Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Second Chance Season
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://www.liorablake.com/
CITY:
STATE: CO
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://www.simonandschuster.com/authors/Liora-Blake/465145686
RESEARCHER NOTES:
| LC control no.: | no2016160991 |
|---|---|
| LCCN Permalink: | https://lccn.loc.gov/no2016160991 |
| HEADING: | Blake, Liora |
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| 005 | 20170621193649.0 |
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| 035 | __ |a (OCoLC)oca10646592 |
| 040 | __ |a IAhCCS |b eng |e rda |c IAhCCS |d DLC |
| 053 | _0 |a PS3602.L3458 |
| 100 | 1_ |a Blake, Liora |
| 370 | __ |e Colorado |
| 372 | __ |a Romance fiction |2 lcsh |
| 374 | __ |a Authors |2 lcsh |
| 375 | __ |a female |
| 377 | __ |a eng |
| 670 | __ |a Blake, Liora. First step forward, 2016: |b title page (Liora Blake) p. 3 of cover (Liora Blake is a contemporary romance author living in Colorado. She writes because it’s what she’s always wanted to do) |
PERSONAL
Married.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Liora Blake is a native of Colorado. She is especially fond of the fertile Grand Valley along the Colorado Western Slope of the Rocky Mountains, near the Utah border. She has found that to be an ideal setting for contemporary romances about handsome, hardworking country boys, the women who cross their paths, and the steamy sex that draws them together.
"True" Series
Blake launched her career somewhere north of Colorado. The “True” series of e-books begins and ends in Crowell, a small Montana town in the middle of nowhere. True North introduces local newspaper writer Kate Mosely, whose sole claim to fame is a best-selling novel. Lured to Hollywood for television interviews, she enters the magnetic orbit of a high-profile rap star called Trax. Kate resists his brash facade until she discovers the sweet Trevor Jenkins behind the public persona.
True Devotion follows Trevor’s tough-girl, self-destructive sister, Devon, through her own journey to the brink of happiness. A hard life has turned Devon into her own worst enemy. It is Trevor’s patient guitarist, Simon Cole, who leads her toward a better life—in spite of herself.
True Divide marks a return to Kate’s hometown and her sister, Lacey. While Kate took a chance on a celebrity rock star with a “bad boy” image, prom queen Lacey stayed home to work at the local Beauty Barn. She put her secret fling with outcast Jake Holt behind her when he left town ten years ago without so much as a good-bye. Now he is back, having traded the lip ring and skateboard for the lifestyle of a globe-trotting private pilot. Lacey must decide if she has the courage for a second-chance romance.
"Grand Valley" Series
In the “Grand Valley” series, Blake brings readers down from the popular mountain resorts and out of the cities. First Step Forward introduces professional football player Cooper Lowry, who needs to step out of the limelight before his latest concussion threatens to end his career forever. At a local drugstore he meets Whitney Reed, who has come to Denver to save her rural apple farm from foreclosure. She goes home to Hotchkiss empty-handed but undeterred from her mission. Cooper shows up at her doorstep a few days later with a very different proposition in mind. He falls unexpectedly into the rhythm of country living, while Whitney gradually works her way into his heart.
Like some of Blake’s other male protagonists, Cooper’s chauvinistic attitudes and coarse language could intimidate a lesser woman, but Whitney’s independent spirit cannot be quenched. Cooper develops increasing respect for this intrepid apple farmer, especially as her financial situation worsens and she continues to resist his monetary support. Cooper never met anyone like her. Whitney is not impressed by his celebrity or his athletic ability, and she doesn’t want his money. She sees him for the man he is and the better man he can become.
“Cooper did grow on me,” observed a correspondent to Dear Author: “I ended up liking him quite a bit.” A Harlequin Junkie contributor noted of the unlikely couple: “Neither is looking for love, but it sneaks up on them.” A Book Binge commentator appreciated a story of grownups whose “problems were real life problems,” characters who “fumbled their way through each situation that came their way.” She recommended First Step Forward as “a sweet romance that really dug its way into my head.”
One of Cooper and Whitney’s friends is Garrett Strickland, and Second Chance Season is his story. Garrett returned to the old family farm in Hotchkiss when his father died. He ended up losing the farm, moving into a trailer, dropping out of college, and taking a job with the local agricultural cooperative. He contents himself with solitary activities like hunting and fishing, but he always lends a hand when friends or neighbors need help. That is how he meets Cara Cavanaugh.
Cara has temporarily abandoned her comfortable life in Chicago for an experiment in independent living. She plans to write an article about the agricultural scene in rural Colorado, but her first step is to get lost on the way to Hotchkiss. Garrett is the one who stops to help and realizes that this city girl will need a lot more help than directions to the nearest town.
Garrett introduces Cara to local interview subjects. As they travel from farm to farm, he is impressed with her determination to succeed, and Cara is taken by his easygoing approach to living in the moment. Their growing friendship inevitably leads to “a slow simmering romance,” commented a reviewer at Book Binge.
The critic added: “Blake did a great job of weaving a compelling romance that readers will connect with.” According to a reviewer in Publishers Weekly, “the author’s exuberant writing makes a stock story line fresh.” A reviewer at Harlequin Junkie observed that “Blake balanced character development, romance, family, and friendships” in “a fun, sexy opposites attract romance” that features a “diverse and entertaining cast of characters.” A commentator at Smexy Books hinted that “Garrett has a best friend that is a total curmudgeon” who deserves his own story.
Ready for Wild pits grumpy game warden Braden Montgomery against a celebrity hunter in pink camouflage. Amber Regan hosts a hunting show on the verge of cancellation. She hopes that a televised elk hunt near Hotchkiss, Colorado, will improve her ratings and save her show. Braden has no respect for people who hunt for fame and fortune, especially posers in short shorts, no matter how beautiful they are. It is inevitable that sparks will fly, but this is no case of spontaneous combustion.
During Amber’s scouting visits, Braden is surprised to learn that she is an experienced hunter in her own right and she also shares his respect for the integrity of the hunt and his commitment to conservation. Braden resists the growing chemistry between them until the final scouting visit, when they finally yield to mutual desire.
Amber returns home to arrange the scheduled hunt, but separation only fuels their passion as “heat sizzles through every text message,” according to a Publishers Weekly contributor, “and singes every look.” Susan Andersen wrote in BookPage that Blake has created “characters and situations we can sink our teeth into and believe in.” They have become one of the author’s trademarks, and they have turned casual readers into loyal fans.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2017, review of Ready for Wild.
Publishers Weekly, May 1, 2017, review of Second Chance Season, p. 45; September 11, 2017, review of Ready for Wild, p. 49.
ONLINE
Book Binge, http://bookbinge.com/ (December 23, 2016), review of First Step Forward; (July 10, 2017), review of Second Chance Season.
BookPage, https://bookpage.com/ (October 31, 2017), Susan Andersen, review of Ready for Wild.
Dear Author, http://dearauthor.com/ (December 14, 2016), review of First Step Forward.
Harlequin Junkie, http://harlequinjunkie.com/ (November 21, 2016), review of First Step Forward; (May 16, 2017), review of Second Chance Season.
Liora Blake Website, http://www.liorablake.com (February 1, 2018).
Smexy Books, http://smexybooks.com/ (December 8, 2016), review of First Step Forward; (June 20, 2017), review of Second Chance Season; (November 2, 2017), review of Ready for Wild.
That’s Normal, https://thats-normal.com/ (June 26, 2017), author interview.
Liora Blake is a contemporary romance author living in Colorado.
When she isn’t writing, she’s likely baking cookies she shouldn’t eat, inventing elaborate excuses to avoid going for a run, or asking the nice barista to sell her another quad-shot Americano.
www.liorablake.com
Liora Blake is a contemporary romance author living in Colorado. She writes because it’s what she’s always wanted to do, she writes novels because she likes to tell the whole story, and she writes romance because a happily ever after is the best kind of story to tell. Visit her online at LioraBlake.com.
BECOME A FAN
Sketchwriter added 3 more titles from her website:
TRUE NORTH
While most novelists would consider jetting off to Hollywood for a television interview rather exciting, small town Montana writer Kate Mosely finds it all a bit eye-rollingly exhausting. Until she shares the stage and a whole heap of carnal gazes with rock star Trevor Jenkins that is. Despite his intimidating on-stage bravado, underneath it Kate discovers a man with a Rilke poem tattooed on his arm, an appreciation for cronuts, and a snarky wit to match her own.
After losing her husband in a car accident where she was behind the wheel, Kate has finally found her bearings in the world again, rebuilding a simple life she can count on. Even if that life has mostly been a lot of lonely nights watching old movies in the dark and quiet days writing for the hometown newspaper.
As she and Trevor embark on a sexy new relationship, the scarred parts of her heart start to heal, making room for a love so passionate it makes her want long-forgotten things. Wild things, heart-swelling things, and joyful things. But when a searing article in a trashy gossip magazine sends Kate running, it threatens their chances at forever. (SIMON & SCHUSTER’S Pocket Star – April 2015)
AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE iTUNES
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
TRUE DEVOTION
When Devon Jenkins met Simon Cole for the first time, it went a little something like this: He hit on her, she shot him down, he made a lewd joke, she told him he was an idiot.
In the two years since then, not much has changed. From the fact that Simon is the guitarist in her brother’s band, to the way he flirts shamelessly with every set of ovaries within a hundred-mile radius, Devon knows the smartest thing she can do is keep a sturdy, nearly impenetrable, wall between them. But when a series of celebratory whiskey shots start doing the talking at her brother’s wedding reception, Devon finds herself drunkenly considering the idea that waking up with Simon in her bed might be a perfectly reasonable way to end the night. Right up until he tells her no. Leave it to Simon to find a moral compass in the middle of nowhere Montana.
As Devon starts to discover Simon is more than just a sexy mess of tattoos and good looks, she ends up thinking he might be just what she’s been missing. But when Devon is forced to confront the notion that a girl who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks might never be good enough for a guy like Simon, she nearly throws it all away. (SIMON & SCHUSTER’S Pocket Star – June 2015)
AMAZON BARNES & NOBLE iTUNES
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
TRUE DIVIDE
Ten years ago, Jake Holt graduated high school and then bolted out of Crowell, Montana before the sun came up. Why? Because the word outcast doesn’t begin to describe how a kid with Doc Martens and a lip ring is treated in a rural town of eight hundred people. The only thing he left behind? The prom queen.
Lacey Mosely, the former prom queen in question, stayed put. Living in the same house she grew up in and working at The Beauty Barn just as she has since she was sixteen. So when fate – and the untimely early arrival of her sister’s new baby – lands a very grown up Jake back in Crowell, Lacey is more than a little thrown.
And Jake Holt is just as fearless and forthright as she remembers…all wrapped up in an even more tempting package. But when life hands Lacey a chance to have something more than she’s ever dreamed of, it’s her turn to decide what to leave behind. (SIMON & SCHUSTER’S Pocket Star – October 2015)
Liora Blake is a contemporary romance author living in Colorado. Although her path to here was paved with a million detours, plenty of pitfalls, and many a crisis of faith, she thinks it’s a pretty amazing place to be. She writes because it’s what she’s always wanted to do, she writes novels because she likes to tell the whole story, and she writes romance because a happily ever after is the best kind of story to tell.
When she isn’t writing, she’s likely baking cookies she shouldn’t eat, inventing elaborate excuses to avoid going for a run, or asking the nice barista to sell her another quad-shot Americano. Liora makes her home with one infinitely patient husband and one very lazy dog.
Liora Blake is a contemporary romance author who writes because it’s what she’s always wanted to do. She writes novels because she likes to tell the whole story, and she writes romance because a happily ever after is the best kind of story to tell.
When she isn’t writing, she’s likely baking cookies she shouldn’t eat, inventing elaborate excuses to avoid going for a run, or asking the nice barista to sell her another quad-shot Americano.
Liora loves hearing from readers: liorablake@gmail.com
≈ THE TRUE SERIES ≈
TRUE NORTH
While most novelists would consider jetting off to Hollywood for a television interview rather exciting, small town Montana writer Kate Mosely finds it all a bit eye-rollingly exhausting. Until she shares the stage and a whole heap of carnal gazes with rock star Trevor Jenkins that is. Despite his intimidating on-stage bravado, underneath it Kate discovers a man with a Rilke poem tattooed on his arm, an appreciation for cronuts, and a snarky wit to match her own.
After losing her husband in a car accident where she was behind the wheel, Kate has finally found her bearings in the world again, rebuilding a simple life she can count on. Even if that life has mostly been a lot of lonely nights watching old movies in the dark and quiet days writing for the hometown newspaper.
As she and Trevor embark on a sexy new relationship, the scarred parts of her heart start to heal, making room for a love so passionate it makes her want long-forgotten things. Wild things, heart-swelling things, and joyful things. But when a searing article in a trashy gossip magazine sends Kate running, it threatens their chances at forever. (SIMON & SCHUSTER’S Pocket Star – April 2015)
TRUE DEVOTION
When Devon Jenkins met Simon Cole for the first time, it went a little something like this: He hit on her, she shot him down, he made a lewd joke, she told him he was an idiot.
In the two years since then, not much has changed. From the fact that Simon is the guitarist in her brother’s band, to the way he flirts shamelessly with every set of ovaries within a hundred-mile radius, Devon knows the smartest thing she can do is keep a sturdy, nearly impenetrable, wall between them. But when a series of celebratory whiskey shots start doing the talking at her brother’s wedding reception, Devon finds herself drunkenly considering the idea that waking up with Simon in her bed might be a perfectly reasonable way to end the night. Right up until he tells her no. Leave it to Simon to find a moral compass in the middle of nowhere Montana.
As Devon starts to discover Simon is more than just a sexy mess of tattoos and good looks, she ends up thinking he might be just what she’s been missing. But when Devon is forced to confront the notion that a girl who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks might never be good enough for a guy like Simon, she nearly throws it all away. (SIMON & SCHUSTER’S Pocket Star – June 2015)
TRUE DIVIDE
Ten years ago, Jake Holt graduated high school and then bolted out of Crowell, Montana before the sun came up. Why? Because the word outcast doesn’t begin to describe how a kid with Doc Martens and a lip ring is treated in a rural town of eight hundred people. The only thing he left behind? The prom queen.
Lacey Mosely, the former prom queen in question, stayed put. Living in the same house she grew up in and working at The Beauty Barn just as she has since she was sixteen. So when fate – and the untimely early arrival of her sister’s new baby – lands a very grown up Jake back in Crowell, Lacey is more than a little thrown.
And Jake Holt is just as fearless and forthright as she remembers…all wrapped up in an even more tempting package. But when life hands Lacey a chance to have something more than she’s ever dreamed of, it’s her turn to decide what to leave behind. (SIMON & SCHUSTER’S Pocket Star – October 2015)
Second Chance Season By Liora Blake – Interview and Giveaway!
Posted by Heidi on 06/26/2017
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1
S
ummer is here which means it’s time to read sexy books next to the pool while you pretend to count how long your kid can hold their breath underwater. You know, the kind of book that pulls you in, makes you laugh out loud, swoon a little, and then peak over your shoulder to make sure no one behind you knows you’re reading that one scene. If that sounds familiar, or if you want it to, Second Chance Season by Liora Blake is for you.
Garrett Strickland is unapologetically country, fiercely loyal, and perfectly happy with his job at the Hotchkiss Co-op. Garrett is all about living in the present and not dwelling in the past—even if he was once on his way to a lofty agricultural sciences degree that would guarantee the brightest of futures, only to end up back home when his old man died, leaving behind a debt-ridden family farm that was impossible to keep afloat. After that, it was easy to see why dreaming big wasn’t worth the heartache. And until he crosses paths with a city girl who’s hell-bent on kick-starting her own future, he’s sure that good enough is just that.
Cara Cavanaugh is ready for more from life, even if that means changing everything; including dumping her boyfriend of ten years, turning down a lucrative job at a major newspaper, and leaving behind the upscale suburbs of Chicago where she grew up. Now, she just has to pray that temporarily relocating to the middle of nowhere in Colorado will be the first step in building a career as a freelance journalist—all she has to do is prove she’s got what it takes to make a name for herself. Unfortunately, her tony country day school is as close to “country” as she’s ever been. But when a goodhearted guy who looks like he just stumbled out of a country music video offers to help, she ends up falling hard…and discovering that the perfect story is a love story. And it’s theirs.
We loved Second Chance Season. Something about the perfect combination of Garrett’s humor, Cara’s fish out of water experiences, their crazy chemistry, and Liora Blake’s talent worked for us. In fact, we liked it so much, that we just had to ask her a few questions to salve our book hangover.
We are loving your Grand Valley books. Do you plan to write more in this series?
Thank you! I’ve loved writing the Grand Valley books and there’s one more title to go in this series. The final book, READY FOR WILD, will release this fall. In it, Braden (the burly, grumpy game warden featured in SECOND CHANCE SEASON) will meet his match and she’s going to drive him absolutely nuts. But the bigger they are, the harder they fall, right? Braden does exactly that.
Thanks to Garrett and Cara we’ll never be able to look at a Pilates reformer the same way. Have you ever considered writing the Kama Sutra of fitness equipment?
Ha! Dear God, no. That sounds like a bunch of mortifying ER visits just waiting to happen.
Most people only think about the big cities in Colorado. What made you want to write about its countryside?
Being a native of Colorado, I loved the idea of being able to write a series that featured some of what makes this place great. But despite how popular our state is as a tourist destination, most out-of-state folks only think about mountain resorts when they imagine Colorado. Nearly no one imagines vineyards or fruit orchards, but the Grand Valley is a hot spot for both. After spending a long weekend at Stone Cottage Cellars in Paonia last year, I knew it would be the perfect setting for my next series.
All of the fish out of water Cara has as a city socialite in the country are hilarious. How do you react when you’re out of your element?
Usually I start out by talking way too much, then I realize that I’m talking way too much and proceed to stop talking entirely. So, basically I’m a super awesome party guest.
What is it about a good looking man in a truck that is so incredibly hot?
For me, it’s that a guy who drives a truck seems likely able to do stuff (and, no, I don’t mean that stuff). Like he can fix things, perhaps. Change a flat in record time or do whatever one does with spark plugs or timing belts. Or maybe he builds rustic furniture pieces and distills his own whiskey, so he needs a truck to haul stuff around in. All that matters is that he looks…capable.
source
Second Chance Season is hot, sweet, perfectly satisfying, and you can win your own copy of it in our giveaway!
Buy Second Chance by Liora Blake Season Now
Ready for Wild: Grand Valley, Book 3
264.37 (Sept. 11, 2017): p49.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
* Ready for Wild: Grand Valley, Book 3
Liora Blake. Pocket, $16 trade paper (320p)
ISBN 978-1-5011-5517-8
In the excellent third Grand Valley contemporary Western romance (after Second Chance Season), Blake makes the Colorado wilderness come alive with sweeping descriptions of the mountains and valleys. Amber Regan is the sexy host of a hunting show on cable TV. Braden Montgomery is a game warden who hates hunting shows. There are too many reasons why the two of them together would never work, but there's one reason why they do: they encourage each other to be their best. Blake treats hunting with respect, and even nonhunters will appreciate that Amber and Braden believe in conservation and don't view killing animals as sport. The protagonists have intense chemistry from first sight, and their flirtatious banter is witty, blunt, and sexy. <
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Ready for Wild: Grand Valley, Book 3." Publishers Weekly, 11 Sept. 2017, p. 49. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A505634907/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=51e22b60. Accessed 10 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A505634907
Blake, Liora: READY FOR WILD
(Aug. 15, 2017):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Blake, Liora READY FOR WILD Pocket (Adult Fiction) $16.00 10, 31 ISBN: 978-1-5011-5517-8
A surly mountain man and a celebrity with a big personality wrestle with their chemistry in the great outdoors.Braden Montgomery is a brooding, solitary game warden who prefers the company of his dog and the great outdoors. Amber Regan is the host of a popular TV show about hunting who lives in the public eye. When she scouts the land in Braden's unit for an elk hunt, sparks fly. Unfortunately, they're the kind of sparks that can result in glowering resentment--or the type of sexual chemistry that could start a forest fire. Braden begins their working relationship by making a lot of broad assumptions about Amber: that she's superficial and a poor imitation of a hunter. In fact, Amber is not only a good hunter, but she also shares Braden's moral code about the sport. And this hunt is her last shot at saving her show, which has declining ratings. Eventually, their relationship evens out with the benefit of distance and the help of a frequent text exchange. Tension gives way to attraction as the two get to know one another and realize how much they have in common. When Amber comes back to get in one last scouting trip before hunting season, they finally hook up, spending two nearly perfect days together before distance drags them apart again. During hunting season, Amber stays at Braden's cabin as he goes after a deer that's eluded him for several years. While they're on their respective hunts, Braden can't keep his mind off Amber and returns early to offer help. When she declines and misses her mark, Braden is there to help her recover. But when her show isn't renewed and Amber is offered a starring role in a steamy reality show, things get a little muddled for the otherwise happy couple. Blake (Second Chance Season, 2017, etc.) offers scenic descriptions almost as lush as the sex between the main characters.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Blake, Liora: READY FOR WILD." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2017. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A500364964/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=b51882ed. Accessed 10 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A500364964
Second Chance Season: Grand Valley, Book 2
264.18 (May 1, 2017): p45.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Second Chance Season: Grand Valley, Book 2
Liora Blake. Pocket, $16 trade paper (384p)
ISBN 978-1-5011-7535-0
Blake's second Grand Valley contemporary romance (after First Step Forward) is sassy and sexy, featuring a hero and heroine whose playfulness and good, dirty fun are infectious. Wealthy Chicagoan Cara Cavanaugh decamps to Hotchkiss, Colo., to write about the local color. Her introduction to it is Garrett Strickland, an easygoing tall drink of water whose father's death forced him to leave college, sell the family's unprofitable farm, and take a job at the local co-op. The two fit each other like a well-worn pair of blue jeans, but what will happen when Cara finishes her article and leaves Hotchkiss? Blake's city girl-country boy premise is nothing new, but Garrett's point of view as a very masculine man and Cara's endearingly fish-out-of-water reactions to country living are extremely well done, and their chemistry is off the charts. <
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Second Chance Season: Grand Valley, Book 2." Publishers Weekly, 1 May 2017, p. 45. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491575314/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=35c93c38. Accessed 10 Jan. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491575314
Web Exclusive – October 31, 2017
READY FOR WILD
Where the heart calls
BookPage review by Susan Andersen
Braden Montgomery is a game warden in small-town Hotchkiss, Colorado, and has structured his life exactly the way he wants it. His job lets him spend a lot of time outdoors, and the only female he has to tolerate these days—never mind cares to have warming his bed—is his dog Charley. Given Braden’s history with a cheating ex-fiancée, bachelorhood suits him just fine. But then a Texas girl who stars in a televised hunting show and is best known for her short shorts, cleavage and pink camouflage bursts into his life, smelling like strawberries and making his dormant libido rear its head.
Amber Regan’s show is circling the drain, and she’s in search of the perfect location to film an elk hunt she hopes will haul the program back to its glory days. She knows exactly what Warden Montgomery thinks of her—and doesn’t particularly care. Well, except maybe for the part where something about the guy makes her heart beat in Texas Two Step Swing tempo. She knows what a fantastic hunter she is. She grew up hunting with her uncle and if people don’t like the girly wardrobe she often does it in, too bad.
Ready for Wild was my first Liora Blake book, but it won’t be my last. Blake writes with heart, humor and sizzling sexiness, presenting her readers with<< characters and situations we can sink our teeth into and believe in>>. Braden and Amber felt like people I would happily hang out with. They didn’t let misunderstandings stand—they talked things through, leaping off the page as fully realized adults. I predict they will leave you rooting as enthusiastically for their hard won happily ever after as I did.
Review: Ready for Wild by Liora Blake
November 2, 2017 By Mandi 1 Comment
Ready for Wild by Liora Blake (Grand Valley #3)
Released: October 31, 2017
Contemporary Romance
Gallery Books
Reviewed by Mandi
I really enjoyed the first two books in this series and picked this one up without even reading the blurb. Had I read the blurb, I may not have proceeded:
Blurb: Braden Montgomery is certain about three things: one, luck is for suckers; two, time spent outdoors is what keeps him sane; and, three, when it comes to sharing his bed, there’s only one female he’s willing to put up with—his Chesapeake Bay retriever, Charley. Braden’s constructed his life on these beliefs, and he’s quite content with the status quo.
But when a moment of bad luck lands Braden toe-to-toe with a blonde bombshell with her own television show, his stubbornly structured reality begins to unravel.
As for Amber Regan, her brand has been built on camo, cut-offs, and cleavage. With her own hunting show on the foremost sports channel and enough social media followers to garner her plenty of endorsement deals, Amber’s come a long way from the tomboy in a small Texas town she once was. Unfortunately, ratings are down and her contract for next season is in limbo, so she’s in desperate need of a reboot to save her show—and filming a rough and tough archery elk hunt in Colorado might be the way to do just that. Too bad the local game warden grunts more than he speaks, seems determined to despise her—and makes her heart race in all the most inconvenient ways.
I really don’t like reading (or watching) anything to do with hunting. I live in a prominent hunting area and I have a lot of friends that hunt and that is all great and good. I just don’t like knowing about it or seeing it. So when I started the book, and the heroine is a huge hunter with her own television show, I became very stressed for all of the fiction animals she was going to encounter.
Amber grew up hunting with her uncle, and then she developed a body that guys drool over. After living with no money, she found her way onto television and never wants to go back to being poor. She has a huge social media presence, and often finds herself in tight, short, outfits, showing off products and doing luxury hunting. But after a few seasons, ratings have dropped and a contract renewal is not guaranteed. Wanting to try something new, she travels up to Colorado and wants to really get back to nature and film some bow hunting. Our hero, Braden , is the game warden in this area…and wants nothing to do with this television show.
Braden is a Grumpy hero with a capital G! A lovable, grumpy hero – the best kind. He wants nothing to do with Amber and her tight shirts and camera crew tramping around his land. But she shows up and once he gets to know the real Amber, not the tv personality, he starts to fall for her – which makes him even more grumpy! He starts to help her find good places to hunt and they fall in bed and there is a lot of sexy times.
But guys – hunting. Blerg. They start to track this Bull Elk – one Braden has been eyeing for a season or two. Run elk, run!! It really wasn’t fun for me to read this as I totally stressed out for this damn elk. And yes, I realize this is fiction and the stupid elk isn’t real – but I can’t handle hurt animals in books or tv. So it took away enjoyment from this book. I will say, the majority of the book is Braden and Amber away from the woods or wherever they hunt – and mostly set at his house or in town. But there are a few scenes of them tracking the elk and finding good locations for them to shoot the show.
Braden is not only grumpy, but he is very much into organic eating and being super healthy. He made me smile.
…Garrett comes bearing a shopping bag full of junk food he knows I won’t eat: Hostess Fruit Pies, Honey Buns, and those little powered sugar-covered donuts that are the same size at the tumors they’ll eventually find in your liver if you eat too many of them.
Amber’s two-man crew are adorable and added some smiles to this story. And there is great sexual tension and a lead up to romance:
“Kiss. Me.”
A smirk creeps across Braden’s mouth, triumph mixed with unabashed want. And based on that grin, I expect his mouth on mine instantly, in a rushed collision that’s as blundering as it is hot and wild.
But what I get is nothing like that. Instead, it’s the restrained advance of Braden leaning in slowly – in complete control – allowing our mouths to meet in a tease, his lower lip brushing over both of mine so lightly it drives a whimper from my throat.
That sound is his undoing.
It’s a cute romance. If you’ve read the first two books, this one has a little bit of a different feel to it. Maybe it was the hollywood/tv stuff, where the first two were a little more…homey feeling. But I have to give the minus for the sake of the elk!
Grade: B-
December 14, 2016
REVIEW: First Step Forward by Liora Blake
KaetrinBOOK REVIEWSContemporary / farming / footballComments Off on REVIEW: First Step Forward by Liora Blake
first-step-forwardDear Liora Blake,
First Step Forward is the first book in your new Grand Valley series. Even though it is not New Adult, it is written in the same kind of style, with alternating first person present tense chapters from each of the main characters’ point of view. I actually like this style so it was a pleasant surprise but I know there are a lot of DA readers who want first person and/or present tense to die a fiery death.
Cooper Lowry is a wide receiver for an unnamed Denver NFL team. He’s played professional ball for eight years and realises he’s coming to the end of his career. He’s not ready for it; football is his sole focus and his one great love. When the book begins, Cooper has just been hit hard by a player by the nickname of “Stinger” and suffered a concussion.
I can’t say I liked Cooper all that much when I first met him. He was a bit of a dick.
On a forgiving day, the media refers to me as quiet, taciturn, or reserved. Every other day, they just say I’m a prick. There’s truth in both.
I was particularly unimpressed by his wishlist early in chapter three.
I don’t want a woman with a six-pack. I want her belly toned but soft, I want her ass firm but full, with plenty up top to keep me occupied, and I want some hips to hold on to. Ones that don’t include hip bones threatening to cut me open if I have her under me. In short, I want her to look and feel and move like a woman. And Whitney is nothing but perfectly toned, perfectly rounded, and all woman.
Or here when he’s reflecting on the “jersey chaser” he had in his bed the night before.
Once we got going she talked dirty, but it was a poor showing. I’m all for a girl who lets me know, in explicit detail, exactly what she wants or how she likes it, but at a certain point, I just wanted her to be quiet for a while. So much that we went a second round because I thought I might lull her into a silent stupor if she came hard enough.
<
Seeking out Epsom salts for a bath to help his aching muscles after the game in which he sustained a concussion, he is assisted in the pharmacy by another customer, Whitney Reed. Whitney is in Denver to meet with her bank manager to try and renegotiate the loan on her apple orchard in Hotchkiss, in upstate Colorado. She is a short step away from foreclosure and losing everything she loves and her only remaining connection to her father (she used her inheritance to buy the orchard).
The next morning, Cooper and Whitney meet again and sparks of attraction fly. Leaving with a jar of Whitney’s apple butter (not a euphemism), Cooper isn’t sure he’ll ever see her again. When the team doctor sends him away with strict instructions to take it easy and not do anything strenuous or vigorous (that means no sex as well), Cooper decides to take a spin out to Hotchkiss. It’s only a five hour drive. It’s practically the next town over right? Let’s face it, Cooper was pretty much gone once he met Whitney (notwithstanding the woman in his bed the night before. There were no repeats by the way. After this point it’s all Whitney for Cooper).
Whitney and Cooper enjoy making chutney together (also not a euphemism) (it was actually educational; I even Googled water bath canning) and things progress sufficiently that Cooper is incredibly tempted to ignore medical advice about vigorous activity. It was about this time I started to like Cooper and appreciate his sense of humour.
Then it’s just me, standing here in my dark gray boxer briefs, waiting for what’s next. All I can think about is this line from a movie my high school girlfriend insisted we watch on repeat.
I’m also just a girl, standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her.
Fucking Hugh Grant movies. They’re like the earworms of romantic comedies. I’m stuck in place, half-hard, and all I can think is: I’m just a boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to do something, anything, to make his cock stop hurting.
Seriously. Fuck off, Hugh Grant.
The romance developing between Whitney and Cooper is relatively conflict free. They’re adults, pursuing a relationship, getting to know one another. Whitney, having failed to renegotiate her bank loan but still trying to secure new financing is facing looming foreclosure and Cooper suffers a further injury which causes him to face the possibility of not playing football anymore. Both of those things are very important but they don’t really threaten the relationship. I guess I was expecting something to happen to threaten the romance but when it came, it came late and it wasn’t very melodramatic. Cooper and Whitney like each other. They have great sex and enjoy each other’s company. And, when things are threatened very near the end of the novel they, for the most part, maturely consider their options before reaching their HEA. In that way, it was refreshing and unlike many novels I’ve read.
I enjoyed the developing relationship but I also found it fairly easy to put the book down and I sometimes lacked motivation to pick it up again. Partly that’s the remaining hangover from the Trumpocalypse and therefore not the book’s fault, but partly, I think it was that there wasn’t any real barrier to Cooper and Whitney being together for most of the book. When I read, I enjoyed the story. I liked the style and I liked (in Cooper’s case, after a while) the characters. But I didn’t feel compelled to keep going, to find out what happened next and there wasn’t really any “OMG are they going to be okay??” moment for me. Sometimes this is a good thing of course and if any DA readers are looking for a couple of adults mostly acting like adults without a lot of unnecessary drama, this book could be just the ticket.
I enjoyed seeing Cooper’s growing feelings for Whitney.
I’m pretty sure he still genuinely likes her—thinks she’s beautiful, loves to see her smile, and wants to keep her happy.
I get that now. The way a woman can be so goddam likable and gorgeous, you just want to try to be less of a jerk than you usually are and do whatever it takes to keep her happy. That’s all. OK, maybe I want to keep her naked, too. But happily naked.
And I liked the scenes when he was with his family and clowning around with his brothers. They showed a more human side of him than I saw in the early chapters of the book. I really liked Cooper’s brother, Mikey. I had to laugh at the first conversation he had with Whitney – the representation of the shit siblings can give each other was perfect.
“I’d like to start by apologizing to your ears. Please don’t leave Pooper because I hollered like that. He’d never forgive me if I ran you off and he’s a crybaby when he doesn’t get his way. I know, because he sniffled his way through the first ten years of his life. I was there as witness.
(Pooper is not a typo – that’s the nickname his brothers – there are four – gave to him as a child. LOL)
I’ve said a lot about Cooper so far but I’m sure one of the reasons I ended up liking him as much as I did was because of Whitney. She gives him crap about some of his more neanderthal attitudes, she stands up for herself and maintains her independence. They work their way towards mutually acceptable compromise as she whips him into shape – like here when he is insisting on driving her truck to a farmer’s market they are both attending:
I count to ten, then open the truck door myself and step out, outstretching one arm to hand him the keys. He reaches for them. I yank them back.
“I’m driving us home.”
“OK,” he says.
The word is right, but the tone is all wrong. Mischief with a touch of sarcasm. Not nearly enough hangdog humility for my taste.
But Grand Junction is over an hour away, which leaves enough time for me to sharpen my tongue like Dorothy Parker and lecture him on suffragettes. Perhaps remind him that my father is dead, so a dowry is out of the question. And I’ll spend whatever time is left over declaring exactly how much I like having the right to vote and being able to wear these here trousers.
I loved how Whitney loved Cooper for himself and not for his money, not for his fame and not for his sporting prowess. It was her seeing him apart from all of those things that enabled him to begin to see what life after football could be for him and that it could be good. I liked how Whitney did not want Cooper to fix all of her problems but that she was also sensible about letting him help out occasionally, without sacrificing her principles. The resolution indicated another of those compromises which I thought placed them on equal footing although I guess it could be taken another way by a different reader.
Whitney didn’t really follow football but for Cooper, she began watching Friday Night Lights (to learn. She came for Cooper. She stayed for Tim Riggins. As one does.) And for Cooper she cheered wildly when he was completing an amazing play.
“Did you see that? Come on! He’s like a mountain goat, crossed with a gazelle, crossed with a superhero!
Whitney is a cheer squad for Cooper but not in a fawning way. And Cooper is the same way for her, encouraging her ambition with the apple orchard – even if he does start looking for magic goats (you have to read the book to understand about the magic goats).
While the story was fairly low conflict, I did end up enjoying it quite a bit. There’s a lot to like about Cooper and Whitney and the people around them and overall, I definitely counted First Step Forward in the win column.
Grade: B
Regards,
Kaetrin
Review: First Step Forward by Liora Blake
December 8, 2016 By Mandi 2 Comments
29767589First Step Forward by Liora Blake (Grand Valley #1)
Released: November 29, 2016
Contemporary/Sports Romance
Pocket Books
Reviewed by Mandi
Favorite Quote: Fucking Hugh Grant movies. They’re like the earworms of romantic comedies. I’m stuck in a place, half-hard, and all I can think is: I’m just a boy, standing in front of a girl, asking her to do something, anything, to make his cock stop hurting.
Seriously. Fuck off, Hugh Grant.
Cooper Lowry is a wide receiver for an NFL team in Denver. When he suffers a concussion after a big hit in a game, his trainer pleads with him to take a few days off and recover. Cooper is stubborn and would rather suck it up, than take a day off, but when he wakes us with his head pounding out of his skull, he realizes he may not be able to practice. Shuffling to the drug store to get some epsom salts, he runs into a woman wearing her pajamas.
After Whitney’s dad died, she spontaneously bought a run-down orchard, with big dreams of fixing up the place and growing a ton of fruit. But with a bad winter, and a late frost, her fruit harvest is barely existent. Running into bill after bill, with no end in sight, she heads to the city to get a loan – but she gets denied. It’s while she is here, she runs to the drugstore in her PJ’s (it’s right next door to the hotel she is staying in) and she meets Mr. Sexy football player. The next morning they meet again, and Cooper finds out what town her orchard is in. When his trainer tells him to spend a few quiet days to recover, Cooper decides to hunt down the sexy woman he met in the drug store and shows up at her house uninvited. (that sounds creepy but it’s not in the book!)
A while ago I read Blake’s, True series and it was good. I was excited to see she is starting something new and I really enjoyed this book. Good chemistry, super sexy, good banter and just a fun story. Cooper is a NFL player and he really felt like one. We get to see him play in some games and meet some of his teammates. I think he has been in the NFL for eight years, which is a long time for that profession. He is a little more on the bad-tempered side and can be a little stubborn and impatient – but who wants a perfect hero? He gets mad when he gets hurt, and is always living life on 100% full throttle ahead.
All Whitney wants to do is grow fruit and sell it. Simple really – but her orchard is a lot of work and when the weather doesn’t cooperate, it’s hard. She is so cute – a little unorganized in life in general. Hard worker but with bills piling up, she just can’t dig her way out. This all leads to Cooper offering a loan, something Whitney does not want from him. Grumpiness from both sides ensue.
This book also has great sexual tension:
Voice lowered, she leans even closer.
“If you want me, Cooper, I’m right here. All you have to do is come get me.”
Ah, Christ.
Fuck it.
Fuck waiting. Fuck savoring. Fuck relishing.
One rough yank and I’ve got her right on the edge of the dresser, off balance so she has to grab my shoulders. I press the tip to her opening and try not to pound right in on the first stroke.
A fun, sexy contemporary. I can’t wait for another one.
Grade: B+
Review: First Step Forward By Liora Blake
POSTED DECEMBER 23, 2016 BY ROWENA IN REVIEWS | 0 COMMENTS
Review: First Step Forward by Liora BlakeReviewer: Rowena
First Step Forward by Liora Blake
Series: Grand Valley #1
Also in this series: First Step Forward, Second Chance Season, Second Chance Season, Ready for Wild (Grand Valley #3)
Published by Pocket Books
Publication Date: November 29th 2016
Pages: 368
Buy on Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
four-stars
Pro-football player Cooper Lowry is off the field and into some trouble—in the form of a very alluring, very free-spirited apple orchard owner named Whitney Reed—in the first installment in Liora Blake’s all new Grand Valley series.
After eight seasons playing pro-football, Cooper Lowry knows all the right answers.
Is he stubborn, short-tempered, and impatient? Yes. Are jersey chasers more trouble than they’re worth? Absolutely. Has he ever imagined a life beyond the game? Nope.
Cooper has built an enviable career—the result of staying focused, working hard, and keeping his head on straight—even as his body takes the brunt. So when a hard hit during a Sunday home game leaves him in a dazed heap on the field, it’s nothing more than another day at the office. The only thing that’s different about this Sunday is a chance encounter with a certain fascinating, beautiful free-spirited woman. And some sternly-worded instructions from his coach to take a little time off and give his body the TLC it craves—before he does lasting damage.
Whitney Reed is a few months away from losing the organic fruit orchard she bought three years ago in the tiny town of Hotchkiss, Colorado. At the time, she was just looking for a place to get lost. Instead, she found a home, somewhere she could finally put down roots. Now foreclosure is knocking on her door—along with a grumpy, gorgeous football player who might be just what she never knew she needed.
A charming love story for romance and sports fans alike, First Step Forward is a sexy, heartwarming romp perfect for readers of Jennifer Probst, Kristan Higgins, and Julie James.
Liora Blake is a sort of new to me author. I read and enjoyed her True North series so when this book came on to my radar, I knew that I wanted to try it out. I’m happy that I did because Blake wrote a sweet romance between an NFL player and a hippie apple orchard owner that had me smiling throughout the entire book.
Cooper Lowry is a wide receiver in the NFL, playing in Denver and the book opens with him getting wacked pretty hard during a game. He might have a concussion so he’s ordered by the team trainor to take a couple of days and not do a hot damn thing. Get away for a little while and be one with his thoughts before reporting back to work. The time off finds Cooper heading to Hotchkiss, Colorado where he meets up with a quirky woman that he can’t get out of his mind.
Whitney Reed is on the verge of losing her apple orchard. She’s having money troubles but she’s not going down without a fight. She’s going to apply for every loan and try every thing under the sun before she’ll admit defeat. She’s tenacious and she’s strong and she’ll figure something out. When she meets Cooper Lowry in a liquor store, she didn’t really know who he was and he needed help reaching the bottom shelf so she offers her assistance. She is immediately attracted to him because he’s hot stuff and looks strong and he totally does it for her but when she leaves Denver to head home, she doesn’t think she’ll ever see him again so she was prepared to put him behind her. That wasn’t going as well as she’d hope but when he shows up on her doorstep, she’s surprised and also happy because she wants to jump his bones. She’s so glad that he seems to want to jump hers too.
What a great romance this turned out to be. Their <
I’m curious about who will get their story told next because I didn’t really catch on to any story set ups. I’m hoping that Garrett will get his own book but that’s all I can think of, off the top of my head.
This was <> and I’m glad that I read it. I’m looking forward to more from this series.
Grade: 4 out of 5
REVIEW: First Step Forward by Liora Blake
Posted November 21st, 2016 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Contemporary Romance, Review / 1 comment
First Step Forward by Liora Blake is an entertaining read, filled with First-Step-Forwardcharming characters and plenty of humorous moments.
Cooper Lowry is a seasoned football player. All he knows is the game and he can’t imagine his life without football. When Cooper ends up with a concussion from their most recent game, he heads to the pharmacy for some Epsom salts and meets a free-spirited woman who lends him a hand.
Whitney Reed is only in town to secure a bank loan to save her organic fruit orchard. When the loan officer turns her down she heads back home, but not before giving Cooper a jar of her apple butter. The two exchange names and professions and not much else. When Cooper’s trainer tells him to get out of town for a bit and get some much needed rest, he tracks down Whitney. To say Whitney is surprised to see Cooper, is an understatement. He claims he needs more of her apple butter but that’s not all he ends up getting.
“What don’t you understand about ‘I have a concussion’? Then you go and punch me?”
“Exactly. You should have said something about that – oh, I don’t know – eight flipping hours ago! Instead, you spend all this time giving me a bunch of hot, smoldering looks while manspreading your way around my house, and I’m thinking there’s going to be some wocka-wocka action between us. But the whole time you knew nothing could happen.” She lands another gnat-like swing. ‘Which makes you a tease, Cooper Lowry.”
Whitney and Cooper decide to give into their attraction for one another and get to know each other better. Whitney doesn’t look at Cooper as her meal ticket, and that’s uncharted territory for Cooper. All women see when they look at him is money and fame. Even when he finds out how bad her farm is doing, she never asks for a thing.
I enjoyed both characters. Cooper and Whitney are both stubborn characters and <
Overall, this story was enjoyable and I really appreciated the witty banter between the characters. There was never a dull moment with these two. If you enjoy heartwarming romances and/or sport romances, this is for you!
Book Info:
4SPublication: November 29th 2016 | Pocket Books | Grand Valley #1
Pro-football player Cooper Lowry is off the field and into some trouble—in the form of a very alluring, very free-spirited apple orchard owner named Whitney Reed—in the first installment in Liora Blake’s all new Grand Valley series.
After eight seasons playing pro-football, Cooper Lowry knows all the right answers.
Is he stubborn, short-tempered, and impatient? Yes. Are jersey chasers more trouble than they’re worth? Absolutely. Has he ever imagined a life beyond the game? Nope.
Cooper has built an enviable career—the result of staying focused, working hard, and keeping his head on straight—even as his body takes the brunt. So when a hard hit during a Sunday home game leaves him in a dazed heap on the field, it’s nothing more than another day at the office. The only thing that’s different about this Sunday is a chance encounter with a certain fascinating, beautiful free-spirited woman. And some sternly-worded instructions from his coach to take a little time off and give his body the TLC it craves—before he does lasting damage.
Whitney Reed is a few months away from losing the organic fruit orchard she bought three years ago in the tiny town of Hotchkiss, Colorado. At the time, she was just looking for a place to get lost. Instead, she found a home, somewhere she could finally put down roots. Now foreclosure is knocking on her door—along with a grumpy, gorgeous football player who might be just what she never knew she needed.
A charming love story for romance and sports fans alike, First Step Forward is a sexy, heartwarming romp perfect for readers of Jennifer Probst, Kristan Higgins, and Julie James.
REVIEW: Second Chance Season by Liora Blake
Posted May 16th, 2017 by Sara @HarlequinJunkie in Blog, Contemporary Romance, Review / 6 comments
Second Chance Season by Liora Blake: Cara seemed like she never quite fit into her family. She’s never wanted to be a corporate or politician’s wife, unlike her mom and sister. While she loves the shopping and spa days that come from growing up in a wealthy family, she also loves being a journalist. With her sister’s upcoming wedding, it was time to make some changes and that includes a freelance writing opportunity complete with living in Colorado (temporarily).
Garrett was raised to never look back and it’s become his motto. He’s a strong, sexy, farmer-at-heart who just wants to be content with what he has instead of dreaming for something more. When he’s not running the co-op, he’s hunting, fishing, or helping out other local ranchers whenever they need an extra set of hands.
When it’s clear that city-girl Cara is out of her element, Garrett happily steps in and offers his assistance. Both felt the attraction from their first meeting, but their lives and backgrounds are complete opposites. Cara is used to being independent, but she has to rely on Garrett to smooth her way and make introductions to the right people.
“I won’t say that. But yeah. And it’s a hybrid.”
“God, you have to be kidding me,” she sputters. “I’d like to know what is so wrong with a hybrid. I know it’s a Lexus, I know it have out-of-state plates and I’m from the city, but how in the hell is the fact I’m conserving fuel that can now be used in tractors and combines somehow a bad thing?”
Cara is curious by nature and Garrett intrigues her on every level. The last thing either want to do is get involved romantically, but he’s there for her at every turn and it isn’t every day that a tall, attractive, and sassy woman lands on your doorstep in this small, agricultural community. They develop a quick friendship that turns into more than either expected as her time in Colorado ticks down.
“A change of clothes in your truck and a magical corkscrew in your pocket. Is there any situation you aren’t prepared for?”
I leave the magical corkscrew comment alone.
“Redneck shenanigans, I told you. We’re like Boy Scouts with beer and camo. Geared up for anything.”
Second Chance Season is<>. Liora<
Book Info:
Publication: May 30th 2017 | Pocket Books | Grand Valley #2
Return to Liora Blake’s Grand Valley series with Second Chance Season, in which an avowed country boy meets an ambitious city girl who reminds him why dreaming big and taking a chance is worth the risk.
Garrett Strickland is unapologetically country, fiercely loyal, and all about living in the present and not dwelling in the past—even if he was once on his way to a lofty agricultural sciences degree that would guarantee the brightest of futures, only to end up back home when his old man died, leaving behind a debt-ridden family farm that was impossible to keep afloat. After that, it was easy to see why dreaming big wasn’t worth the heartache of losing everything. And until he crosses paths with a city girl who’s hell-bent on kick-starting her own future, he’s sure that good enough is just that.
Cara Cavanaugh is ready for more from life, even if that means changing everything; including dumping her longtime boyfriend, turning down a lucrative job at a major newspaper, and leaving behind the upscale suburbs of Chicago where she grew up. Now, she just has to pray that temporarily relocating to the middle of nowhere in Colorado will be the first step in building a career as a freelance writer—all she has to do is prove she’s got what it takes to make a name for herself. Unfortunately, her tony country day school is as close to country as she’s ever been. But when a goodhearted guy who looks like he just stumbled out of a country music video offers to help, she ends up falling hard…and discovering that the perfect story, as it turns out, is a love story. And it’s theirs.
Second Chance Season, book two in the Grand Valley series, is a charming, feel-good romance, perfect for fans of Jennifer Probst and Kristan Higgins
Review: Second Chance Season by Liora Blake
Posted July 10, 2017 by Rowena in Reviews | 2 Comments
Reviewer: Rowena
Second Chance Season by Liora Blake
Series: Grand Valley #2
Also in this series: First Step Forward, First Step Forward, Second Chance Season, Ready for Wild (Grand Valley #3)
Published by Pocket Books
Publication Date: June 20th 2017
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 336
Buy on Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Goodreads
Return to Liora Blake’s Grand Valley series with Second Chance Season, in which an avowed country boy with a family duty meets an ambitious city girl with even bigger goals and who shows him just what he’s been missing.
Garrett Strickland is unapologetically country, fiercely loyal, and perfectly happy with his job at the Hotchkiss Co-op. Garrett is all about living in the present and not dwelling in the past—even if he was once on his way to a lofty agricultural sciences degree that would guarantee the brightest of futures, only to end up back home when his old man died, leaving behind a debt-ridden family farm that was impossible to keep afloat. After that, it was easy to see why dreaming big wasn’t worth the heartache. And until he crosses paths with a city girl who’s hell-bent on kick-starting her own future, he’s sure that good enough is just that.
Cara Cavanaugh is ready for more from life, even if that means changing everything; including dumping her boyfriend of ten years, turning down a lucrative job at a major newspaper, and leaving behind the upscale suburbs of Chicago where she grew up. Now, she just has to pray that temporarily relocating to the middle of nowhere in Colorado will be the first step in building a career as a freelance journalist—all she has to do is prove she’s got what it takes to make a name for herself. Unfortunately, her tony country day school is as close to “country” as she’s ever been. But when a goodhearted guy who looks like he just stumbled out of a country music video offers to help, she ends up falling hard…and discovering that the perfect story is a love story. And it’s theirs.
Second Chance Season, book two in the Grand Valley series, is a charming, feel-good romance, perfect for fans of Jennifer Probst and Kristan Higgins.
Second Chance Season is the second book in Liora Blake’s Grand Valley series and it follows the cutie patootie that works at the Co-Op, Garrett Strickland. In First Step Forward, we learn that Garrett was going to college to earn a degree and learn all he can before he took over his family’s farm. He had plans for his future and he was hoping to learn all he can to make his family business a profitable one but all of his plans went to crap when his father died and he ended up losing the farm because he couldn’t come out of the mountain of debt his father was in to save it.
Garrett’s world was rocked after his father died. He not only lost his father but he also lost his childhood home and his plans he made for his future. He never went back to college, he got a job at the town Co-Op and has been working there ever since. He doesn’t live the most glamorous life but he’s okay with his lot in life. He’s okay with living alone in a trailer. He’s okay with not knowing what the future holds and all of that stays true until he meets Cara Cavanaugh.
Cara Cavanaugh is making some changes in her life. She dumped her boyfriend and moves from Chicago to Hotchkiss, Colorado to write her first freelance writing article on the AG scene in Hotchkiss. She’s not sure how to go about interviewing the locals for her story but when she meets Garrett Strickland, hometown boy, things take a turn for the better. He knows everything and everyone around town and decides to help her any way that he can. He starts by introducing her around and getting her in the door with the local farmers, setting her up to interview people and he takes her out with him to help his neighbors on their farms so that she can see how everything works and he’s a real knight in shining armor even though things have to be weird for him since she’s staying in the only home he’d ever known growing up. The home that he lost after his father died.
Second Chance Season is<< a slow simmering romance>> that really worked for me. I adored getting to know Garrett and seeing him come into his own after his world was rocked upside down. I loved seeing him come to grips with the past, making peace with it and then finally making plans for his future. It was a long time coming and I really liked that Cara was able to help Garrett just as much as Garrett was able to help Cara when she got into town. It wasn’t a one-way thing and their attraction that blossomed into that love was a journey that I loved being a part of.
This book was rich with charming characters that I couldn’t get enough of and I’m super excited to continue the series with Braden’s book. Both Garrett and Cara were characters that really came alive with each passing page. They were normal and they were fun to get to know and even when they were both being boneheads, I adored them. Liora <
Grade: 4 out of 5
Review: Second Chance Season by Liora Blake
June 20, 2017 By Mandi 2 Comments
Second Chance Season (Grand Valley #2)
Released: June 20, 2017
Contemporary Romance
Pocket Books
Reviewed by Mandi
I really enjoyed this one – maybe it’s because I live a little ways in the country. I like a guy who drives a big truck, that has dirt on his t-shirt, stubble on his face, and is sweaty from a hard day in the fields. My husband is a computer programmer but also part-time goat farmer! I MAY glance at the guy who fills my mini-van with bales of hay for my goats a little too long. (Let’s not talk about the fact that he has to fill my MINIVAN with hay.)
Back to the book, Garrett Strickland is a hot country boy. Growing up farming in rural Colorado, after his father dies of a heart attack, they lose the farm. Garrett doesn’t go back to school. Instead he starts work at the local co-op where he still works today. He lives in a modular trailer on a dirt patch, and is very content. His passions include hunting, hunting, and more hunting. After losing his farm, he hasn’t let himself get too attached to anyone or anything. But then a city girl arrives and his down south part takes notice.
Cara Cavanaugh is ready for something new. After realizing her life was going down the same path as her mother’s – marrying into a future political life – Cara dumps her boyfriend, drops her job at a fancy newspaper and takes a chance at being a freelance writer. Her first assignment is to head to Colorado, to write a piece on the agriculture industry – the ups and downs and to get some personal stories. She has a relative that owns a run down house near the town she will be researching, and decides to live there for the eight weeks she will be interviewing farmers. When Cara gets lost on way into town, Garrett happens to stop to see if she needs help. They hit it off – Country and City – and Garrett helps her make contacts in the town all the while a delicious courtship develops. But Cara is only in town for eight weeks! What will happen when their time runs out?? (is anyone worried? LOL)
I enjoy this author’s voice a lot. Last year I liked First Step Forward, featuring an NFL player and a girl who owned an orchard. They are friends of the hero in this one and make a brief appearance but this is very much a stand alone. Garret doesn’t have much of a filter. He cusses (his best friend cusses even more), he has no objections to telling people what he really thinks. But he isn’t arrogant or a jerk at all. He is a really good guy. Helping out farmer neighbors who need an extra hand. Visiting his mom when he can. When Cara first arrives in town, her place is a little more on the older side and Cara doesn’t know how to fix things. With a trust fund looming in her future, while she has made her own way in life, she also likes the finer things. But she never whines or complains (except when a cow sticks its nose up her butt….)
Shit. I think I wanted her to seem, I don’t know, less polished…fuck, maybe if she were just shorter, that would help.
But nope, not even a little bit. She’s dressed in a pair of loose cargo-style pants with a drawstring waist, the bottoms tucked into a pair of lace-up boots that don’t appear built for roughing out hard terrain or slogging through mud. A tight long-sleeve top with a deep neckline shows off her tiny waist and the slant of her delicate collarbones. Her hair is pulled back, leaving the long slopes of her neck exposed.
So, basically, she looks awesome. Fucking gorgeous.
Cara’s attraction flares early on as well, and while at first it takes some time for them to get over the fact that they only have eight week together, so should they start something physical? But once they do, Cara is outgoing and tells him exactly what she wants.
“What? Condom’s on. We’re fine.”
“Stand up.”
He freezes in confusion, then drops his head to my collarbone and rocks it there.
“No. Why? Christ, you’re killing me, Cara.”
“I didn’t get to see you naked.”
“Look later. I’ll strut a catwalk for you, if you want. After.”
“Now.”
A growl – half annoyed, half crazed. He puts a hand on either side of my head and pushes up, his overachieving biceps flexing. I stop myself from demanding he complete twenty push-ups over me first.
This author does a great job with setting the scene in this rural town. I could really picture everything so well. <
Super sexy, good banter, cows…what else could you ask for?
Grade: B+