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canra's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
aspygirlsmom_1995's review
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
kaynic22's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
attytheresa's review against another edition
2.0
Oh dear. This one came perilously close to being a 1 star read -- and given how I adore Christmas romances, that's saying a lot! It needed to be a good 100 pages shorter - would have made a lovely holiday novella, which Yates has frequently written.
What was so bad? Well, let's start with the 30 year old virgin trope. Seriously? Sabrina kept her virginity for 13 years after being rejected in high school by local tattooed bad boy Liam, who the day after rejecting her took a payout from Sabrina's rich but cold daddy to leave his daughter alone, left town, got a fancy college education, became a Wall Street tycoon and wealthy as sin. Sabrina meanwhile became alienated/disowned by her father, put herself through local college and basically became a 21st century nun.
Some version of the word 'virgin' is repeated 19 times in the book...about 18 times too many.
So it's now 13 years later, Sabrina has returned to town working in the family winery which is about to embark on a joint project with Liam's family's business (a ranch but with cows making cheese and selling milk, not cattle selling beef - sorry that's a farm, even in Oregon, not a ranch, but of course farmers are not nearly as romantically sexy as cowboys, hence a ranch centered on dairy production. This was a huge ding for me -- but I digress) and guess what? Super rich bad boy Liam is back in town having abandonned the Wall Street tycoon life for milking cows (like THAT would really happen!) and will be taking lead on this joint project - a tasting room in downtown Copper Ridge, OR. And there we have the basic plot: Sabrina and Liam meet again, there are fireworks because Sabrina still harbors rejection anger and Liam always lusted after her and still does, even though he's been a slut for the last 13 years and doesn't believe in relationships. Sabrina decides that to 'cure' herself of her obsession with Liam and get past the anger, she will sleep with him finally unburdening herself of that virginity mentioned 19 times (points given for the female lead to seek the 'cure' for desiring someone by having sex with them to 'get it out of her system' - usually this is a male trope). Of course, that backfires, they have an affair, insisting to themselves, each other, and all others, that they don't love each other and it can just be a temporary affair, before finally getting their HEA, one that was rushed in the last 3 chapters of the book. Also in those last 3 chapters, Sabrina reconciles with her father and Liam. Yup busy 3 chapters but they were almost worth slogging through the rest.
I deducted points because of passages like this:
"She could hardly breathe. He wanted her. He wanted her, and he was in a state of discomfort over it.
She held the keys to his celibacy."
That celibacy had existed for a whole nanosecond....
However, it got a few points for descriptions like 'drama llama', 'penis logic' and 'you spent how long playing dramatic opera heroine over the same guy?" and "did you just stand there, all stoic and unruffled." Yeah, that last one is corny but sometimes corny is just right.
Yes, there are a couple of hot steamy sex scenes .... except not so great IMHO. Sabrina has much discomfort of course initially because she's, you know, a VIRGIN! And Liam is unable to control himself and take a slower pace because oh boy, he's finally 'having' Sabrina! The second encounter is on the hardwood floor of Sabrina's living room and no she's not on top - all I could think is 'OUCH', especially as Liam, you know, can't wait. There is more than a touch of brutality rather than passion in the scenes. Even the one under the Christmas Tree in the not yet open tasting room, while starting off passionate and romantic gets a little too edgy in the end. In fact, Sabrina barely gets any satisfaction in these scenes, which pisses me off. So even the sex is dinged in my rating and that's just wrong for a Christmas romance!
There you have it - a very disappointing cowboy christmas romance read. I have a couple of Yates' novella holiday stories I'll read but I'm not about to succumb to any further. Especially not the virginal Olivia's story that was being set up in this one...
What was so bad? Well, let's start with the 30 year old virgin trope. Seriously? Sabrina kept her virginity for 13 years after being rejected in high school by local tattooed bad boy Liam, who the day after rejecting her took a payout from Sabrina's rich but cold daddy to leave his daughter alone, left town, got a fancy college education, became a Wall Street tycoon and wealthy as sin. Sabrina meanwhile became alienated/disowned by her father, put herself through local college and basically became a 21st century nun.
Some version of the word 'virgin' is repeated 19 times in the book...about 18 times too many.
So it's now 13 years later, Sabrina has returned to town working in the family winery which is about to embark on a joint project with Liam's family's business (a ranch but with cows making cheese and selling milk, not cattle selling beef - sorry that's a farm, even in Oregon, not a ranch, but of course farmers are not nearly as romantically sexy as cowboys, hence a ranch centered on dairy production. This was a huge ding for me -- but I digress) and guess what? Super rich bad boy Liam is back in town having abandonned the Wall Street tycoon life for milking cows (like THAT would really happen!) and will be taking lead on this joint project - a tasting room in downtown Copper Ridge, OR. And there we have the basic plot: Sabrina and Liam meet again, there are fireworks because Sabrina still harbors rejection anger and Liam always lusted after her and still does, even though he's been a slut for the last 13 years and doesn't believe in relationships. Sabrina decides that to 'cure' herself of her obsession with Liam and get past the anger, she will sleep with him finally unburdening herself of that virginity mentioned 19 times (points given for the female lead to seek the 'cure' for desiring someone by having sex with them to 'get it out of her system' - usually this is a male trope). Of course, that backfires, they have an affair, insisting to themselves, each other, and all others, that they don't love each other and it can just be a temporary affair, before finally getting their HEA, one that was rushed in the last 3 chapters of the book. Also in those last 3 chapters, Sabrina reconciles with her father and Liam
Spoiler
finally tells his siblings about the atrocious abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother while a child, something he had stoicly hidden from all, including his younger brother, forever (although given what that abuse was, how his younger brother didn't notice is a mystery)I deducted points because of passages like this:
"She could hardly breathe. He wanted her. He wanted her, and he was in a state of discomfort over it.
She held the keys to his celibacy."
That celibacy had existed for a whole nanosecond....
However, it got a few points for descriptions like 'drama llama', 'penis logic' and 'you spent how long playing dramatic opera heroine over the same guy?" and "did you just stand there, all stoic and unruffled." Yeah, that last one is corny but sometimes corny is just right.
Yes, there are a couple of hot steamy sex scenes .... except not so great IMHO. Sabrina has much discomfort of course initially because she's, you know, a VIRGIN! And Liam is unable to control himself and take a slower pace because oh boy, he's finally 'having' Sabrina! The second encounter is on the hardwood floor of Sabrina's living room and no she's not on top - all I could think is 'OUCH', especially as Liam, you know, can't wait. There is more than a touch of brutality rather than passion in the scenes. Even the one under the Christmas Tree in the not yet open tasting room, while starting off passionate and romantic gets a little too edgy in the end. In fact, Sabrina barely gets any satisfaction in these scenes, which pisses me off. So even the sex is dinged in my rating and that's just wrong for a Christmas romance!
There you have it - a very disappointing cowboy christmas romance read. I have a couple of Yates' novella holiday stories I'll read but I'm not about to succumb to any further. Especially not the virginal Olivia's story that was being set up in this one...
tiredfangirl's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
attytheresa's review against another edition
2.0
Oh dear. This one came perilously close to being a 1 star read -- and given how I adore Christmas romances, that's saying a lot! It needed to be a good 100 pages shorter - would have made a lovely holiday novella, which Yates has frequently written.
What was so bad? Well, let's start with the 30 year old virgin trope. Seriously? Sabrina kept her virginity for 13 years after being rejected in high school by local tattooed bad boy Liam, who the day after rejecting her took a payout from Sabrina's rich but cold daddy to leave his daughter alone, left town, got a fancy college education, became a Wall Street tycoon and wealthy as sin. Sabrina meanwhile became alienated/disowned by her father, put herself through local college and basically became a 21st century nun.
Some version of the word 'virgin' is repeated 19 times in the book...about 18 times too many.
So it's now 13 years later, Sabrina has returned to town working in the family winery which is about to embark on a joint project with Liam's family's business (a ranch but with cows making cheese and selling milk, not cattle selling beef - sorry that's a farm, even in Oregon, not a ranch, but of course farmers are not nearly as romantically sexy as cowboys, hence a ranch centered on dairy production. This was a huge ding for me -- but I digress) and guess what? Super rich bad boy Liam is back in town having abandonned the Wall Street tycoon life for milking cows (like THAT would really happen!) and will be taking lead on this joint project - a tasting room in downtown Copper Ridge, OR. And there we have the basic plot: Sabrina and Liam meet again, there are fireworks because Sabrina still harbors rejection anger and Liam always lusted after her and still does, even though he's been a slut for the last 13 years and doesn't believe in relationships. Sabrina decides that to 'cure' herself of her obsession with Liam and get past the anger, she will sleep with him finally unburdening herself of that virginity mentioned 19 times (points given for the female lead to seek the 'cure' for desiring someone by having sex with them to 'get it out of her system' - usually this is a male trope). Of course, that backfires, they have an affair, insisting to themselves, each other, and all others, that they don't love each other and it can just be a temporary affair, before finally getting their HEA, one that was rushed in the last 3 chapters of the book. Also in those last 3 chapters, Sabrina reconciles with her father and Liam. Yup busy 3 chapters but they were almost worth slogging through the rest.
I deducted points because of passages like this:
"She could hardly breathe. He wanted her. He wanted her, and he was in a state of discomfort over it.
She held the keys to his celibacy."
That celibacy had existed for a whole nanosecond....
However, it got a few points for descriptions like 'drama llama', 'penis logic' and 'you spent how long playing dramatic opera heroine over the same guy?" and "did you just stand there, all stoic and unruffled." Yeah, that last one is corny but sometimes corny is just right.
Yes, there are a couple of hot steamy sex scenes .... except not so great IMHO. Sabrina has much discomfort of course initially because she's, you know, a VIRGIN! And Liam is unable to control himself and take a slower pace because oh boy, he's finally 'having' Sabrina! The second encounter is on the hardwood floor of Sabrina's living room and no she's not on top - all I could think is 'OUCH', especially as Liam, you know, can't wait. There is more than a touch of brutality rather than passion in the scenes. Even the one under the Christmas Tree in the not yet open tasting room, while starting off passionate and romantic gets a little too edgy in the end. In fact, Sabrina barely gets any satisfaction in these scenes, which pisses me off. So even the sex is dinged in my rating and that's just wrong for a Christmas romance!
There you have it - a very disappointing cowboy christmas romance read. I have a couple of Yates' novella holiday stories I'll read but I'm not about to succumb to any further. Especially not the virginal Olivia's story that was being set up in this one...
What was so bad? Well, let's start with the 30 year old virgin trope. Seriously? Sabrina kept her virginity for 13 years after being rejected in high school by local tattooed bad boy Liam, who the day after rejecting her took a payout from Sabrina's rich but cold daddy to leave his daughter alone, left town, got a fancy college education, became a Wall Street tycoon and wealthy as sin. Sabrina meanwhile became alienated/disowned by her father, put herself through local college and basically became a 21st century nun.
Some version of the word 'virgin' is repeated 19 times in the book...about 18 times too many.
So it's now 13 years later, Sabrina has returned to town working in the family winery which is about to embark on a joint project with Liam's family's business (a ranch but with cows making cheese and selling milk, not cattle selling beef - sorry that's a farm, even in Oregon, not a ranch, but of course farmers are not nearly as romantically sexy as cowboys, hence a ranch centered on dairy production. This was a huge ding for me -- but I digress) and guess what? Super rich bad boy Liam is back in town having abandonned the Wall Street tycoon life for milking cows (like THAT would really happen!) and will be taking lead on this joint project - a tasting room in downtown Copper Ridge, OR. And there we have the basic plot: Sabrina and Liam meet again, there are fireworks because Sabrina still harbors rejection anger and Liam always lusted after her and still does, even though he's been a slut for the last 13 years and doesn't believe in relationships. Sabrina decides that to 'cure' herself of her obsession with Liam and get past the anger, she will sleep with him finally unburdening herself of that virginity mentioned 19 times (points given for the female lead to seek the 'cure' for desiring someone by having sex with them to 'get it out of her system' - usually this is a male trope). Of course, that backfires, they have an affair, insisting to themselves, each other, and all others, that they don't love each other and it can just be a temporary affair, before finally getting their HEA, one that was rushed in the last 3 chapters of the book. Also in those last 3 chapters, Sabrina reconciles with her father and Liam
Spoiler
finally tells his siblings about the atrocious abuse he suffered at the hands of his mother while a child, something he had stoicly hidden from all, including his younger brother, forever (although given what that abuse was, how his younger brother didn't notice is a mystery)I deducted points because of passages like this:
"She could hardly breathe. He wanted her. He wanted her, and he was in a state of discomfort over it.
She held the keys to his celibacy."
That celibacy had existed for a whole nanosecond....
However, it got a few points for descriptions like 'drama llama', 'penis logic' and 'you spent how long playing dramatic opera heroine over the same guy?" and "did you just stand there, all stoic and unruffled." Yeah, that last one is corny but sometimes corny is just right.
Yes, there are a couple of hot steamy sex scenes .... except not so great IMHO. Sabrina has much discomfort of course initially because she's, you know, a VIRGIN! And Liam is unable to control himself and take a slower pace because oh boy, he's finally 'having' Sabrina! The second encounter is on the hardwood floor of Sabrina's living room and no she's not on top - all I could think is 'OUCH', especially as Liam, you know, can't wait. There is more than a touch of brutality rather than passion in the scenes. Even the one under the Christmas Tree in the not yet open tasting room, while starting off passionate and romantic gets a little too edgy in the end. In fact, Sabrina barely gets any satisfaction in these scenes, which pisses me off. So even the sex is dinged in my rating and that's just wrong for a Christmas romance!
There you have it - a very disappointing cowboy christmas romance read. I have a couple of Yates' novella holiday stories I'll read but I'm not about to succumb to any further. Especially not the virginal Olivia's story that was being set up in this one...
laceyslibrarybooksta's review against another edition
3.0
happy to be finished this series. hoping to come back to more Maisey Yates after I've taken a break.
ssejig's review against another edition
4.0
Sabrina and Liam have a past. One that ended badly and scarred both of them for years. It even spiraled to the point where Sabrina is estranged with her father. She now works in the family's vineyard... which no longer belongs to the family since her brother cheated on his wife. Sabrina sided with her (not the reason for the estrangement but it certainly isn't helping since her brother is the family's golden child.)
Liam's family is trying to branch out their dairy program and think that partnering with the vineyard will be a perfect way to do so. Unaware of her past with Liam, Sabrina's boss assigns her to work with him.
Watching these two get back together was interesting. Liam didn't exactly sleep with Sabrina and then discard her but he was still an asshat, even thirteen years later. I didn't love the end of Sabrina's storyline with her father but it was overall a sweet book that regular Yates readers will enjoy.
Liam's family is trying to branch out their dairy program and think that partnering with the vineyard will be a perfect way to do so. Unaware of her past with Liam, Sabrina's boss assigns her to work with him.
Watching these two get back together was interesting. Liam didn't exactly sleep with Sabrina and then discard her but he was still an asshat, even thirteen years later. I didn't love the end of Sabrina's storyline with her father but it was overall a sweet book that regular Yates readers will enjoy.
aspygirlsmom_1995's review against another edition
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0