FIX YOU: BASH & OLIVIA

FIX YOU:BASH & OLIVIA                   CHRISTINE BELL
Posted: Oct. 27, 2014

Fix You: Bash and Olivia - Book Two (The McDaniels Brothers, #2)Everything she believed in was a lie… 

After facing the fact that her boyfriend was an abusive sociopath and their entire relationship was a sham, Olivia Beckett is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life. If she was the only one suffering for her mistakes, she might be able to handle it. But when she went down, she dragged the one person she never wanted to see hurt down with her… 

Bash McDaniels was just weeks away from finally blowing out of his hometown to make it as a boxer and never coming back. Saving Olivia Beckett from her violent boyfriend should’ve been a speed bump at most, but love stopped him in his tracks. Now, instead viewing Boston in his rearview mirror, he’s viewing it through prison bars… 

Bash was her savior when she needed him most. Now, Olivia has to find a way to repay the favor, knowing all the while that freeing him might mean losing him forever… 

*Note from the author: This is a novella length serial that takes place over the course of three books approximately 25,000 words each, released a month apart or less. The final book will be out on (or before) May 20th. This book is new adult, and contains scenes that are sexual in nature.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is the second book of a series of a total of 5. This is still dealing with Oliva and Bash. Bash is in jail and his brother is not happy that the money they have must now go for bail and an attorney. He told Bash to stay away from women but there is something that is pulling him towards Oliva. Oliva is selling items in her apartment and her car to pay for his bail and to manage to come up with a way to get an attorney. Her former boyfriend says he will drop all charges if she will marry him but she will not do it. As Bash walks out of jail she is waiting and explains to him and his brother is there wanting to beat the ….. Out of him, but instead walks away. Where does this story go now? I don’t know waiting or trying to get the next book to find out, but the characters have depth and the storyline is full of power that will hook the reader into the story immediately. Good books. I got this book from net galley.

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE

IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE                  BETH CIOTTA
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

In the Mood for Love (Cupcake Lovers, #4)When Harper Day blows into the small town of Sugar Creek, Vermont, she takes the sleepy community completely by surprise. A stunning beauty and frenzied workaholic, the celebrity publicist based out of L.A. maintains she will only be in Sugar Creek for vacations. The cozy atmosphere of Sugar Creek, however, has other plans. Haunted by a troubled past and insecure about her future, Harper finds solace in doing publicity for the Cupcake Lovers. Now if only she could get her life back in line, and put a stop to this newfound attraction she has for one of the members…

Sam McCloud feels an intense connection to Harper, which makes things way more complicated. Still reeling from his wife's untimely death and focused on raising his two young children, Sam doesn't have the emotional strength to get close to a woman again. But when he finds Harper in a jam and the best solution leads to them constantly being together, Sam cannot deny their attraction. True, Harper is from a different world and still struggling with her past, but Sam is determined not to lose another woman he loves…

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This story revolves around two people mainly. A Sam McCloud and a Harper Day. Sam is a carpenter, but really more like an artist that uses wood. He is widowed and his two children a 5 year old daughter and a 9 year old son. He is also was deployed several times with his Marine unit, he grew up in this fictional town and all of his cousins and friends are trying to set him up with any single female. Harper is a PR person and is doing work in town for a local cupcake cook club who has published a cookbook and they make up packages to send to the troops that are deployed. Sam was hired by Harper to remodel an old farm house she bought in the area wanting to use it as a vacation house. There is a spark between the two of them but she does leave the home and Sam has not told anyone either. As her situation changes Sam wants to step thing up to marriage and things are happen to make it happen for them. But she needs to deal with her past and she needs to tell Sam and Sam needs to make her feel that she can be a mother to his two children who already like her. This is a wonderful story of two people helping each other face their fears together and to stand together to make their relationship stronger. There is a lot that goes on in this book but I don’t want to give away too much. But I liked all of the characters and the way she slowly added each storyline and then brought them all together. A wonderful book, story. I got this book from net galley. 

WILD ON YOU

WILD ON YOU                                        TINA WAINSCOTT
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

Wild on You (Justiss Alliance, #1)When Rick Yarbrough, aka Risk, a discharged SEAL with a taste for danger, joins the Justiss Alliance, his first assignment seems like a baby-sitting gig: He must guard an out-of-control general’s daughter. Then he meets his charge.
 
Addie Wunder is no baby. She’s a dedicated animal-rights activist who isn’t above breaking the law if innocent creatures are threatened. But her work has made her a lot of powerful enemies. If she doesn’t stop, she may just turn herself into an endangered species. 
 
Risk’s mission is to keep Addie out of trouble. But as they grow closer, Addie becomes so much more than a job. And the more he has to lose, the more Risk is willing to put his own life on the line—for her cause, her safety, and her sweet-hot embrace.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This is a book out of The Justiss Alliance Series, by Tina Wainscott. The name comes from the man who owns what is a security company and he hires former men that were Navy Seals with him. Leads to how they work together and they know one another. This book deals with Risk being assigned as a body ground for a daughter of a retired General, who is a defender of animal rights but gets caught up with the animals and sometimes steals them from the owners who are being abusive. Now she has not only been receiving death threats but someone tired ran her off the road and she is the only person who is thinking that it is an accident. Risk is attracted to her from the beginning and though she has feelings she has been lying to herself and to her father and best friend she really does not knows what she is really feeling. She plans an escape from her body and though does manage that she lands right into the hands of the people who are after her. Risk manages to track her down and barley gets the both of them out but realizes that he was blinded by beauty. He must own up to the fact with boss and to himself that she is more than an hand full but to get her to understand that someone is really out to harm her. From there this book continues with the two of them getting into and out of trouble and both of them getting to know each other. This is a good story and the characters are not blown up to where you cannot believe them. I think that is what helps this story along. It moves fast and I like the banter between all of the characters but especially when the guys get together. This author who by the way acknowledges losing her nephew a Marine. She does well for the men who come home and honor their brothers and sisters, with a good story. A good book. I got this book from net galley.

BLUES ALL DAY LONG: THE JIMMY ROGERS STORY

BLUES ALL DAY LONG:The Jimmy Rogers Story     Wayne E. Goins
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

Blues All Day Long: The Jimmy Rogers StoryA member of Muddy Waters' legendary late 1940s-1950s band, Jimmy Rogers pioneered a blues guitar style that made him one of the most revered sidemen of all time. Rogers also had a significant if star-crossed career as a singer and solo artist for Chess Records, releasing the classic singles "That's All Right" and "Walking By Myself."
 
In Blues All Day Long, Wayne Everett Goins mines seventy-five hours of interviews with Rogers' family, collaborators, and peers to follow a life spent in the blues. Goins' account takes Rogers from recording Chess classics and barnstorming across the South to a late-in-life renaissance that included new music, entry into the Blues Hall of Fame, and high profile tours with Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones. Informed and definitive, Blues All Day Long fills a gap in twentieth century music history with the story of one of the blues' eminent figures and one of the genre's seminal bands.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This is a book about a blues musician Jimmy Rogers. I don’t think to many people have ever heard of but they have heard of his music, for if you have listen to the old Muddy Waters and some Little Walter, songs from Chess Records then you heard his fine guitar playing in the back ground as well. At the introduction Kim Wilson, made a point in saying that they really needed to do a miniseries on Chess Records, like on HBO. That the real story could be told for you would have a longer time in telling the actual story. I agree with his statement. So many people took that movie as fact when there was much more to the Blues in Chicago and the Blues in general. Back to Jimmy Rogers. His home life as a young boy was a series of homes between families’ members from Memphis to Charleston, back to Memphis, St. Louis, for a while then finally living with his grandmother in Memphis. He learned to play the harp in his travels, the harmonica. He was very good at also and his grandmother had him going to church all the time. There he sang in the choir and he started to play the guitar. By his late teens he was playing with older guys in clubs whenever they needed a harp player or guitar player. Once his grandmother found out he was playing the blues he either had to stop or move out, he moved. Took a train to Chicago and figured that he could look for work there just as good as in Memphis. He had a few jobs playing music and by the late forties even recorded a little but got taken on those, these would always sour him on the recording business for years. He first meet Little Walter, the two of them hit off right away and later he touched based again with Muddy, they had met before and had hit it off and he told him about Little Walter. Who would know that these three men would have such a huge impact on the music that we listen to, for groups like the Beatles, Rolling Stones to name just two but also the many other musicians that listen to those records made from Chess? Once these three men got together they would go around to different clubs and out play the band that was on stage this lead to jobs for them at night and then to a higher price they could get as well. Then after one night is when Leonard Chess heard them play and wanted to record them. He actually owned another smaller record company first and he only released one record at a time. It just was just a 45 he would do this when he started Chess records also. It would be a while before he would release a full album. By this time Chess was changing people bringing in Willie Dixon, getting rid of one of the guys that was finding blues musicians around town. he then started recording Little Walter, with Muddy and him in the back ground but when he would record his records they would not get released they were being put on the shelf. Then when he didn’t have anything he would release one of Jimmy songs. It would sell but it took a few years before he had a song reach the charts. Meanwhile he was still playing clubs and go on the road with Muddy and Little Walter. Turns out that Jimmy and Howlin Wolf, were the only two that did not want to be paid with a Cadillac, they both wanted money. So still Chess would find a way to take a little extra out, sometimes by him playing on a song or adding his name as one of the writers. Jimmy would always argue with him and after Little Walter left and Muddy’s, records weren’t selling like they were most of the blues men left. Chess sold. In the 60’s Jimmy really didn’t play music he worked a regular job and was there for his wife and his children. Phil Chess, did give him some money from a royalty check after the place was sold. In the 70’s he started playing again and either forming bands or sitting in on different bands. He also started playing in blues festivals, and in a couple of clubs in Chicago when he was in town. by the late 70’s he was a regular at these clubs and the new younger blues musicians were wanting him to play on their records or sit in with him when he was playing. He finally made big money when in 94 Eric Clapton recorded two of his songs on his album From the Cradle a good blues album by the way, the song were “Goin away baby” and “Blues Leave me Alone”. This book goes all the way up to his death and how his son who was playing in his band was feeling. This is a book not only about Jimmy Rogers (Jimmy Lane) was his birth name, but a history into blues music and a little bit more of a look into Chess Records. A good story about music life and what was going on in our country. A lot of information, at the back of the book is a list of all of his work, his own and the records he played on. A very detailed list. I enjoyed this book very much. I got this book from net galley.

MUCH ADO ABOUT MOTHER: HUBBY'S REVIEW

MUCH ADO ABOUT MOTHER            CELIA BONADUCE
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

Much Ado About Mother (A Venice Beach Romance)Look out, Venice Beach--the Wolf women are all together again. But when 70-year-old Virginia arrives with her teacup Chihuahua and unshakeable confidence, she senses trouble. Erinn is keeping secrets--like being broke and out of work--and Suzanna is paying too much attention to the wrong man--a Latino dance instructor who nearly broke her heart once before. Virginia's ready for the third act of her life, and she intends to make it rousing and romantic. Now she just has to convince her daughters to throw out their old scripts. If life has taught Virginia anything, it's this: there's more than one way to a "happily ever after..". ""The Merchant of Venice Beach "has a fresh, heartwarming voice that will keep readers smiling as they dance through this charming story by Celia Bonaduce." --Jodi Thomas, "New York Times "bestselling author

"Celia Bonaduce writes well rounded, real life characters straight from the heart.I loved this book!" --Phyliss Miranda, "New York Times "bestselling author on "A Comedy of Erinn"

HUBBY'S REVIEW:

This is a story about two daughters one a film maker and the other one married with a child and they find out that their mother is coming from New York to leave with the youngest one who is married. They have the better relationship. The older daughter who is the film maker is still working on her relationship with her mother since she was more in tune with their father but he has passed away. The mother also brings her dog and the daughter she is staying with have rabbits. When I was reading this book my sisters and I were finally moving our mother out of her home into a senior living center closer to one of my sisters, so parts of this story was actually more real and that is why it has taken me awhile to do the review. The writing was very good and the characters were well defined I was hoping for a little more with the older sister but I understand books so I am hoping for another book. As for the mother that story line I feel gets works out in this book as most families do now a days, and the mother and older daughter have a talk to work their so called differences. Which really were more true to life than she was thinking in her head. Overall a good story I am not big on all of the animal stuff but hey that is just me. I did like the little battering back and forth between some of the characters and some of the little sayings. Overall a good book. I got this book from net galley.

THE BOYS IN THE BOAT: 1936 BERLIN OLYMPICS

THE BOYS IN THE BOAT: '36 Berlin Olympics  Daniel James Brown
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin OlympicsDaniel James Brown’s robust book tells the story of the University of Washington’s 1936 eight-oar crew and their epic quest for an Olympic gold medal, a team that transformed the sport and grabbed the attention of millions of Americans. The sons of loggers, shipyard workers, and farmers, the boys defeated elite rivals first from eastern and British universities and finally the German crew rowing for Adolf Hitler in the Olympic games in Berlin, 1936.

The emotional heart of the story lies with one rower, Joe Rantz, a teenager without family or prospects, who rows not for glory, but to regain his shattered self-regard and to find a place he can call home. The crew is assembled  by an enigmatic coach and mentored by a visionary, eccentric British boat builder, but it is their trust in each other that makes them a victorious team. They remind the country of what can be done when everyone quite literally pulls together—a perfect melding of commitment, determination, and optimism.

Drawing on the boys’ own diaries and journals, their photos and memories of a once-in-a-lifetime shared dream, The Boys in the Boat is an irresistible story about beating the odds and finding hope in the most desperate of times—the improbable, intimate story of nine working-class boys from the American west who, in the depths of the Great Depression, showed the world what true grit really meant. It will appeal to readers of Erik Larson, Timothy Egan, James Bradley, and David Halberstam's The Amateurs.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This was a great story that I did not know that I would like so much. It begins with the author tracking down Joe Rantz, who I believe is the last living member of the 1936 Gold Medal winning 8 person rowing team from the University of Washington. Back then they had a series of competitions, races and who won was sent to represent the U.S. when he first meets Joe, he tells him that it was all about the book. That is where the book starts, about the builder of the boat. A man named George Pocock, who was from England. He and his brother leave England and come over hoping for a better life. It does not start out that way working for east coast boat builders seeing men getting their fingers cut off and knowing that he has no other trade he heads for the northwest and lands in the State of Washington and becomes the boat builder for the university and after a while most colleges are ordering boats oars and most anything else from him. Everything he does is made by hand. The story then goes into the life of Joe, who lost his mother and when his father remarried he was around 8 or 9. His father was a mechanic, so at times they would live in the city or at a mining camp. Wherever the job was. Not that his new mother liked this she was a city girl and a very good musician who before she passed away played with the symphony. Before all of that when he was a teenager his father step mother and brother and sister left one day. He was now by himself the first couple of nights was the toughest but he still went to school, and he did not tell anyone what had happened. He became a survivor doing jobs around town anything he could to make a little money. After a while his older brother found out what had happened and brought him to his home with him and his wife to finish high school. He had been going to school and getting good grades but his brother felt that this would help him get into college. It did but as soon as he graduated he went back to the woods to make money for school. When he got to Washington he found out that there were try outs for the crew, knowing that if he could make the team he would at least be given a little help on food. The hardest part for him was the rowing he had never rowed before but most of the other guys had not also. He makes the team and that freshmen team wins all of their races, but there is still turmoil going on with Joe. This book is filled with so much it is difficult to give it a proper review that it deserves. It is more than winning races it is over coming one’s self and believing in all of the other guys with you in the boat that you can overcome together. They did the story of each race was exciting the way the entire book was written had me captivated and I am grateful for the opportunity in reading such a wonderful book. I got this book from net galley.

THE UNFORGIVABLE FIX

THE UNFORGIVABLE FIX                   T.E. WOODS
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

The Unforgivable Fix: A Justice NovelThe killer won’t come for you, you fool. He’ll come for me.
 
Detective Mort Grant of the Seattle PD has finally decided to sell. The home where he and his late wife raised two kids feels too large and too full of old memories. His son is married and raising a family of his own, and despite desperate efforts to find her, Mort has lost touch with his wayward daughter. That is, until the day she walks back into her childhood home and begs for his help.
 
For the last four years, Allie Grant has been the lover—and confidante, confessor, and counselor—of one of the world’s most powerful and deadly men. But a sudden, rash move has put Allie in the crosshairs of a ruthless Russian crime lord. Mort knows of only one place where Allie will be safe: with The Fixer.
As a hired desperado, The Fixer has killed twenty-three people—and Mort was complicit in her escape from the law. She has built an impregnable house, stocked it with state-of-the-art gear, armed it to the teeth, and locked herself away from the world. But even The Fixer may not be able to get justice for Allie when real evil comes knocking.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
In this book ‘’Fix Me”, the main character ‘’The Fixer” is back and though I did not read the first book this one does go into it a little bit. Her partner that knows about her an inspector has his daughter live with her for a short time and that makes for an interesting twist in the story as well as a Detective who is attractive to her but she does not want anyone to get close to her. She starts her physiology practice back up and that is really the main focus of the story and where the crime takes place as well. This is a very fast paced story and the ending had some twists that came as a surprise. A very good book. I got this book from net galley.

THE GOALTENDERS' UNION

THE GOALTENDERS' UNION              GREG OLIVER & RICHARD KAMCHEN
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

The Goaltenders' Union: Hockey's Greatest Puckstoppers, Acrobats, and FlakesIn hockey, goalies have always been a contradiction — solitary men in a team game, the last line of defence and the stalwarts expected to save the day after any and every miscue and collapse from his teammates. It’s no wonder that anyone who played the position has had his sanity questioned; yet some of the biggest innovations in the game have come from its puckstoppers. In The Goaltenders’ Union, Greg Oliver and Richard Kamchen talk to more than 60 keepers of yesterday and today, finding common threads to their stories, and in dozens of interviews about them with other coaches and players. From Gilles “Gratoony the Loony” Gratton, who refused to play because the moon was out of alignment with Jupiter, to Jonathan Quick, the athletically gifted master keeper of today’s game, the book is an entertaining and enlightening peek behind the mask.  

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
This book is all about goal tending and the men who did it. Its starts off with the beginnings of hockey where goaltenders had to stand up. They could not lie, kneel or sit up on the ice, they must remain standing. In 1918 the rules were changed so that they could fall to their knees to make a save. It was not until the 30’s that they could catch and hold on to the puck. George Vezina and George Hawsworth were two of the first early great goal tenders. The Vezina Trophy named after him and Hawsworth being the first player to win the award three years in row. His best season being 28-29, with 22 shutouts in 44 games and only allowing 43 goals all year. The author goes into great detail in explaining how there being only 6 teams that there were many good goalies left on the outside looking in. he does go into their careers a lot of them never making it to a club. It was not until the early 60’s that finally the 6 teams started caring two goalies. A lot of good men never got s shot. The expansion in 67 and 69 helped. He also goes into how some teams started having coaches for goalies by the seventies and then by the 80’s and 90’s some were starting to become coaches in the pros and in college. He goes through all of the equipment changes, from pads, sticks, allowing goalies to where a glove, to face masks and helmets. He goes into the ones who the cup and the ones who were good and maybe they should have or were traded at the point the team was going to be favored the next year. There is a lot of information about the players and about the history of the game. I found this book to be a great read and I am sure most hockey fans would enjoy it as well. Well written, and there are some photos of the old time players with really no protection especially when you watch a game now. I really enjoyed reading this book. I got this book from net galley.

THE SLAM: BOBBY JONES

THE SLAMBOBBY JONES                 CURT SAMPSON
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

The Slam: Bobby Jones and the Price of GloryAn intriguing and detailed look at the greatest season a golfer has ever had--when Bobby Jones became the first golfer to win all four major championships in one year
The year 2005 marks the 75th anniversary of Bobby Jones's remarkable 1930 season. No one had won the Grand Slam before--and no one has since. In a splendid narrative that is worthy of Jones's singular achievement, Curt Sampson, acknowledged as one of golf's best writers, captures the magic of his feat and the high cost he paid to achieve it, set against the backdrop of the Depression.

Jones was such a sickly child that he was unable to eat solid food until the age of 5. At 6 he found golf, and by age 14 he was nationally known as a golf prodigy. He had matinee idol looks and dated Zelda Sayre before novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald wed her. His 1930 golf season glittered so brightly that he got two tickertape parades. Then, at the top of his game, he shocked everyone and quit the sport.

The book focuses explicitly on Jones and 1930. His fast run to glory was a dark, intricate tale that has never been told until now. The public Jones waved to the crowd in tickertape parades and smiled for the newsreel cameras. Meanwhile, the private man endured agonies. He couldn't eat or sleep, and morning drinking became his norm. Jones won with skill, courage, a lottery winner's luck--and some truly shocking help from George Prescott Bush, the father and grandfather of presidents.

Jones conquered the world just as it was falling apart. His triumphs represented hope for the hopeless. In many ways, Jones was the horse the world followed before Seabiscuit. And like Laura Hillenbrand's mega-bestseller, this is a sports story that captures the essence of an era--equal parts compelling sports biography, sweeping social history, and stirring human drama.

HUBBY'S REVIEW:
I found this book “The Slam”, about Bobby Jones very fascinating. Besides being a great golfer, he had also graduated from Georgia Tech University with a degree in engineering, then went to Harvard and graduated with a degree in English, not being done went to Emory Law school and after 3 years took the Georgia State Bar exam and passed. He then started working in his father’s law firm. While he was attending Georgia Tech he did play on their golf team, he did not play on Harvard’s golf team but he is in their sports men hall of fame. I should also point out that he started at college at the age of 17, so he was a very smart young man. Having already started a job and starting to play golf he married his long time sweetheart they meet his freshmen year at Georgia Tech, they would go on to have three children and that is one of the reasons why he went after the Grand slam, as it was called back then. He was already competing against pros like Walter Hagen and Gene Sarazen. He won his first major the U.S.Open in 1923, won the U.S. Amateur in 24, and was the first golfer to win the double the U.S. Open and the British Open, back then they just called it the open. So by the end of 29 he was actually thinking about going for it and winning all four big major championships in 1930. He was getting tired being away from his family and he was being offered more was ways to make money and one of them was a set of films on how to golf. He thought that this might lead to him losing his amateur status and he did not want that to happen or anyone to question his status. Some golfers were now changing to iron shafts from wood and were trying to get him to make the change along with them. He did not what to make any changes and stuck with wooden shafts. You also have to remember that here in the states they traveled by train and by ship to go over to England. While in England in competed in both the Open and a short while later the British Amateur would take place. I do know that Tiger Woods thought he won the Grand Slam a few years ago but not all of the victories were in the same calendar year and after reading this book I can see why those golf historians were saying no. for me the biggest reason and I did not know this until reading this book is that on Saturday of a tournament they played 36 holes of golf. They would come early in the morning play 18 break for lunch and then you went back out and played and played another 18 holes unless it was tied then you played more. So yes I now understand that playing golf back then was different and you must win the four in the same year. I will say that he was pretty confidante in himself for he placed a wager on himself to win all four when he was in Britain, you had been able to wager on yourself up until this year for some reason they stop allowing players to bet for the first time. Any way he won 60,000 betting on himself in 1930 not a bad retirement, since he left playing after he won all four in the same year. The stories of each tournament are exciting and very interesting and make up a great deal of the book. The book is well written and you buy know means need be a golfer to appreciate this book, it is written that well and is a very good story. I was entertained and like always amazed how men and women can get that ball in the cup when I had the knack to find any water anywhere. A good read. I got this book from net galley. 

SNOWBOUND IN MONTANA

SNOWBOUND IN MONTANA                C.J. CARMICHAEL
Posted:  Oct. 27, 2014

Snowbound in Montana by C.J. CarmichaelWhen Eliza Bramble signs up for a Christmas mountain ski adventure with sexy mountain guide Marshal McKenzie, she’s looking to escape the attention of a two-timing charmer and find some inner peace. Instead, a blizzard traps her in a remote mountain hideaway with Marshall and two other families in need of their own Christmas miracles.

Christmas is looking like a write-off, until Marshall suggests they make the best of what they have, and work together. The avid outdoorsman has a special touch with people…and with Eliza in particular. Soon she realizes Marshall isn’t just fixing Christmas — but her broken heart, too.

MY REVIEW:
   This is a case of nice guy finishes first.  Marshall McKenzie is leader of the Baker Creek Lodge Cross Country Adventure.  This will be a 4 days that is its home base, with daily runs to different trails leaving from that point and back again.  He’s highly qualified for this job for he started skiing as a kid soon after his twin brother died.  He had been sent to live with an aunt and uncle.  They both enjoyed the outdoors of Colorado namely skiing.  In his teens he was on a junior ski team where he had host families that helped raise him.
     You see his parents were divorced so once his brother died his life imploded.  He sees his mom once a year now for 48 hours because that’s about all they can both take.  Because the memories become too strong.  He grew up knowing even before the age of nine when his brother died, that his mother loved his brother more than him.  He grew up thinking he wasn’t good enough.  Then when on the skiing team, another skier crashed into him when he had the right of way.  His parents never came to see him when he was injured, forever enforcing that he was not important.
     The day before the trip a woman comes into the store and says she would like to go on the trip his boss says it’s filled.  He comes out of the back room and his boss asks him.  When Marshall says he’s really sorry but it’s been booked for several weeks already.  This lady is none other than Eliza Bramble.  She is trying to get the hell out of Dodge.  Her ex is coming into town.  Country western singing artist John Urban.  He’s coming because they used to date and he had seen her blog about the B & B.
     Even though she thinks she still loves him, she knows she can’t say no to anything he might want.  Even though she knows she left him for cheating on her.  How sick is that she has asked herself a million times.  His coming to the B & B just doesn’t feel right there is something up John’s sleeve.  That is why she needs to get out of Dodge.  The skiing trip is the perfect answer.  She started skiing two years ago, so this seems to be perfect.  She just needs him out of her life.  Marshall agrees to take pity on her since he remembers from two years ago since he was the one who sold her, her skiing gear.
     The thing is the weather does not agree with the group that it’s the perfect time to go skiing.  You see not only does a cold front move in but a blizzard.  Four whole days that is what they have to look forward to.  After the first night kit gloves come off when Wi-Fi was lost.  They could lose electricity but not Wi-Fi.  Not a great thing to have happen on a trip with strangers.  Marshall does his best to make everyone comfortable.
     So, this is where the fun begins.  You got to read it to find out what fun that might be.  There are so many layers to Marshall and Eliza as well as all the other couples and families.  You won’t want to miss any of them.  I give this 5 stars.  Provided by Net Galley.
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