THE WEDDING GIFT

Fun story about what happens when an old boyfriend shows up a week before your wedding and tries to talk you into running off with him. The story opens as Darla, her grandmother Roxie, and grandfather Claud get ready for their sixtieth-anniversary party. Darla needs some advice from Roxie but has to wait until after the party. In the meantime, she's faced with trying to stave off Andy's innuendo-filled comments and remind herself that she loves Will.

As soon as she hears the problem, Roxie knows what she has to do. I loved her stories of the early days of her marriage to Claud, especially the marriage license, his fishing tackle, and the television. Her downhome and practical advice are spot-on (let's hear it for Sunday "naps."). Old Andy gets what's coming to him when Darla and Roxie discover he has more than one iron in the fire. I laughed out loud at Roxie's clever way of doling out justice.

I loved Darla's fiancé, Will. He adores her and intends to give her the best life possible. His little romantic touches are sweet and remind Darla why she loves him. An unexpected twist at the end showed they had more in common than they knew. I loved that they learned early on that trust is vital in a happy marriage. The wedding scene was sweet.



A SLOW DANCE HOLIDAY

Fun story. I've enjoyed the Honky Tonk series, and this was a terrific, if short, addition. Cameron and Jorja (JJ) are each given half-ownership of the Honky-Tonk by its previous owner, with the collusion of their grandparents. Cameron has run a beach bar in Florida for years and looks forward to having his own place. Jorja is just happy to get away from Nashville. Each believes their new partner is the same gender as themselves, and they get quite a shock when they meet.

Jorja is a red-headed spitfire who makes an immediate impression on Cameron when they meet. Neither is willing to give up their portion of the bar, so they quickly learn to work together. Their conversations are fun as they adjust to working and living together. I loved the use of animal pairings to give Cameron and Jorja the idea that they belong together - from spiders and snakes to robins and possums, everywhere they look, they see couples.

Jorja also faces the obstacle of dealing with her family. The daughter of a preacher, they are not pleased that she gave up an excellent job to own a bar. When her older sister shows up at the bar intent on forcing Jorja to come home, it takes some effort to convince her otherwise. I loved seeing Jorja stand up for herself. At the same time, Cameron realizes he doesn't want her to go. I loved the ending.



SUMMERTIME ON THE RANCH

Short and sweet romance from the Spikes and Spurs series. After ten years of chasing her country music dream in Nashville, she leaves it all behind to care for her grandmother in tiny Terral, Oklahoma. She gets a job working at Austin O'Donnell's watermelon wine business and is soon dreaming of starting her own vineyard. The only downside is resisting the bad-boy cowboy foreman at the ranch across the road.

Dalton has a love-'em-and-leave-'em reputation with the women of Terral. He wasn't interested in settling down until he laid eyes on Becca. Suddenly, being a one-woman man doesn't seem like such a bad idea after all. Unfortunately, convincing Becca he's changed his ways is an uphill battle.

I enjoyed watching the relationship develop between Dalton and Becca. The sparks are there when they meet, but Becca is wary of becoming just another notch on Dalton's bedpost. Dalton doesn't seem to get anywhere until Becca's grandmother, Greta, pulls him into her orbit of church and Sunday dinner. Just that little bit of seeing Dalton's honorable side has Becca looking at him a little differently. I loved seeing them start to spend time together and discover they have more in common than they thought. There are some sweet scenes of burgers at the Dairy Queen and picnics in the woods, and a hilarious scene involving a bull and a watermelon.

Things are looking up for them until a bit of Dalton's past comes calling. I wanted to shake Becca for her reaction and enjoyed seeing Greta call her out on it. I liked that Dalton and Becca were adult enough to talk honestly with each other about what happened. I liked the ending and seeing them look forward to a future together.

Once again I get stung by a book that isn't clearly an older book repackaged. I already read this book when it was first published, but the NetGalley blurb said nothing. Please, please be more clear!

The Wedding Gift by Carolyn Brown is three novellas mostly concentrating on cowboys and romance. It has all the hallmarks of Carolyn Brown: great characters and good stories. Totally a feel-good grouping. It is the perfect thing for a break between more taxing books. The first was particularly enchanting when weeks before the wedding both the bride and the groom were tempted by previous loves to ditch their vows and take off: the wedding test. Both passed but it was a fun journey to take with them, primarily focusing on the bride. Another focused on the taming of what, during Regency times, would be called a rake. I love Carolyn Brown’s books. I never pass one by.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of The Wedding Gift by Sourcebooks Casablanca, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #Netgalley #SourcebooksCasablance #Carolyn Brown #TheWeddingGift

EXCERPT: (Taken from 'A Slow Dance Holiday')
Granny had damn sure been right when she said the redhead could hold her own. She'd be a force to deal with for sure, but after ten years of bartending Cameron figured he'd seen about everything. One curvy, feisty little lady didn't scare him, not unless she was pointing a pistol at his chest, anyway.

ABOUT 'THE WEDDING GIFT': A week before your wedding is no time for your ex to ride back into town, stirring up trouble. But that’s exactly the predicament Darla McAdams finds herself in. With practically the entire town of Tishomingo, Oklahoma, in attendance, the last place she wants to be is at her grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary party with the whole family, her fiancé and her old flame all in the same room.

Darla’s grandmother Roxie has seen many a bride tested, and she knows Darla is at a crossroads. It’s time to share the truth about Roxie’s own marriage to Darla’s grandfather - and the gift that saved their marriage so many years ago. By revealing secret after secret, the most startling involving a television set, Roxie gives Darla a wedding gift she’ll cherish forever, but only Darla can listen to what’s inside her heart and know who she’s meant to say “I do” to.

MY THOUGHTS: The Wedding Gift by Carolyn Brown contains three rather wonderful novellas. The title novella, The Wedding Gift was probably my least favourite ⭐⭐⭐.5 I loved Roxie and her story about the wedding license, the fishing tackle and the TV. The downside to this story for me was the many repetitions of some of the background information on the characters.
The second novella, A Slow Dance Holiday, is a sweet and humorous Christmas romance. Interfering but well meaning relatives gift two people a honky tonk bar in a small town. Jorja and Cameron don't know each other, and neither is what the other expects. Can they learn to work together and make a success of the bar? ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5
The third novella, Summertime on the Ranch, features Becca and Dalton, who have both given up on their dreams and come to a small town in southern Oklahoma, Becca to live with her granny and work in a winery, Dalton to work on the adjoining ranch. There's a lot of animals and alcohol (think watermelon wine) involved in this romance. ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

A fun read with strong, sassy female characters (and that's just the grannies!) 🤣🤣

Overall rating ⭐⭐⭐⭐.2

#TheWeddingGift #NetGalley

@carolynbrownbooks @sourcebooks

T: @thecarolynbrown @Sourcebooks

#christianfiction #contemporaryfiction #familydrama #romance #sliceoflife #smalltownfiction
#womensfiction

THE AUTHOR: Carolyn Brown was born in Texas but grew up in southern Oklahoma where she and her husband Charles, a retired English teacher, make their home. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young.
When she's not writing, Carolyn likes to plot new stories in her backyard with her tom cat, Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, who protects the yard from all kinds of wicked varmits . . . like crickets, locusts and spiders.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Wedding Gift by Carolyn Brown for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

This book is actually three novellas about finding and keeping love. All three are Carolyn Brown charming and delightful.

The main story was interesting to me. In it there is something called the "bridal test". It's explains as being when an old boyfriend from a woman's past shows up right before her wedding and claims he still loves her. Interestingly enough, that happened to my husband. His ex-fiance showed up after seeing our engagement picture, again right before the wedding and showed up at his parents house when we came back for a visit when I was pregnant. Not cool!

The three stories were so lovely and left my heart singing!

Thanks to Sourcebooks and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

This anthology features three sweet, insightful tales of romance. They may be short, but they most certainly give readers a glimpse into real love and the beginnings of a committed, loving relationship. Each story features a couple that may seem an unlikely pairing, but they eventually find their way toward each other and a future together. Of course, this happens after some wise advice, a strong nudge, or some sneaky machinations from grandma. Grandma does know best! The stories are written with great insight , humour and a wonderful dose sage wisdom.

I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

This is a romance. This is a short story with two bonus novellas. I found the story was not very developed, and it let me down. I did not love it, but I did not hate it. I think if there was more I would love it. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Sourcebooks Casablanca) or author (Carolyn Brown) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Thank you Netgalley and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Wedding Gift by Carolyn Brown. This is a collection of three novellas. Three different couples who fall in love. The stories take place in three different places: a wedding, a honky tonk and a watermelon wine ranch. All three stories are cute, fall in love, sweet stories. These short stories are perfect when you only have a short period of time to read and get lost in a love story! Carolyn Brown is one of my favorite authors and I will definitely recommend this book.

I generally enjoy Carolyn Brown's full-length novels, but as for this collection of 3 of her short novellas not so much. I'm giving it 3 stars, and here's a brief rundown:

In The Wedding Gift, the first novella in this anthology, we encounter a soon-to-be bride whose heartbreaker of a high school boyfriend shows up a week or so before her wedding day, and she begins to doubt her current relationship when he tries to lure her into going back to Hollywood with him. It's the advice from her wise old grandma that saves the day. Not a new idea, and just an okay read.

Next is A Slow Dance Holiday, in which two total strangers, one male, one female, get equal ownership in a small honky-tonk in an even smaller town in Texas, each thinking their future business partner is the same sex as they are--not! Yet although there's a rocky start to their relationship, it's Christmas, and the holiday spirit brings these two very different characters together. It's sweet and has a bit if steam, and it was my favorite of the 3 novellas. Carolyn Brown has written a number of sweet holiday-themed romances and although the timespan of this one is rather short, I did enjoy it.

Finally there's Summertime on the Ranch, in which Becca, who has been trying to build a singing career in Nashville, returns home to help her grandma who needs her help after injuring her ankle. There's the expected flirtatious cowboy who becomes enamored of her, and, as expected, it's not long before they're in for an HEA ending, and this was probably my least favorite read of the three.

If you're a fan of short romance fiction, I think you'll enjoy this anthology, but for this reviewer, I much prefer Ms. Brown's longer novels.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this anthology. The opinions stated are my own.

Thank you NetGalley, Carolyn Brown and Sourcebooks Casablanca for the Arc of The Wedding Gift. This is my personal review.
The Wedding Gift is three novellas in one. Each story has the spark and magic a romance book need. They are short quick easy to read stories that pulled at my heartstrings.
There is just the right amount of romance mixed great characters that are written so well you can see them in your mind as you are reading.

A sweet way to enjoy your afternoon. Three novellas all with the small town romance and each story uniquely different. A nice mixture of different generations, with the older giving out their sage wisdom to their grandchildren. Makes you want a grandmother like that. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #TheWeddingGift

My Thoughts

The Wedding Gift
A stand alone short to my knowledge in which Darla McAdams searches for help from family and friends, especially her feisty granny Roxie, to ease her wedding nerves about choosing to marry her fiancé, Will Jackson.

A week before their walk down the aisle is cutting it close but what she chooses before making up her mind is detailed in true Carolyn Brown style and has some family secrets that Darla takes to heart in her final decision.

Novella is part of Honky Tonk Cowboys series and is #4.5
A Slow Dance Holiday

The magic of Christmas, Carolyn Brown style, strikes again!

Novella is part of Spikes & Spurs series and is #7.5
Summertime on the Ranch

Fast sizzling and yet sweet as well romance.

3 short novellas with meddling Grandmothers that prove sometimes the older you are the more you need to listen to those whose life experiences prove to be invaluable.

Fast reads that all take place in a short amount of time but encompass a lifetime worth of memories and beautifully sets the stage for each pairings new beginnings.

[EArc from Netgalley]



On every book read as soon as it is done and written up for review it is posted on Goodreads and Netgalley, once released then posted on Amazon, Barnes and Nobles as well.

Three light romantic reads in one volume! The first, the story of Will, Darla, and Andy is the most detailed. Will and Darla are all set to be married but both of them have,,,,qualms of a sort, qualms made real when Andy, Darla's first love. comes to town. The other two novellas are less angsty (but equally trope-y). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good one for the beach.

Darla is all set to marry Will until her former high school boyfriend returns to town. She talks to her granny and she tells her the story of her marry her grandfather. Will also has an old girlfriend show up before the wedding. They both have to decide if this is real love. The story is a great letting you know marriage has to be worked on and not everything is easy.
A Slow Dance Holiday is included with this book. Seems JJ and Cameron have been gifted a bar. When they arrived it's to find JJ is a Girl and Cameron is a man. They will be sharing the apartment in the4 back of the bar. Can they learn to get along together and run the bar.
Summertime on the Ranch is included also. Becca is working at the winery and helping take care of her grandmother. Becca spent 10 years in Nashville trying to make it as a singer. Dalton is well known as a bad boy. He works as the ranch foreman and seems to be smitten with Becca. Can they stop fighting long enough to find out?

Love is in the air in these three Novellas. Love is also put to the test in all three. I enjoyed reading these stories. I got this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Three cute stories set in and around Texas. The first story was about a couple that were getting married in two weeks and their exes came to town to try and stop the wedding. They quickly realized they were perfect for each other after all.

The second story was my favorite. two stranger whose grandparents' friends signed over 1/2 of a honky tonk in a very small town and they would live above the bar. The two were shocked to see JJ was a girl and Cameron was not. It was touch and go for a little while but she killed spiders for him and he killed snakes for her. It was a very sweet story

The third story was about Becca who was helping run the ranch with the forman while the owners took a badly needed vacation. Dalton and Becca clashed alot, after an unfortunate misunderstanding, they realized they were good for each other
I got this book from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review

BOOK REVIEW: The Wedding Gift by Carolyn Brown thank you @Sourcebooks Fiction for the chance to read this book

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was such a great book i loved the two bonus novellas as well i cant wait to read more by this author!

Carolyn. Brown writes the perfect stories to lose oneself in. Three separate stories and three couples who fall in love in different circumstances. A wedding, a bar, and watermelon wine comprise the stories. It’s well worth reading and will leave readers with a warm feeling.

Great new story from the great storyteller. Carolyn Brown. The two bonus stories are a real plus. Fun reading.

Love Carolyn Brown's novels and loved this one. Sweet, compellling, and entertaining.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine