Rounding up to 3.5 stars out of 5 for this review.

I'm not sure what I expected when I requested this book. The summary gave me tingly feelings of sweet, abandoned romance, a cowboy and a broken woman left behind.

In a way, I got all that, wrapped neatly in a Hallmark-like bow. Cathy McDavid writes beautifully, and has a way with conveying emotions, frustrations and romance.

Annie and Sam were young sweethearts torn apart right when Sam was ready to propose to Annie. Being a man (that's how I chose to see it, anyway) he sucked at keeping in touch with his girl. Annie was impatient and very susceptible to her family's "curse" and started dating another man.

Nine years later, Annie is divorced with a 3 year old girl and Sam is a widower with an 8 year old daughter. He's wracked with guilt over a fire that destroyed his beloved town and is determined to rebuild it. He's also determined in rebuilding what he was stupid to leave 9 years prior - his and Annie's love.

I liked that there was a good amount of angst. I liked that the romance was infused with annoying moments of silliness and stubbornness by both Annie and Sam. I think, however, that the story is very much predictable and I could see how everything will unfold and resolve about 20% in. I think it could be spiced up with more plot.

All in all - sweet, light romance and a nice buffer in between heavier reads.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. ( )

4 STARS

I liked this story. It could have been are town last summer burning, We got lucky and only had to leave for a day but others surrounding are city were not so lucky.
There was fire around Sweetheart, Nevada. The surrounding land and some businesses were burnt down. They were a town that built on marriages. The whole town is hurting for business. Sam feels guilty that he could not save town he used to live in. He was in charge of one group of firefighters and had to watch it burn down.

Sam wants to help the town rebuild and bring tourists back to town. He received a huge settlement after his wife's car accident where she died. Sam bought the Gold Nugget ranch which was made famous because a tv series was filmed their. Sam plans to open it up for tourists that want a cowboy vacation. He plans to spend the summer there with his 8 year old daughter Lyndsey. Then return to his father-in-laws ranch in California.

Annie family inn burnt down. Her grandmother, mom, Nessa her 3 year old and her are living in a small apartment. She is lucky to have found a job and a place to live. It is more than others have now. Her mother is depressed over the losses. Her granny Orla is having memory losses. Annie has her hands full. She likes to escape and visit the Gold Nugget over the years but today is surprised to run into Sam there.

Annie and Sam had dated pretty serious before he left to go take a job in California. Annie refused to go with him. After awhile long distance they broke up. Sam got married a few months later.

Lyndsey found some baby raccoons that were starving only two of them alive. With Annie's help got the kits started on the path of recovery. Lyndsey loved the animals that her father was bringing to the ranch. They were helping her to cope with the loss of her mother and grow closer to her father. Lyndsey starts caring for more animals that the owners can't keep them or they were lost in the fire.

Sam brings Lyndsey's pony that she out grew and Nessa likes to ride the pony. Her father wants to take more care of Nessa while Annie is struggling to keep her family together and start to rebuild her family inn.

I like the main character and also the secondary characters add to the story so much. I wonder who's story is going to be told next.

This is a nice fast read. As Sam and Annie start to help rebuild their relationship and the town to start hoping business will start again for the town of Sweetheart. I know that their will be at least two more books in this new series. with His Christmas Sweetheart coming in Nov. 2013. I know I want to read and see who the next story is going to be about.

06/01/2013 PUB. Harlequin Imprint Harlequin American Romance ISBN 9780373754625

I was given this ebook to read and asked to give honest review of it by Netgalley. ( )

Good book. After the fire that destroyed half the town, Annie is struggling to rebuild her life and that of her family. She is focused on trying to get the Inn rebuilt when she discovers that Sam is back in town. They had been in love nine years ago but split up when he left Sweetheart for a new job. She was devastated and wants nothing to do with him now.

While I really enjoyed the story I had some problems with Annie. Sam had asked her to go with him all those years ago but she refused to leave her hometown even for a short time. She was so sure that Sam would never be back that she immediately moved on to another guy that she settled for. Now that he's back she wants nothing to do with him and the memories he stirs up. She doesn't understand why he came back and why he is so intent on helping the town recover. Even when she finds out his reasons she refuses his assistance. She gets angry at him when he steps in to help her mom and grandmother. Because of their daughters and other events they end up spending some time together and it becomes obvious that their feelings are still there, but Annie still lets her pride interfere with her future. I really wanted to shake her a few times and make her see what she was doing to herself and Sam. She was too unwilling to bend or compromise. I was glad when she finally got it together but she made it way too hard on herself and Sam.

I liked Sam. Even though he had made his mistakes in their relationship, he was willing to try again. I liked the way that he came back to Sweetheart to help even though he did it out of misplaced guilt. I really enjoyed seeing him with his daughter and how he was determined to reconnect with her. I loved what he was doing with the ranch and how he was using his windfall to help the people of Sweetheart get back on their feet. He really wanted to get back together with Annie but was frustrated by her stubbornness. I liked the way he was so good with her grandmother and how he helped her without being nasty to Annie about it. There were some great scenes with him and the various animals. The animals were one of the ways he used to spend more time with Annie. I felt so bad for him as he tried so hard with Annie and she kept pulling away from him. I didn't blame him at all for nearly giving up.

I liked the town of Sweetheart and the way the story shows the devastation following a fire like that. It looks like there are a lot of good people there. I'm looking forward to more stories about the way they recover from and move on after the fire. ( )