I love Happy, Texas! I love the Dawson family and all of their extended friends. To make this book even better, it is Christmas in Happy, Texas, the time for love, laughter, and above all else, miracles. I love the way that this story unfolded, and was so happy for a Christmas HEA. This is the story of Nash and Kacey
Kacey Dawson has experienced loss in her life. Two years ago her husband was killed while on a military mission, leaving her with 3 little babies to raise, one that he never even had the chance to meet. Back in Happy, Texas with her family, she has shut down her heart and is resolved to be happy with her life the way that it is now, the thought of a relationship or another man in her life is frightening, that is until Nash Lamont.
Nash Lamont is riddled with guilt. Suffering from PTSD and the knowledge that he survived when 3 of the members of his team died is too much for him to bare. He never thought that he would end up in Happy, Texas, and he certainly never thought that he would ever meet the woman that haunted his dreams, the wife of his best friend, Adam, the man that took his place and died instead of him.
When Nash falls off a ladder and ends up not remembering anything, thinking that Kacey and her kids are his family, Kacey has no choice but to move on to the Texas Star and help Nash heal. When his memory comes back, and as Kacey and the kids make themselves at home on the ranch, Nash knows a peace that he has not felt in a long time. But things might just blow up in his face, because he is hiding the truth from Kacey, a truth that could not only make her run back to Hope Springs, but it might just take what is left of his battered heart with her.
What I loved about Nash and Kacey is that they understood each other on a deep level. Her being an army wife, him being a soldier, they understood that there were things that they could not speak of, had to keep secret. I love that Nash felt the need to tell Kacey everything, even though he knew that it could push her away. I loved that Kacey was patient and understanding, no don't get me wrong she was madder than a wet hen, but when she realized that what happened, happened and it was not for her or anyone to blame Nash. She helped him heal and he helped her live and love again.
Rustin, Emma and Silas made me laugh at their little antics. They opened their little arms and hearts and sucked Nash right in, loving him and including him and wanting to be where ever he was. They made this story even more magical. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series and cannot wait to come back to Happy to visit all of my favorite cowboys again.
I enjoyed the first book in this new series. Happy, Texas is a nice place. Bash and Kasey were good. They both were healing and could relate to one another. Kasey from losing her husband in the war and Nash suffering from PSTD as an effect of the war. Because Kasey was married to a military man, she really did have great insight into what Bash was going through. This was nice as she was able to be a shoulder for Nash to lean on.
As far as the romance went, it was sweet. It felt real and believable but it was not a scorcher. More like mild heat level. However, they were good together. Nash and Kasey may have been the main characters but there were others that stole some of the lime light. There were Kasey's three children: Rustin, Silas, and Emma; as well as Kasey's two brothers, Brody and Jace and Brody's wife Lila. They all brought the charm as well as fun. The only thing that I missed from the prior novel to this one is more of the wittiness. Overall, I did enjoy this book. Although, I can't wait to read Jace's story in The Luckiest Cowboy of All.
You might have noticed I liked my Brown books, I have only read about 21 *coughs*. I like them because...
1. Cowboys. Honestly what is it with me and some guy in jeans, boots and his hat. Damn. They love their animals, their farm and are not afraid to get their hands dirty.
2. Small towns. Yes there are the gossipy small minded folk there too, but most often it is a close knit community where people can rely on each other.
3. The country music. Ok so this one is weird, but it just makes me feel like I am in Texas when I am told there is some country music playing on the radio and the character drums their fingers and sings along.
4. The food. For some reason they are always eating pie, yummy cookies, burgers, cinnamon rolls, you name it. Everything sounds delish.
5. The sweetness of it all. These are sweet books, sure they have a few passionate moments, but mostly these are cute books where they meet, fall in love and it's sweet you know.
And all those things happened in this book ;)
Kasey was a mother of 3 and do wants more kids (wow...3 is crazy many in my book already. Sp many births ;) She is sweet, hard working and loves her kids beyond all.
Nash suffers from PTSD and there is a reason he is in happy. This was one hero for the books, he is really messed up. Poor guy is in a black hole at times. I am glad he met someone to help him out.
And they kids are the sweetest and it takes place before xmas. Awww, and everyone lived happily ever after.
So this novel took me a bit longer to read than usual because I was in the hospital. I'm fine but it really put a damper on my usual routine and how much I love reading.
I picked up this novel because I was hoping it would put me in the Christmas spirit, and it did not disappoint. I feel like Christmas is sneaking up so fast this year, that my brain doesn't even realize that it's December; let alone Christmas in like a week and a half.
My favourite part of this entire novel were the three children. They really made this novel for me. And all the sweet moments and things the children were wishing for and saying were the most emotional parts of this novel for me.
I really liked that this novel focused a lot on PTSD, and how it's a long road to recovery and working through everything that happened.
I would definitely read more stories with this series as I really like the family aspect of everyone involved with the Dawson's. The town of happy honestly sounds perfect to me, I would live there in heartbeat. Also who doesn't like a sexy cowboy, that is utterly romantic. Wonderful read!
This is Book #2 in the Happy, Texas series. I love going back to Happy, Texas. I love reading series where you can read about new characters and get visits from old ones.
Kasey is a strong woman. She lost her husband when he was killed overseas. Now she has 3 kids to raise alone. Nash is a retired from the military after a tragic event overseas. Now he has to learn to live again. I love how Kasey and Nash each needed to overcome an event that changed their lives.
I hope there is another book about one of Nash's brothers. I love this series. A small town with people who help others.
☆☆☆☆☆ I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. Recommend this book? Yes! Author? Yes! Read more from this author? Yes!
Long Tall Cowboy Christmas is a holiday novel from the Happy Texas trilogy and I was super eager to pick this one up. When I saw that it was available through my local library, I was more than eager to grab this up. I was slightly nervous to pick this one up in a way because its in the middle of a trilogy, but having read Carolyn Brown's work before I was pretty sure I would be fine without having to read the first book contained within the trilogy. I found that this was a cute story, with lots of feels from time to time, BUT I did struggle with the pacing at times. However, despite that, I found that this novel was entertaining, charming and romantic.
Long Tall Cowboy Christmas begins with Nash Lamont moving back home, he is recuperating and trying to mentally heal from a PTSD type of injury from his time in the "sandbox" and we see how this trauma has really affected him. But his next door neighbor, happens to be the widow of one of his men that was killed in an attack....an attack that Nash blames himself. He knows that he needs to come clean with Kasey but has no clue how to go about it. When Kasey is asked by his doctor, to help Nash out, she is more than willing to do it. Her husband served in the military and she has a great respect for those service men and women. But as she and her three young children bond with Nash, a secret will come to light that will stretch her limits in a way she never imagined.
Long Tall Cowboy Christmas was such a powerful story especially in showing the aspect of healing and trauma from PTSD especially those that suffer in war time. I greatly appreciated the manner in which this author handled this situation especially with the complex matters between Nash and Kasey. This is no light and fluffy romance. I really liked the emotion that this author was able to evoke within me through the reading of this story. I never know when to expect this emotional kick Brown likes to throw at in the middle of her stories, but you can't predict it and I greatly admire that about this author.
When we come to the end of our lives, I hope that we make the jump into eternity together...
My only issue with the book was the pacing. So it started off great, up till the first 30% of the story, I was hooked. And then the pacing got a bit harder after that and I had to really stick with this story. By that time though, I was invested in the characters so that actually aided a ton in my decision to keep going with it. So it took a bit longer to read then expected because the abrupt change of pacing threw me off, however, I had a delectable time with this book despite the pacing issues I had. I loved the emotional intimacy that develops between this pairing, the Christmas time element and the three kids that added a level of humor and lightheartedness to bring balance to this story. A delightful Christmas romance to charm you in all the best of ways!
