4.5 stars

You may have noticed I’ve been reading this series back-to-back, which is not always my way. I was offered a copy of this 3rd book in the series as an ARC and it finally got my butt in gear to read the other books in the series that I’ve been wanting to read since they came out. While I really don’t think you have to read this series in order and can definitely read each book as a standalone, that’s not how my brain works.

This time around we have 4 half-sisters. Their dad, Mickey Hathaway, was a cad and had gotten 4 different women pregnant within the same year. Luckily, the moms bonded in a way and decided to keep in touch so their daughters could know each other. They met in person when they were 13 and have been fast friends ever since. Only one actually grew up in Jasper Creek, but they all came “home” when their grandfather fell ill and decided to stay and start a business together. While they did stay at Grandma June’s house in the first chapter when they got to town on an emergency basis, they ended up moving to the abandoned main house on their grandpa’s ranch.

Teddy by Nicole Helm
Teddy is not the sister who lives in Jasper Creek. In fact, she moved the furthest to be there. Her mom was devastated by what Mickey Hathaway had done and had moved as far away as possible. She raised Teddy to never rely on a man and, in fact, to actively not trust anything they promised. Because of her kind and bubbly nature, Teddy took that all in but it didn’t make her cynical or brooding. Yet, she was a bit naïve to the world. She had a list of questions a man had to get through in order to even go on a 1st date with her, which was why she had never been on a date. She lived a pretty sheltered life and her mom had finally realized that Teddy, at 25 years old, needed to find some independence. So while her sisters went back to their homes to pack up and tie up loose ends, once the decision was made to live permanently in Jasper Creek Teddy stayed behind to start cleaning up the old homestead house. She knew if she went back to Maine she may not have the guts to leave again.

If you read the last book, A Good Old-Fashioned Cowboy, you know that Beau comes from a family that does not know how to show emotions. Teddy brings something out in Beau that he’s not used to feeling. Over and over he thinks that he needs to cut things off with her before he hurts her, but over and over he can’t seem to walk away. These two are really sweet together and kind of exist in a bubble. Teddy’s sisters know about Beau, but they don’t interact with him. Beau’s mom and sister know he’s seeing someone, but he hasn’t officially introduced them. And when it comes to the point in their relationship that their families may start to intermingle, Beau full-on panics.

I feel saying too much about why Beau is so afraid of love is a bit spoiler-ish, but his is a touching story and I even almost feel sorry for him. He’s erected so many walls to protect himself and he’s only hurting himself instead. Yet, that just leads us to a fantastic grovel scene with a ton of heart melting moments.

I would have liked to get to know the sisters a bit better, I felt I had a better understanding of the characters and their dynamics in the previous books. But that could be because this is the first of the four stories. That remains to be seen. ~ 4 stars

Joey by Maisey Yates
I adore Joey. She speaks her mind, is no-nonsense, has a pretty good head on her shoulders, and has no clue what she’s doing. Well, she actually knows a lot and is sort of a jack of all trades. But when it comes to relationships, be it romantic or familial, she’s like a fish out of water. Her habit of plowing forward head first into the unknown works for the short term, but really leaves her feeling afloat when it comes to long term ramifications.

Hollis is a very serious sort. He’s lived and loved and lost and decided he’ll just make due from here on out. No muss, no fuss. Hollis has a very caring and beautiful heart; he just can’t ever see sharing his heart again. Of course, Joey throws all of Hollis’ beliefs in how the rest of his life will go straight out the window. Not that she means to or even wants to, but some things are just meant to be.

This story is so much about discovery of self in two totally different ways. There is a conversation Joey has with her mom at one point and I appreciated a lot of what her mom had to say. We put on a different face for our children so they may think they know us, but they really don’t. Not really the way they think they do anyway. It was a surprising and welcome addition to this story.

I’m pleased to say I felt we got to know the sisters much better in this story. I felt I am much more invested in their relationship with one another now. ~ 4 stars

Georgie by Jackie Ashenden
The story of Georgie and Con is very self-contained. It really takes place over the course of about 24 hours, but their connection goes back years. So, while it seems fast, especially for prickly Georgie who hasn’t shown any interest in romance so far, it actually is a slow burn that was condensed to one day. This may or may not sound like a good thing to you, depending on your preferences in romance, but I strongly urge you to give them a chance. The pacing and development of Georgie’s HEA is written so well and with a lot of care.

Not only is the chemistry between Con and Georgie undeniable, both of their pasts are just raw and heartbreaking. They understand each other in a way few would ever be able to understand them. It’s also the thing that makes them both so terrified of going all in with admitting their feelings. This story goes in one direction and takes a quick u-turn that will have you pulling out your hair. Of course, we still get our HEA as promised. And it’s well worth the bit of pain we that is thrown in while these crazy kids figure it all out. ~ 5 stars

Elliot by Caitlin Crews
This is the coupling that is hinted at throughout the previous three stories, so it surprised me that the timeline seemed a bit off. Don’t get me wrong, I am amazed these authors can keep the timeline so well when there are four of them working to weave their stories together. They are extremely good at getting the character’s voices correct when it’s not their character, so to speak. For the most part, it’s easy to see where a certain couple’s story starts even while reading one of the other stories. I guess that’s why it surprised me that it felt off at first. That did not take away from the story, though.

Not to take anything away from the other main characters in this book and this series, but I love how much Elliot embraces her sexuality and goes for what she wants. Not that she’s unfeeling, she actually has a very soft center. But Elliot does not suffer fools and does not believe herself to be a fool. She believes she’s going in with her eyes wide open. But then, she’s also never fallen in love. Neither has Colt, for that matter. He may have a tween daughter, but she was not the result of any sort of long-term relationship. Colt loves his daughter, Katy, more than anything. He’s also taken protecting her and being her everything to an extreme level to the point where he doesn’t even realize he never does anything only for himself. He’s become quite dour and serious over the years.

Elliot and Katy hit it off right away. Elliot has a way of talking to her that boosts her up instead of talking down to her because of her age. At the same time, there is an undeniable spark between Elliot and Colt. All of the dynamics of this story are wonderful. Colt may think he’s playing it cool, but Katy and all of his brothers see more than he wants them to. Which helps in the end when they call him on his boneheaded reactions to Elliot and her obvious love for him and his daughter.

With Elliot being the more sensible of the sisters when it comes to relationships, her breakdown when things unravel hit a bit harder than the others. Those scenes were very well written and gave me all the feels. Plus, they culminated in a great grovel. ~ 4.5 stars

Summary: While I missed the magic surrounding Grandma June’s house, I loved seeing many of my favorite characters from those books. And the sisters living in their grandfather’s old house made a lot more sense to this book. These sisters seem to make their own magic, just in a different way.

Overall = 4.375 stars (we’ll round that up to 4.5)

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

You can find an excerpt of this book at All In Good Time

Merged review:

4.5 stars

You may have noticed I’ve been reading this series back-to-back, which is not always my way. I was offered a copy of this 3rd book in the series as an ARC and it finally got my butt in gear to read the other books in the series that I’ve been wanting to read since they came out. While I really don’t think you have to read this series in order and can definitely read each book as a standalone, that’s not how my brain works.

This time around we have 4 half-sisters. Their dad, Mickey Hathaway, was a cad and had gotten 4 different women pregnant within the same year. Luckily, the moms bonded in a way and decided to keep in touch so their daughters could know each other. They met in person when they were 13 and have been fast friends ever since. Only one actually grew up in Jasper Creek, but they all came “home” when their grandfather fell ill and decided to stay and start a business together. While they did stay at Grandma June’s house in the first chapter when they got to town on an emergency basis, they ended up moving to the abandoned main house on their grandpa’s ranch.

Teddy by Nicole Helm
Teddy is not the sister who lives in Jasper Creek. In fact, she moved the furthest to be there. Her mom was devastated by what Mickey Hathaway had done and had moved as far away as possible. She raised Teddy to never rely on a man and, in fact, to actively not trust anything they promised. Because of her kind and bubbly nature, Teddy took that all in but it didn’t make her cynical or brooding. Yet, she was a bit naïve to the world. She had a list of questions a man had to get through in order to even go on a 1st date with her, which was why she had never been on a date. She lived a pretty sheltered life and her mom had finally realized that Teddy, at 25 years old, needed to find some independence. So while her sisters went back to their homes to pack up and tie up loose ends, once the decision was made to live permanently in Jasper Creek Teddy stayed behind to start cleaning up the old homestead house. She knew if she went back to Maine she may not have the guts to leave again.

If you read the last book, A Good Old-Fashioned Cowboy, you know that Beau comes from a family that does not know how to show emotions. Teddy brings something out in Beau that he’s not used to feeling. Over and over he thinks that he needs to cut things off with her before he hurts her, but over and over he can’t seem to walk away. These two are really sweet together and kind of exist in a bubble. Teddy’s sisters know about Beau, but they don’t interact with him. Beau’s mom and sister know he’s seeing someone, but he hasn’t officially introduced them. And when it comes to the point in their relationship that their families may start to intermingle, Beau full-on panics.

I feel saying too much about why Beau is so afraid of love is a bit spoiler-ish, but his is a touching story and I even almost feel sorry for him. He’s erected so many walls to protect himself and he’s only hurting himself instead. Yet, that just leads us to a fantastic grovel scene with a ton of heart melting moments.

I would have liked to get to know the sisters a bit better, I felt I had a better understanding of the characters and their dynamics in the previous books. But that could be because this is the first of the four stories. That remains to be seen. ~ 4 stars

Joey by Maisey Yates
I adore Joey. She speaks her mind, is no-nonsense, has a pretty good head on her shoulders, and has no clue what she’s doing. Well, she actually knows a lot and is sort of a jack of all trades. But when it comes to relationships, be it romantic or familial, she’s like a fish out of water. Her habit of plowing forward head first into the unknown works for the short term, but really leaves her feeling afloat when it comes to long term ramifications.

Hollis is a very serious sort. He’s lived and loved and lost and decided he’ll just make due from here on out. No muss, no fuss. Hollis has a very caring and beautiful heart; he just can’t ever see sharing his heart again. Of course, Joey throws all of Hollis’ beliefs in how the rest of his life will go straight out the window. Not that she means to or even wants to, but some things are just meant to be.

This story is so much about discovery of self in two totally different ways. There is a conversation Joey has with her mom at one point and I appreciated a lot of what her mom had to say. We put on a different face for our children so they may think they know us, but they really don’t. Not really the way they think they do anyway. It was a surprising and welcome addition to this story.

I’m pleased to say I felt we got to know the sisters much better in this story. I felt I am much more invested in their relationship with one another now. ~ 4 stars

Georgie by Jackie Ashenden
The story of Georgie and Con is very self-contained. It really takes place over the course of about 24 hours, but their connection goes back years. So, while it seems fast, especially for prickly Georgie who hasn’t shown any interest in romance so far, it actually is a slow burn that was condensed to one day. This may or may not sound like a good thing to you, depending on your preferences in romance, but I strongly urge you to give them a chance. The pacing and development of Georgie’s HEA is written so well and with a lot of care.

Not only is the chemistry between Con and Georgie undeniable, both of their pasts are just raw and heartbreaking. They understand each other in a way few would ever be able to understand them. It’s also the thing that makes them both so terrified of going all in with admitting their feelings. This story goes in one direction and takes a quick u-turn that will have you pulling out your hair. Of course, we still get our HEA as promised. And it’s well worth the bit of pain we that is thrown in while these crazy kids figure it all out. ~ 5 stars

Elliot by Caitlin Crews
This is the coupling that is hinted at throughout the previous three stories, so it surprised me that the timeline seemed a bit off. Don’t get me wrong, I am amazed these authors can keep the timeline so well when there are four of them working to weave their stories together. They are extremely good at getting the character’s voices correct when it’s not their character, so to speak. For the most part, it’s easy to see where a certain couple’s story starts even while reading one of the other stories. I guess that’s why it surprised me that it felt off at first. That did not take away from the story, though.

Not to take anything away from the other main characters in this book and this series, but I love how much Elliot embraces her sexuality and goes for what she wants. Not that she’s unfeeling, she actually has a very soft center. But Elliot does not suffer fools and does not believe herself to be a fool. She believes she’s going in with her eyes wide open. But then, she’s also never fallen in love. Neither has Colt, for that matter. He may have a tween daughter, but she was not the result of any sort of long-term relationship. Colt loves his daughter, Katy, more than anything. He’s also taken protecting her and being her everything to an extreme level to the point where he doesn’t even realize he never does anything only for himself. He’s become quite dour and serious over the years.

Elliot and Katy hit it off right away. Elliot has a way of talking to her that boosts her up instead of talking down to her because of her age. At the same time, there is an undeniable spark between Elliot and Colt. All of the dynamics of this story are wonderful. Colt may think he’s playing it cool, but Katy and all of his brothers see more than he wants them to. Which helps in the end when they call him on his boneheaded reactions to Elliot and her obvious love for him and his daughter.

With Elliot being the more sensible of the sisters when it comes to relationships, her breakdown when things unravel hit a bit harder than the others. Those scenes were very well written and gave me all the feels. Plus, they culminated in a great grovel. ~ 4.5 stars

Summary: While I missed the magic surrounding Grandma June’s house, I loved seeing many of my favorite characters from those books. And the sisters living in their grandfather’s old house made a lot more sense to this book. These sisters seem to make their own magic, just in a different way.

Overall = 4.375 stars (we’ll round that up to 4.5)

**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**

You can find an excerpt of this book at All In Good Time

Love the premise of Elliot's story.