Series: Star Valley, #1
Traits & Tropes: small-town; soldier hero w/ PTSD; grief; fish out of water; unexpected inheritance
Publication Date: 10.11.22
Genre/Setting: Contemporary; Star Valley Springs, Wyoming, USA
Heat Level: 2
Rating: 3.5/5
Kyra Fowler is on the cusp of achieving her dream of working as a nurse practitioner in London. The only catch is that she must first travel to Wyoming to tie up her estranged father’s estate and sell the town he inexplicably left her in his will. She just has to do a few repairs that are certain to easily attract an investor and she plans to be in London by the New Year.
Aiden Steele was unable to save his brother-in-law and Navy SEAL teammate in battle, but he’s determined to save his sister’s ranch and make sure she and his two young nieces can have the life they deserve in the small town they love. He’s not about to let them be driven out by an uncaring investor. His plan is to show Kyra around and, with the help of the townsfolk and a little Christmas spirit, make her fall in love with the place so she won’t want to sell. The plan backfires a bit, however, when Aiden is the one who begins to fall for her.
I have to say, this wasn’t quite as light-hearted and Christmassy as I was expecting or wanting, but the ending surprised me with how much it charmed me. In facing a holiday without several loved ones who should be here, the grief is hitting hard, so it was both painful and somehow a bit comforting to find that grieving was such a big theme in this unassuming book with its cutesy title. Some scenes were difficult to read and had me in tears, but the close bonds formed by this small-town community and the found family aspects gave me warm fuzzies.
Suffice it to say, this book was a bit of a mixed bag for me, and it was sometimes difficult to remember that it was meant to be a romance. Kyra and Aiden didn’t actually spend that much time together and in fact, she spends a great deal of time avoiding him. She was a pretty difficult character for me to like, mostly because she spent so much time harping on about the necessity of sticking to this life plan of moving to London even though it was something she came up with pretty arbitrarily. She was extremely inflexible for a long time and somehow seemed to think that this meant she was making her own decisions when really, she was just latching onto something random. All this did make some sense given her background and the fact that her mother had kept them so isolated, but this definitely would’ve felt more like a romance if she’d had more on page time with Aiden. Their chemistry was clear, but there were a lot of issues for them both to work through and they spent a great deal of this book pushing each other away and trying to protect themselves from potential heartbreak.
Overall, this book was a surprise for me. It was a bit less romantic than I had hoped and also less Christmassy, and yet, Aiden whipped out a beautiful bit of romance right at the end. That completely melted me, and I would’ve loved to see a similar confession out of Kyra. I really loved this small-town setting and all the found family here. There’s also definitely something to be said for the character development and how well the supporting characters were fleshed out, although possibly to the slight detriment of the main characters’ on page romance. Nonetheless, this is a new series I’m excited to continue and I especially can’t wait to read Tess and Silas’ story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3137549676
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4971865674
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