struck at once, but only gets his chance when he bumps into the fiery tall blond once again at a restaurant in Oklahoma.
Hunter’s got a past and has been hurt, but oddly, it’s Mercy who is more gun-shy and has the longer road of growing. She needs to get out of her bossy bestie’s shadow, learn her own mind about what she really wants to do, and get past the fear she has to put herself out there for love.
Hunter’s almost too good to be true the way he sticks to Mercy after she pumps the brakes and pushes him away before jumping to conclusions about him. He was sexy, patient, and mature and most of the reason I enjoyed this story. It ends well particularly when Mercy’s mom gives her the necessary boot up the butt, but Mercy was way too stubborn and I would have liked to see her at least apologize once she realized just how wrong she was.
So, I can’t say I loved the heroine, but the overall story and the hero were fabulous.
Love Struck Café is also a standalone, but it’s connected to the Spikes and Spurs series particularly the heroine in book two of that series. A Valentine holiday time frame for a low-angst, sweet love at first sight romance.
Flint Walker is lighting a shuck north away from the bitter memories of having to sell the family ranch when fate brings him to a screeching halt in sleepy Ringgold, TX at a diner with fab food and a help wanted sign in the window. Flint is taken with pretty cook-owner, Jasmine Thurman, and takes the advice of some old local ranchers to stick around a few days to check out a local sale property and take Jasmine up on her offer of room and board if he helps her out until her cousin and staff arrive to take over the Chicken Fried diner.
Jasmine was desperate and took in a handsome stranger who plans to move on. Three days later, she’s fighting her heart and her dreams that Flint will put down stakes and not go looking for a ranch to own up north.
This was love at first sight, but this pair took their time as friends, working partners, and then addressed the elephant in the room. Both were scared to believe in what seemed too good to be true and the way fate lined things up. A swoony country-fried romance that left me hungry for Jasmine’s cooking and envious for one of Flint’s fiery kisses.
So, the surprise of getting a pair of stories when I thought there was only one. The earthy, every day romance and characters was heartily appealing and draws me in each and every time to Carolyn Brown’s writing. Small Town Romance fans who like it sweet and sassy should give this one a go.
About Carolyn Brown
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Carolyn Brown was born in Texas and raised in southern Oklahoma. These days she and her husband make their home in Davis, Oklahoma, a small town of less than three thousand people where everyone knows everyone, knows what they are doing and with whom, and read the weekly newspaper to see who got caught.
A plaque hangs on her office wall that says I know the voices are not real but they have such great ideas. That is her motto and muse as she goes through the days with quirky characters in her head, telling their stories, one by one, and loving her job.
She has been married almost half a century to a retired English teacher that she calls Mr. B and he does not read her books before they are published because she cannot afford a divorce. They have three grown children.—and enough grandchildren to keep them busy and young.
When Carolyn is not writing she likes to sit in the back yard and watch the two tom cats protect the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, other cats, spiders and blue jays.
As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing.Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators.Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance.Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.
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I’m due for a Carolyn Brown soon.
I love how prolific she is with her writing so I’ll never run out. 🙂
Both of the stories sound really good.
They were a fun pair.
Both stories sound wonderful. I enjoy this author whenever I pick up one of her books.
I’m so relaxed and satisfied when I pick up one of her stories. 🙂
You know I love Carolyn Brown’s romances. You know when you start you’re going to have low angst, some laughs a little bit of some sage wisdom. Mercy does sound like she’d try my patience though.
You are so right about how comfort reading these are. Yeah, she was way too stubborn about her fears when she didn’t have a reason.