Rescuing Harmony Ranch
By Jennie Marts
ASIN : B08KHQ9XVF
Publisher : Hallmark Publishing (February 23, 2021)
Print length : 209 pages
Genre: Clean, Small Town Romance
My Rating: 4.0 of 5.0.
A bearded blacksmith
and a marketing exec
join forces...and sparks fly.
After her grandmother calls her asking for help, Jocelyn drops everything and heads back home to Harmony Creek, Colorado. Her grandmother runs a living history museum: a ranch and homestead where volunteers wear clothing from the early 1900s and demonstrate how things were done in the old West, from making soap to shearing sheep. The place is in financial trouble, and it needs the revenue from the annual festival to survive.
There’s just one thing that makes this a little awkward: Mack, who’s divorced, and who’s now the caretaker and blacksmith at the homestead. Jocelyn and Mack have their own shared history, which includes both stolen kisses and teenage rivalry.
Even as the past and present collide, they have to save Harmony Ranch. Matchmaking grannies, a meddling mutt, and a flood of fun festival activities might just be enough to overcome their differences and forge two broken hearts back together.
This heartwarming romance includes a free Hallmark original recipe for Turkey Sliders with Mac and Cheese.
Review:
Jocelyn was a teen when her mother took her from Colorado to New York. Jocelyn had initially planned to go back but after her high school sweetheart married someone else, Jocelyn poured herself into her college and marketing career. Years later Jocelyn returns home to help her injured grandmother. Jocelyn always loved Harmony Ranch, the living history museum that it is her grandmother’s ranch, and Jocelyn is distressed to learn it is in financial trouble.
Mack is the caretaker and blacksmith at the ranch. He has a history full of abandonment and betrayal, including his perception of his parting with Jocelyn. Now he is divorced but not sure he can risk his heart to Jocelyn.
Jocelyn and Mack are pushed together by their grandmothers, and they find it necessary to work closely together as they take over the planning of the upcoming festival which is the hope of raising money to save the ranch. The pair have a history of miscommunication and initial reluctance to be open with one another. However, their never forgotten feelings soon become clear even if Jocelyn’s limited visit back to Colorado while she works toward a promotion at work is still an obstacle.
I enjoyed the tense start to the couple’s relationship and how it grows but still has misunderstandings. The cute, stubborn basset hound, Savage, adds a fun furry friend element. The ending may be predictable but it was fun getting there through the festival and the lovely sounding living history aspect of the ranch.
The writing flows easily and the romance is sweet and clean. It is totally enjoyable. I recommend this to fans of clean, second chance romance.
Source: NetGalley 2020. This qualifies for 2021TBR, 2021NetGalley and 2021Alphabet goals.
