I really enjoyed this holiday romance of two people who have known each other for a long time and finally get together. Great holiday romance!

I typically stick to romantic suspense, but I requested an ARC of this book from Net Galley since I have enjoyed Pamela Clare's books in the past. I also was kind of in the mood for a feel good holiday read, and this one fit the bill. Rain has been in love with Joe since she was a lonely teen mother. The attraction is mutual, but Joe sees her as much too young and himself as undeserving of love. Fate decides to throw them together in the form of a disaster at Rain's house, and she wants him to finally notice her. Joe can't help but notice, but no way is he going after one of his employees. Rain knows she shouldn't wait forever, but is it worth waiting a little bit longer? Will Joe finally accept what she is freely offering?

They say that good things come to those who wait, but 20 years is a long time. Rain & Joe have been in each other’s lives for 20 years & have been in love with each other for about that long. What starts out as a winter tragedy turns into a Christmas miracle. Rain’s home is destroyed in a blizzard & with Joe coming to her rescue it starts an avalanche of emotions & proves to be the time for some decisions to be made. Rain decides to bare her heart to Joe in hopes that it will bring him closer, but he doesn’t respond the way she expected, causing her to make some life changing decisions. Joe’s stupidity is brought to his attention by many & forces him to the realization that if he doesn’t make up his mind he’ll lose Rain forever. What neither of them expect is the life altering surprise that brings with it fear but joy beyond belief. This book was wonderfully written & I enjoyed the story within the story of the tragic history of the tiny little town. Definitely recommend.

As always, Pamela Clare did not disappoint. I absolutely loved the story of Rain and Joe. They are wonderful together. Great, quick read.

Close to Heaven is the story of Rain and Joe. Rain has been waitressing for Joe for the last twenties years. Ever since she walked through the doorstep of Joe’s at seventeen with a newborn baby of only weeks and with no money or family, begging for a chance to prove herself, Rain has respected and admired Joe. When he defended her against her selfish ex a year later, Rain fell irrevocably in love with the man.

Joe has been half way in love with Rain too but he’s used every excuse in the book to dodge his deeper feelings for her. Besides the age difference, he never wanted to seem as he was taking advantage of her since she was his employee and he was her boss. But his reasons for keeping a safe distance from his greatest temptation goes back a few generations.

But twenty years is a lot of time to deny yourself the one you love and when a caved in roof has Rain moving in with Joe, Rain throws all caution to the wind and finally confesses her own feelings to Joe. Rain and Joe’s story to their own HEA is a mesh of their present but also their long family history.

What I liked:
Rain and Joe were two very likable people. They genuinely cared for others, had strong ties to the community and to their friends. They were respected and loved and it was easy to see why. I loved them both, even if Joe was a bit stubborn and wishy washy in the beginning. When the true reason for pushing Rain away comes to light, I had to cut him some slack, his family history was so intertwined with the whole town and with Rain and so many of his other friends, I could see why the guilt over his ancestor’s actions might have burdened Joe so much.

Once the truth comes out, there isn’t any unnecessary drama or miscommunication. It’s all handled up front and with out recriminations. I loved that Rain was so understanding and helped Joe move past his misplaced guilt and see what a generous and giving person he was. She was just what needed he needed to snap him out of his self made prison and give them both a second chance to be happy.


What I didn't like:
Rain was at her own cross roads when her story starts. With an adult daughter who recently moved away and her lonely life stretched out before, Rain is desperate to find out what her next step is in life. Finally giving in to her feelings for Joe kind of catapults her onto a new path. That’s not the part I didn’t like.

It was actually her daughter that through a wrench in an otherwise sweet romance. Her character was too … exuberant isn’t the right word. I want to say brash but that sounds so old school. What rubbed me the wrong way was that she was so epically different than her mother. Rain was all things sweet and selfless and hard working and kind hearted and then we get to see the child she sacrificed and worked so hard for and she was almost bratty and spoiled than I would have expected. I wanted her to be more like Rain. The way she so easily accepted Joe and his (back then) undisclosed amount of money seemed too superficial and materialistic to endear me to her. Granted it all works out in the end and I get that she wanted to pamper her mom but still, am I the only one that would skirmish to take someones money and spend it like its my right? Maybe I have money hangups but the dress shopping scene really left me with a tarnished impression of Lark and it wasn’t really redeemed towards the end.

Besides that small hiccup Closer to Heaven has two awesome MCs and a real love story that definitely carried the holiday spirit. I would recommend if you like mature MCs and slow burn second chance romances.

Favorite Line:
She was as close to heaven as he’d ever get, the source of his salvation, his beginning and end.


Memorable Moments:
The wedding scene was something that was sweet and unconventional but 100% Rain and Joe. It was all about family, friends and a genuine feeling of community. It was a down to earth fairy tale wedding that left me with all the feels.

Pamela Clare has done it again! While this is the fifth book in the Colorado High Country series it can be read as a stand alone novel. However, if you've read any books in the series, then you most definitely have been waiting to get Rain and Joe's story! Rain and Joe have loved each other for 20 years but have never done anything about it. Joe refuses to date an employee and Rain has always waited for Joe to make a move. All the townspeople can see the sparks but yet Joe has never seen that Rain has feelings for him just the same has he does. Twenty years tends to make people desperate and Rain is tired of waiting!

Aside from getting me into the holiday spirit (the story is set in the weeks leading up to Christmas), I really enjoyed the historical elements of the story. Rain spends time reading a journal written by Joe's great grandfather that tells not only the story of Scarlett Springs but also explains some of Joe's behaviors. It was great to see how the town's ancestors were reflected in the characters that have been such a part of this series. Looking forward to what might come next in this series.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. This was a great read and a love story that spanned over several years. Joe and Rain could no longer deny their feelings after 20 years. I would definitely read more by this author.

Rain came back home to Scarlett Springs when she was 17 with a broken heart and a baby girl. The only person to help her was Joe Moffatt. At 27 Joe was the sole heir to the Moffatt fortune, but he found it a curse because his great great grandfather Silas built his fortune on the backs of workers and Joe would spend the rest of his life trying to make up for Silas’ wrongs. So when Rain walked in to his pub, he gave her a job and helped her get on her feet. Even though he wouldn’t admit it, he fell in love with Rain not long after she arrived ... and Rain felt the same way about Joe. And for the next 20 years they worked side by side never letting their feeling known. Then a month before Christmas, the roof on Rain’s house caved in during a winter storm that brought lots of heavy, wet snow. Once Rain got out of the hospital, Joe, being his normal helpful self, offered for her to live at his house until things were settled. But when they were stranded together during a winter storm, they could no longer hide their feeling for one another.

This is s sweet, romantic, steamy Christmas story and it will warm your heart to see the good in people when times get rough. I liked the fact that they were older than the characters in most romance novels. This book is a great addition to the Colorado High Series.

I received a copy from Victory Editing through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

Close to Heaven - Pamela Clare - 4 Stars

Close to Heaven, by Pamela Clare is an enjoyable contemporary holiday romance.

As the bar owner in Scarlet Springs, Colorado, Joe Moffat is determined to never date his employees, even if he's attracted to Rain Minear. Due to his family history and additional issues, Joe strives to be different than his relatives, yet he believes that he could never date Rain, since she's his employee and ten years younger. Even though she's in her 30s now, Joe still remembers the day he hired Rain, when she was a 17-year-old single mother with a newborn baby and desperate for a job.

Rain has been attracted to Joe for twenty years, yet she's focused on raising her daughter and trying to survive. Now, with daughter at university, Rain is ready to move away from Scarlet Springs and start over, especially when a snowstorm causes her roof to collapse. As the story unfolds, Joe and Rain struggle with their attempt at a closer relationship. It's an enjoyable story, yet slightly sad to think that it took twenty years for Joe and Rain to act on their attraction. However, it's an entertainingly delightful romance story.

And the town's history is slowly revealed throughout the book, when Rain borrows and reads a journal that once belonged to Joe's distant relative.
Since it's the fifth book in Colorado High County series, it's recommended to start with the first book, yet it's not necessary to read the books in order to understand and enjoy the story.

Close to Heaven is geared towards those who enjoy reading modern holiday romances.


Note: I received this book from NetGalley, which is a program designed for bloggers to write book reviews in exchange for books, yet the opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the copy of Close to Heaven by Pamela Clare that I read and reviewed.
This was the first book in the Colorado High Country series that I have read and it will not be the last. I loved Close to Heaven by Pamela Clare and I can't wait to read more in this series.
Rain and Joe were such a perfect couple I could not out the book down because I could not wait to see what was going to happen between those two. The chemistry between them was awesome and the entire story was just heartwarming. I mean who could not love a romance twenty years in the making?
I am giving Close to Heaven five out of five stars.

​​​​​Close to Heaven by new to me author Pamela Clare, is a contemporary holiday romance that takes place in the small town of Scarlet Springs Colorado. At times, the story flashes back to the mid-1800s, when Scarlet Springs was well-known for its mining, and the bordellos that serviced both the locals and passersby. Today the place to be seen is Knockers, a neighborhood pub where the owner, Joe Moffat, is a very humble and generous billionaire.

Rain Minear is the manager of Knockers and she has worked for Joe for close to twenty years. Their professional relationship has always been a barrier to acting upon the intense sexual chemistry that emanates between them. Joe is ten years older than Rain, and when they first met she was a seventeen year old single mom. They are good friends, and Joe has always looked out for both Rain and her daughter. Rain becomes homeless when the roof on her home collapses during a major snowstorm. Joe offers her a place to stay for the time being, and quickly thereafter they give in to their ever present feelings.

This is a nicely written romance with an engaging plot and well-defined characters. I found Rain and Joe to be kindhearted and interesting, and I liked how the magic of the holiday season was woven within their love story. This is the fifth book from the author's Colorado High Country series and it can be read as a standalone.

Complimentary copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley.

I enjoyed this more than I expected to. It wasn't really the type of setting or blurb that appeals to me, but the chemistry between the protagonist and her boss was well portrayed. The conflicts were a bit contrived and the arguments exasperating, but it was entertaining enough to keep reading.

I have had Pamela Clare on my future reading list for years. I saw an opening in my schedule this month and after all the recommendations and stellar reviews about Close to Heaven I jumped at the chance to read this Christmas-themed contemporary romance. So happy I did.

Close to Heaven is a pretty straight-forward friends-to-lovers story with grown-up characters. And when I say grown-ups I mean characters with a no-BS attitude, people who know what they want and express it in clear, simple words.

Rain has been in love with Joe for twenty years. How she has been able to contain her feelings without going out of her mind is a miracle. Finally she and lays her cards on the table. And let me tell you, that takes some serious guts. I loved and admired Rain for it. I loved that she still could see Joe's side in this situation although she wasn't happy with it. This heroine sneaked into my heart because of her refreshing maturity, the kindness she showed people, her consideration for everyone who touched her life and also her courage to risk everything.


Joe is obstinately holding on to his honor. He thinks it's in everyone's best interest to ignore his deep feelings for Rain. But he has a plethora of friends and employees who tell him insistently how clueless he is when all of them are facing the possibility of a life without this hardworking and kind woman in their small town - that's how popular she is. Their annoyance with him was funny.

Joe knew the moment the staff got word that Rain had quit. Marcia quit speaking to him. Cheyenne openly glared at him. Libby told him she was too busy to talk when he came in to discuss art options for the labels of the new brew.

I wanted to slap Joe a little, not hard, just so to wake him up and see what was right in front of him. His honor is commendable and he is a good man through and through though so I am not complaining that it took him twenty years and half of the town for him to realize that it wasn't just attraction both of them felt. Because once he does he goes all out and shows Rain what a special woman she is and how deep his feelings run.

Joe had come from a long line of assholes, and he was trying desperately not to become one himself.


I love stories with a small-town setting. Everything feels cozy, charming and familiar. Everybody is in everybody's business and has an opinion about everything that is going on and has compunctions voicing it. It can be testing but also sweet because it's usually with the best of intentions. Add to that the holiday factor and I'm all in. I adored this story. For some readers this might be a leeeettle bit too sweet, for me it was the perfect book at the perfect time.

I saw a lot of characters I want to read about, many of their stories already released. Project Pamela Clare is a resounding success and I can't wait to read more of this series.

A wonderful friends to lovers romance....it only took them 20 years!!! I enjoyed watching this big guy finally wake up and see what's under his nose. His morals held him back for years as he employed her as a teenager and still saw her as someone he needed to look after. Circumstances had them living together for a while. I enjoyed the characters delving into the town and family history, digging up the dirt and learning from their ancestors mistakes.
Great story, entertaining and lovable characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Rain Minear was a new, young Mom of a little girl when she stumbled into the life of Joe Moffat in a small town of Scarlet Springs, Colorado. Joe is a billionaire, bar owner. Joe takes Rain under his wing giving her a job and helped line up a place for her to live. Over the course of 20 years that they have worked together they fell in love with one another. Great little story with some historic moments about the town included.

Rain has worked for Joe since she was seventeen and abandoned with a two week old baby. For the last twenty years she has helped to run his business. Actions from his ancestors’ dictates that he never let her know how he feels about her. It’s been a real struggle but nothing like the conflict he faces when she is suddenly homeless and living under his roof.

Rain has loved Joe more than half her life. During a blizzard she learns the history of their community, Scarlett, and the dreadful deeds his ancestor did that Joe now carries the guilt of. She’s never known a kinder more caring person but if he can’t recognize that he’s more than his family’s history, they may never have a chance.

I loved this story so much! I loved that the history was revealed a little at a time and that Joe just as slowly came to realize that perhaps he deserved some happiness in the arms of the woman he’s loved for so long. The twenty years for them did seem a little too much and there were times when I found myself skimming. However, when I got to the end, already in love with Joe, I fell even deeper in love with him as well as the people of Scarlett.

Definitely a worthwhile read with so many interesting characters – I love Bear! Ms. Clare does community and romance right.

This is an honest review of an advanced copy provided by NetGalley and Pamela Clare.

Dual POV
Safety – There is no mention of other men or women or any sexual relationship whatsoever.
Possible Triggers – During the history of the town there is mention of rape and abortion but it is not in detail.

It was so refreshing to read a romance with an older couple. Yea! I thought their story was very sweet although I found it a little implausible that they could both carry a torch for 20 years without saying anything. The subplot with Silas' journal really didn't add anything to the story.

After 20 years of friendship and flirting these two finally get together. Wow, that's a long time for them to just be friends and see each other only at work. Then once they were together the relationship moved at a rapid pace. I do wish they didn't wait so long to get together but it was still a great love story. That is one epic snow storm, roof breaks and crushes the house, I can't imagine how much snow that would take. But then to have more snow for a few days after that, that was crazy! Oh his relative Silas was a world class jerk in this book. I can see why Joe didn't want her to read the journal and wanted the street re-named. The ending was the best, at city councils meeting to get the street name changed! That was one of the best parts of the book. The community seeing the true Joe and how good of a man he really is! I loved that Rain brought her Christmas to Joe. She showed him that it was not about stuff but being together and loving each other that really mattered. Really sweet story!

Close to Heaven by Pamela Clare gives Knockers Pub owner, Joe Moffat, the HEA he and Rain Minear deserve. Like the rest of the town of Scarlet, I thought it is about time, man. Along with their story, past and present of the town and the people who call it home is revealed. The Search and Rescue Team come through for the residents in a major snowstorm. The history of the mines and the town that was built comes to light; the good, the bad and the ugly.

Love, regrets, forgiveness and a sense of community drive this wonderful addition to the Colorado High Country Series. This is a lighter look the people who make up the community than it is a suspense romance. I loved it just the same. It has a danger from the weather but not the nail biting fugitive danger of some of the past stories in the series.

I have read all the series but think this could read very well as a stand-alone. I enjoyed experiencing the Christmas Season in the High Country, recommending it to romance fans everywhere.

Pamela Clare is one of my all time favourite authors out there and this book does not disappoint at all. Loved it from the very first page till the last. The intimacy and chemistry between the characters is palpable and electrifying all the way through the book. While you go on a roller coaster of emotions with them to get to there happily ever after. Another 5 star book, only wish I could give it more.