Dinca’s review of Sage Creek by Jill Gregory
Contemporary Romance published by Berkley 4 Oct 11
I enjoyed this story. It is so worth the trip to Sage Creek. Jill Gregory usually gets all A’s from me. She is a good storyteller with a vivid imagination.
Sophie McPhee comes home from San Francisco after her painful divorce. With her business sold and a new life to start, she opens a bakery in her hometown of Lonesome Way, Montana. She desperately tries to avoid her matchmaking grandmother and her friends while continually running into her childhood crush Rafe Tanner, the older brother of her best friend, Lissie. While meeting her other girlfriend Mia to plan Lissie’s baby shower, Rafe comes to her rescue and saves her from being knocked down by a drunken cowboy. After that they are constantly thrown together and their relationship grows.
Rafe Tanner has one priority. . . his eleven-year-old daughter. He doesn’t have any time or interest in cultivating a long term-relationship. Still, he finds his thoughts filled with his sister’s best friend who just moved back to town. She was way too young for him way back then, but he could not help noticing how good she looks all grown up. The suspicion that someone is out to get her gives him reason to stay close. Really close.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story line. The chain of events with the twist and turns are exciting to follow. Sophie’s grandmother and her friends are a kick and will have you laughing out loud.
There are only a couple of things that kept the story from getting an A in my book. I feel the author gets a little carried away with her thesaurus. I had to stop and reread a couple of times to follow certain parts of the story. The other thing that gets me is the polo shirts. I am an old-school country girl from Texas and I have visited a lot in Montana – to this day I have yet to see a cowboy get caught dead or alive in a polo shirt!
Grade: B+
Summary:
After her marriage falls apart, Sophie McPhee returns to her hometown of Lonesome Way, Montana, planning to steer clear of men and focus on her new bakery, A Bun in the Oven. Who she doesn’t expect to see is Rafe Tanner, her first crush who now runs his family’s ranch-and who spent most of their childhood ignoring her. But is Rafe a changed man?
While Rafe is stunned to discover that Sophie’s grown into an irresistibly beautiful woman, he’s been hurt too. They both have their guards up, but melt in each other’s company. Can they admit that home is truly where the heart is?
Read an excerpt.
