Title: HOME FOR CHRISTMASSeries: Bar V5 Dude Ranch Book 1 / Copper Mountain Christmas 2
Author: Melissa McClone
Format: Kindle, 159 Pages
Published: Tule Publishing Group, LLC; 1 edition (October 31, 2013)
ISBN: ASIN:B00GEHN8ZW
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | B&N
Reviewer: Linda
Source: Amazon
Rating: 4 out of 5 Wine Glasses
Ginger, nutmeg and cinnamon...the smells of Christmas. The smells of home.
Rachel Murphy longs for home and family. Since childhood, she's dreamed of owning her own pastry shop, but after being burned by a celebrity chef and losing her new bakery in Arizona, Rachel's spending the holidays with her brother in Montana. To keep her dream alive, she's creating custom gingerbread houses and selling them around town. All she needs is a bigger kitchen...and to stay away from her brother's handsome boss.
Former venture capitalist Nate Vaughn has embraced his inner cowboy and now runs a successful dude ranch where Rachel's brother works. Nate's commercial kitchen is perfect for Rachel's baking needs, and seeing the cute blonde's business acumen, Nate knows she'd be the perfect partner for a new venture. When he makes her an offer she can't refuse, he discovers he's interested in more than her gingerbread.
While Nate could make her dreams come true, Rachel's heart, as well as her head, tells her mixing business with anything else could be a recipe for disaster. Should she return to Arizona, and leave Nate and her new eager-for-more customers behind? Or can Nate convince her that, here with him in the mountains of Montana, she's already home? For Christmas...forever.
Linda's Thoughts:
“She wore a simple purple long-sleeved turtleneck, but streaks of white across her chest - flour perhaps? - distracted him, made him want to volunteer for cleanup duty.”
Home for Christmas by Melissa McClone is a lovely sweet and clean holiday romance. It’s perfect for curling up with in an easy chair with a cup of hot chocolate. This is the first book in the author’s Bar V5 Dude Ranch series and the second book in her Copper Mountain Christmas series. It works perfectly well as a stand-alone read with a self-contained romance and plotline. This is the story of venture capitalist and dude ranch owner Nate Vaughn and pastry chef Rachel Murphy.
Rachel’s brother, Ty, raised her after they lost their parents when Rachel was little. Rachel is twenty-six now, but Ty still sees her as his little sister and he’s just as protective of her as he was back then. Ty put Rachel through Culinary School to help her fulfill her dream of opening her own bakery in Arizona where she lives. However, she trusted the wrong business partners and they took her for everything. Still reeling from that devastating betrayal, she has come to the Bar V5 Dude Ranch to spend Christmas with her brother who is the Ranch Foreman there. It will be their first White Christmas together. Missing being in the kitchen, Ty offers to let her use the industrial kitchen at the ranch. She’s in seventh heaven in her element when Nate, the ranch’s owner, comes home and follows the delectable smells into his kitchen - and finds Rachel there.
Nate is a very smart nerd. He had his future all planned when his father got sick and Nate had to move to Montana to take over the family ranch. Now, he cannot imagine doing anything else. He just wishes he had someone to share it with. As Rachel needs venture capital now to realize her dream of her own bakery, Nate suggests that she market her gingerbread houses in nearby Marietta to earn the seed monies she needs. The more they are around each other, the more Nate realizes he really wants Rachel to stay at the Bar V5 Ranch with him. But… while he’s extremely smart with figures, he’s the pits at expressing feelings; graphs and charts don’t work well in the romance department.
Rachel is scared of being hurt again and she doesn’t want business advice. Being strongly attracted to his partner’s sister spells trouble with a capital T – but Nate can’t help himself. When Rachel refuses his help, he schemes to help her on the sly with Operation: Hansel and Gretel. However, secrets have a way of seeing the light of day at inopportune times. I loved this couple and was pulling for them to find that they could each have everything they wanted… together.
Following please find a few of my favorite quotes from Home for Christmas:
He sauntered across the kitchen, six feet of male hotness and charm, heading in her direction like a drone missile locked on a target.
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He wanted to wrap his arms around her and kiss away her uncertainty. But if he did that she would bolt. So he brushed stray hairs that had fallen out of her ponytail off her face instead. Ignored how soft the strands felt against his fingers. Pretended his pulse wasn't stampeding like a herd of bison on the plain.
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Mistletoe was her new favorite holiday decoration. She would have to hang some in the kitchen. All over the house. And keep the green stuff hanging until Easter. Or Thanksgiving.
Living in Florida, I enjoy reading holiday stories with snow during the summer just to cool off and this easy quick read works very well for accomplishing that. Melissa’s writing is so vivid that readers will feel that they are at the Ranch breathing the cold air and enjoying the gorgeous scenery. This story will make you yearn for snow and hunky Montana cowboys and is guaranteed to get you in the mood for Christmas. I still get a warm and fuzzy feeling just thinking of it! This is the first book I’ve ever read by Melissa McClone, but I want to rectify that soon! Give yourself a dose of cinnamon and spice and pick up Home For Christmas soon!
Suggested Reading Order:
The Bar V5 Dude Ranch series:
Book #1 - HOME FOR CHRISTMAS (Rachel & Nate)
Book #2 - MISTLETOE MAGIC (Caitlin & Noah)
Book #3 - KISS ME, COWBOY (Charlotte/Charlie & Zack)
Book #4 - MISTLETOE WEDDING (Meg & Ty)
Book #5 - A CHRISTMAS HOMECOMING (Ellie & Josiah)
Copper Mountain Christmas series:
Book #1 – A COWBOY FOR CHRISTMAS
Book #2 – HOME FOR CHRISTMAS
Book #3 – MISTLETOE MAGIC
Book #4 – CHRISTMAS AT COPPER MOUNTAIN
Book #5 – HER CHRISTMAS COWBOY
Thank you!
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