Good conclusion to this year's Fortune series. Graham works on the Galloping G ranch with his best friend's father, as they turn it into a place for at-risk boys. Sasha has returned to her uncle's ranch after the end of her marriage, hoping for a place to raise her daughters and to repair her relationship with her uncle.

I loved Graham. He's one of the Robinson side of the Fortune family, and sort of a black sheep. He wants nothing to do with his father's business, in spite of his MBA. He's much happier ranching and helping turn the ranch into a place for at risk boys. When he was a teenager, he and his friend Peter made some bad decisions during their rebellious phase. Peter died because of one of those decisions, which sobered Graham right up. Since then he has joined with Peter's father to make the ranch a tribute to Peter. He remains at odds with his own father. Graham was surprised to hear that Sasha was coming back to the ranch, and even more surprised when he saw her. He remembers her as the little girl who used to be a pest, but she's a beautiful woman now. She also has a daughter and is pregnant. Graham is also determined to make a difference to the boys who come to the ranch. I loved seeing how good he was with them, just the right mix of discipline and friendliness.

I liked Sasha too. She had married a man she thought she loved, even though her uncle didn't like him and said that he wasn't what he seemed. This caused a rift between them, not a total break, but certainly plenty of awkwardness. She hopes that she can mend their relationship while she's there. When she arrived she was surprised to see Graham there. She had had quite the crush on him when she was a teenager, and she discovers that he still has the power to stir her. Her seven year old daughter Maddie also falls under his spell.

I really enjoyed the development of their relationship. They quickly slid back into their old friendship, but this time there was an added zing to it. However, both of them have some relationship insecurities. Graham thinks that there is a good chance that Sasha will end up going back to her husband, so he's reluctant to risk his heart on her. He thinks she still loves him, plus they have the two kids. That doesn't stop him from thinking about the possibilities and wishing they were real. Sasha also has her doubts. She doesn't think that a rich cowboy like Graham could be interested in a single mom like her. A couple of hot kisses have them both thinking toward the future, until a visit from Sasha's soon-to-be-ex occurs. Graham jumps to conclusions about the visit, cutting things off with Sasha in a very confusing (to her) phone call. She jumps to some conclusions of her own, and blows off some steam at him. It takes a determined little girl to get them to actually talk to each other, with the expected happy results.

Through the series there have been two ongoing storylines. The first is the question of whether or not Gerard Robinson is really Jerome Fortune, and whether he'll ever admit it if he is. The previous book had him telling his story to his daughter Zoe, though some of the kids are skeptical. In this book the truth is finally revealed. The second one is the decision by Kate Fortune to look among her relatives for someone to take over as CEO of Fortune Cosmetics. She has been visiting them all, looking for her ideal. She shows up at the ranch to talk to Graham and gets a tour of the ranch. I loved the real interest she showed. At the end of the book she makes her decision and it really is perfectly done. ( )

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

This is not the first book in The Fortunes of Texas: All Fortune’s Children series that I’ve read, but it is the first one with this author. Wed by Fortune has a bunch of the themes I adore with the main characters, Graham Fortune Robinson and Sasha-Marie Gibault, reconnecting after losing touch; children as active characters; and a goal of helping people in need with the Galloping G ranch transformed into a home for troubled teenage boys. Any one of these themes would make the book appeal to me, though putting them all together at once can be dicey at times.

Wed by Fortune shares with the other Fortune novels the trait of strong characters doing interesting things with their lives. This is its main strength, and not just in the main characters as Maggie (Sasha-Marie’s 7-year-old daughter) and Uncle Bob are equally well drawn.

Between the people and the situations they find themselves in, the book is a win for me. It’s not, however, a complete one. I found the injection of the overarching Fortune story to be a little intrusive at times, largely because the information was often dumped on top of the story in dense summary. I must say, in the book’s defense, that had I read all of the series, the last issue might be moot because those summaries, rather than informing, could have been just what I needed to remind me where this one belongs in the bigger framework. Also, the drop in visit by Kate Fortune was lovely.

The writing, at times, had similar problems to the Fortune pieces, with an unexpected awkwardness never more apparent than in the first sex scene, which comes at the very end. Until that point, the book read more as a sweet romance, and successfully so. It certainly had enough going on to make the absence of the sensual element beyond a few kisses not particularly noticeable. However, because of that scene, this is a sensual novel, and in my opinion, did not hold up that end. While this is the most glaring example, the clumsy writing occurred often enough throughout to influence how I read the book while not so often as to make it unreadable.

There’s a lot to like between the characters and the storyline, though the reasons Graham and Sasha-Marie, or Sassy as Graham calls her, had keeping them apart became strained at times. I did enjoy the read, and everything came together well in the end despite Graham and Sasha-Marie letting their own assumptions and lack of confidence prevent them from making their feelings clear for the longest time. Heck, I would have read the whole thing just to meet Maggie, who is a wonderfully drawn, accurate 7-year-old when so many are portrayed too young for their stated age.

As much as I’d like to give this romance a clear recommendation, I can’t. I wouldn’t have wanted to give it a pass either, so it depends on what you’ll tolerate to enjoy the characters. This is also speaking as a drop-in on the Fortune series, and from reading the ARC. There’s a chance some of my issues were corrected in the final proof, though I suspect that’s not the case for all of them.

Ultimately, the people won me over both in their presentation and the motivations driving them to help others. What Graham and Uncle Bob chose to do with a horrible tragedy and how Sasha-Marie wanted to make a good life for her kids (she’s pregnant), despite a disappointing first marriage (she’s in the process of a divorce through most of the book), made the story worthwhile for me.

P.S. I received this title from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. ( )