Kit Hawthorne

Hill Country Hero is a kind of best friends to lovers romance, beginning where Annalisa decides to finally bury her almost lifelong crush on her childhood friend Javi. I say kind of because in my opinion Javi never behaved like the best friend he was supposed to be and even if he didn’t know about Annalisa’s feelings for him, how he took advantage of her every time he wanted something but never bothered to reach out just to check in on her irritated me a lot.

So I wasn’t the biggest fan of Javi at the beginning and Annalisa’s pining was a bit embarrassing. Not her feelings themselves, because feelings are very hard to get over even if you try to approach them rationally, but how she found excuses for Javi every time there was the tiniest glimmer of hope he wasn’t really the jerk he seemed to be.

I am maybe a bit harsh, but even though I empathized with Annalisa I still got a bit frustrated by her puppy dog behavior.

So, why did this turn out to be an almost 5 stars read for me? Easy - because both characters grow a lot in this book. Javi does not only realize he behaved like a terrible friend towards Annalisa, he also admits that his hatred for a few people was only fueled by jealousy and thoughts of justice, never directed to the persons who deserved it and only feeding into his bitterness. So I started out disliking Javi, but he more than redeemed himself in the end and who doesn’t love a great redemption arc?

Annalisa also grew a lot as a character. She finally developed a backbone when dealing with Javi and even though she kind of made it too easy for him in my opinion (I mean “I think of you in the romance category” is even for someone as unromantic as me really cheap…) she stood her ground and stopped to come running the second he wanted something.

I also appreciated how she handled the situation with Grant and I was very grateful that this didn’t turn out to be a love triangle like I was originally a bit afraid of. She actually behaved real maturely and I did like her character a lot.

For my taste there were a few too many characters and even in the end I hadn’t completely figured out who was related to whom and in which way they shared history. That is probably due to the fact that this is the eighth book of the Truly Texas series, but the first one I’ve read and that the characters obviously were part of the previous books. So this book can be read as a standalone since a lack of understanding all dynamics between the side characters doesn’t affect the comprehension or enjoyment of this book, but I guess they are probably best read in order to get to know the other characters.

The only thing I wished for would be a bit more transparency on how historically accurate the book, specifically Annalisa’s research is. Since I know literally nothing about the Texas Revolution and don’t know which of her findings were fiction and what was based on historical facts. I do love learning about history through fiction, but in this case it just wasn’t clear to me what was fiction and what was not. But maybe that is mostly me, being from Europe and never even having come across the term “Texas Revolution”. Someone with a bit more knowledge might enjoy this aspect of the book more. But - as good books often do - it made me look up the Texas Revolution and learn a bit on my own.

So as you can see I really enjoyed the book, especially the character growth of both main characters, how they got together through research and also their sweet romance and recommend it for everyone who loves clean small town romances.

* Thank you to the author for letting me read an advanced copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily and the expressed opinions are my own.… (altro)

Her Valentine Cowboy by Kit Hawthorne is a 2023 Harlequin Heartwarming publication.

Roque wants to make a go of it in Texas, but what family he has there is not exactly welcoming, nor are the locals who are wary of his northern accent and the way he dresses. But Susanna remembers Roque when he used to visit the area many years ago. She had a big crush on him back then- so, when she sees him struggling to fit in and get on his feet, she takes him under her wing, showing him the ropes, so to speak.

Her strategy pays off in ways neither of them counted on. Susanna gets more clients than she ever could have hoped for, and Roque finds himself getting more work. But the feelings developing between them was not a part of their agreement…

It’s that time of year again… and love is in the air. Many people decide to read a romance novel during the month of February because of Valentine’s Day, but because I read romance novels on a regular basis, I decided to find one with ‘Valentine’ in the title. My library had this one front and center and because it was a ‘heartwarming’ story, I felt I’d found the exact kind of book I was looking for.

As it turns out, it was! This is a very sweet, romantic story. It’s clean and wholesome- with the light message of accepting people who are different from us. The story is very light- there’s no super serious subject matter or heavy emotions. It’s just a wonderful, gentle feel-good story- and it will definitely put you in a romantic mood.

Overall, a very enjoyable story- anytime of year!

4 stars… (altro)

Loved this one, being vicariously snowbound with Macy and Dirk and their adorable pets in her pretty home was the cozy escape I needed from my own life stuff.

If you’re a reader who likes things on the steamier side this probably won’t be the story for you, but if you’re craving a sweet connection (once they move beyond their initial not so meet-cute) this very much delivers, I especially liked that their conversations had plenty of depth, it felt like they truly got to know each other over the course of the novel so even though this does that romance novel thing where they’ve actually only been acquainted for a short period of time, it was pretty easy to buy into the idea of a solid future for them.

There was a moment, a disaster for Dirk, where I thought maybe he underreacted at least compared to how I would have felt in his shoes, but admittedly I was glad he did, I was glad he didn’t spend the rest of the story all doom and gloom and the story just stayed on a lovely course including my favorite version of Pride and Prejudice, a quiet makeshift Christmas with thoughtful gifts and a really heartwarming sense of community.… (altro)