Sandy M’s review of What a Bride Wants (The Great Wedding Giveaway, Book 1) by Kelly Hunter
Contemporary Romance published by Tule Publishing Group 28 Mar 14
These books coming from Tule Publishing Group are why I read romance. To me, they’re updated versions of those books I read back in the ’70s and ’80s – an escape from everyday life into a world where love is the bottom line and you can forget everything for a few hours. These modernized stories have sassy heroines and sexy heroes who have a good time and stick together, just waiting for love to zero in on their hearts.
Ella Grace has been raised by her father, so she’s into every imaginable part of their ranching industry. She knows it inside and out, happily does the work needed to make it run smoothly – all to her father’s chagrin now that Ella is of marriageable age and picky as can be. She resists his attempts at matchmaking, insisting she’ll only marry for lust, lightning bolts, and love while making sure no one wants her just for her money. Her friends drag her into town to the local bar where the new bartender has sent female hearts hither and yon a-thumpin’. And Ella can see why, but she’s a bit distracted when she learns her father has taken their last discussion a bit too far and placed an ad in the paper for a lapdog of a husband for her. Fighting fire with fire, Ella posts her own ad right there in the bar for a lover’s lover. Guess who’s the first to apply for the position?
Running from family in Australia, Cameron Sawyer never lights in one place for long. His current bartending gig is only a few weeks and then he’ll move on to someplace new. But suddenly there’s a fly in his nomadic ointment. Just bantering with Ella Grace about her lustful plight has his juices flowing something fierce. They begin to spend time together, and what fun they have. Especially with plain-spoken Ella, who tries to keep her bossiness and rambling to a minimum, but she’s a breath of fresh air for both Sawyer and the reader. She says what she means and she means what she says. Sawyer eats her up.
But the issue between them is his family and his hesitance in telling her about them and the danger she could be in. He has so many chances to blurt out the truth, but he holds back – until the time is right, sort of. To his amazement, Ella doesn’t bat an eye but she does work up a good sweat telling Sawyer what she thinks about it all and insists she can take care of herself. In the meantime, they enjoy each other immensely, despite Ella’s father’s doubts. That’s what I love most about these two. They look whoever in the eye and say it up straight, never backing down. Even when they’re alone, the rapport runs off the page, whether they’re in bed together or working on the ranch or having dinner.
This is my first book by Kelly Hunter, and I’d love to read more, especially if it’s part of any of the Montana series from Tule. They’ve hit a perfect combination and are doing something right. I can’t wait for more.
Grade: A
Summary:
What a bride wants…
Ella Grace Emerson adores her father, but he keeps trying to marry her off to every eligible rancher in Montana. When he puts an ad in the paper on her behalf – for a docile house-husband – Ella retaliates with one of her own, pinned to the noticeboard of the local saloon. No husband required, housebroken or otherwise. What she wants is the perfect lover.What a bride needs…Newcomer Cam Sawyer is perfectly willing to tear up the sheets with Ella and be her partner in chaos. She wants a bad boy and he’s had experience aplenty. But what she really needs is a strong and loving partner, and until Sawyer stops running from his past he can never be that.Sawyer’s the one Ella wants. But can he be the man she needs?
Read an excerpt.
Other books in this series:
