Review: Moving Forward by Shelley Shepard Gray

 

Moving Forward (Woodland Park Firefighters #2) by Shelley Shepard Gray

Publication Date: August 22nd 2023 by Berkley 

Pages: 304

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Greg, a former Army Captain and now firefighter, hasn’t felt a serious attraction for someone until he encounters a feisty woman while putting out the fire at her garden center. He can’t help but check in on her while she’s at the hospital, and it seems their attraction is mutual.

Kristen knows she is better to be safe and get checked out after the fire but resists as she’s tired of doctors and hospital visits. When Greg shows up at her hospital room and declares an interest, Kristen is hesitant to take a risk even if he is gorgeous and sweet. Her last relationship ended after her fiancé found out the extent of her health issues and she’s not keen on another rejection. However, Greg isn’t easily discouraged.

Greg has his own struggles dealing with PTSD and doesn’t want to reveal just how bad it can be for him. Both Kristen and Greg had reasons they didn’t feel good enough, and Kristen was skittish on top of that because of her failed engagement, but their attraction made it impossible to stay just friends. Their romance was a gradual, sweet and touching!

There’s also a secondary romance between Jen, Kristen’s employee at her garden center, a recent high school graduate, and Ryan one of the more popular kids in high school. Jen had a crush on Ryan while in school but figured he never noticed her since they moved in very different social circles. Jen had also been dealing with the death of her father and her mother’s depression.

Despite some of the issues the characters face, this was an easy-going, small-town romance that’ll warm your heart! I love how both couples were supportive and accepting of each other! I loved the close-knit community of Woodland Park! They were ready to offer a helping hand, a listening ear, or some sage advice.

Moving Forward was the second in the Woodland Park Firefighters series but can be read as a standalone.

4 Stars

Book Description:

Romance blossoms in the Colorado foothills in this sweet romance by New York Times bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray

Former Army captain Greg Tebo loves his new life in Woodland Park. In the two years since he joined the WPFD, he’s gained a reputation as a fearless firefighter, and after being stationed all around the country and overseas, he can’t wait to settle down with a wife and kids.

When a call comes in about a possible heart attack at the scene of a fire at the Garden Center, Greg assumes they’re going to be helping an elderly customer—not the beautiful, feisty proprietor in her late twenties. Kristen Werner has been determined to pretend everything is fine. She refuses to leave the company she’s carefully nurtured and move home to her loving but meddling family in Houston. Since her devastating diagnosis caused her fiancé to dump her, she’s given up on love and thrown herself into cultivating her blooming business instead—even if the hard work further weakens her heart.
 
Greg is drawn to Kristen’s vibrant, independent spirit and hopes romance will flower. But she’s had enough trouble with her heart to last a lifetime, and can’t trust Greg not to break it—especially if he finds out she can never give him the houseful of children he longs for....

Review: Happily Ever Amish by Shelley Shepard Gray

 

Happily Ever Amish (The Amish of Apple Creek #1) by Shelley Shepard Gray

Publication Date: October 25th 2022 by Kensington

Pages: 272

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Addie Holmes has been regarded as different and maybe a little strange by her peers. She’s quiet, lives with her grandmother and has been seen talking to her pet donkey. But she captures Daniel Miller’s attention. He’s heard the talk about Addie, but never really considered her, and on thinking finds it very unfair that she’s been labeled odd. Seeing her at a friend’s wedding and how apart she is from the crowd he decides to write her an anonymous letter telling her he sees her and finds her special and asks her to write back.

They begin exchanging letters and Addie seems to come out of her shell a bit to the point that they start running into each other in person. Daniel sees what everyone has been missing. A beautiful, kind-hearted, interesting woman, but he’s worried as soon as Addie finds out he’s her secret admirer it’ll ruin any chance he has to win her heart.

I felt bad for Addie and the way a few made her feel, how they influenced others to think her strange, not knowing the full picture or how this talk might hurt her. At first Addie thinks these letters are a joke at her expense, but they become the bright part of her week. They give her a boost of confidence knowing that someone else besides her grandmother and Snickers, her pet donkey see value in her. I liked that she had some spine, too, and didn’t let the opinion of others dictate her actions. I loved the story behind Snickers, the donkey she rescued, how much he enriched her life and brought happiness to others!

Happily Ever Amish was a sweet romance that brought joy to my heart. I’m fairly new to the Amish romances, but I like how they highlight looking at the positives in life, being kind, and thinking of others.

4 Stars

Book Description:

Addie Byler may be Apple Creek’s resident wallflower, but she knows she has a lot to offer—and much to be grateful for. Raised by her loving grandmother, she lives a life filled with good friends and hard work. Wary of romance, Addie assumes no man will look beyond her glasses and her tendency to talk to her rescue donkey, Snickers—until the day she finds a note from a secret admirer. A prank, most likely. But then, a second note arrives . . .

It’s not that Daniel Miller doesn’t like Addie, he just doesn’t want to court her. She’s too willful, too chatty, too odd. Yet when he learns she’s been teased because she’s never had a beau, he decides to send a little note of encouragement. One note leads to another. And when Addie begins replying with thoughtful messages of her own, he’s struck by her sweetness and warmth.

As chilly winter melts into spring, what began as a gesture of sympathy becomes something much deeper. Daniel fears revealing the truth, but with courage, faith—and a helping hand from their close-knit community—Apple Creek’s most unlikely couple may find their path to happiness.

Review: Coming Home by Shelley Shepard Gray

 

Coming Home (Woodland Park Firefighters #1) by Shelley Shepard Gray

Publication Date: November 29th 2022 by Berkley

Pages: 336

Source: Publisher 

Rating: ★★★★

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Goodreads

My Thoughts:

Anderson and Chelsea were high school sweethearts, but broke up, each going their separate ways with Anderson enlisting in the army and Chelsea going to college.  Brokenhearted, Chelsea has a one-night stand and ends up pregnant. Although Chelsea regrets the one-night stand, she doesn’t regret having her son, Jack, now nine-years-old. Chelsea loved Anderson, he was everything to her, sweet, attentive, and when they parted ways it broke her heart, but his reaction to finding out she was pregnant isn’t something she’ll forget.

Anderson is back in his hometown of Woodland Park after fighting in Afghanistan. Left with physical and emotional scars, he’s happy to be home, helping people as a paramedic/firefighter, a job he loves. The one big regret he has is how he handled things with Chelsea. He’s never forgotten her and kicks himself over ruining things. It’s been a while since he’s been back, and they have yet to properly cross paths but then he’s assigned for and in-person service for the senior living home Chelsea works at. Meeting again inspires him to try to mend things as he’s never loved anyone like Chelsea.

Oh, I do love a second chance romance and Coming Home was lovely! The regret and longing between these two were palpable so I was fully invested on seeing them get their HEA. I loved the bond that formed between Anderson and Chelsea’s son, Jack too. Jack was so eager for a father figure and Anderson felt privileged to be there for him.

There was another side story with Chelsea’s elderly neighbor, Camille. Her kids were exerting unwanted pressure to move from Woodland Park to Florida to a senior center close by them, but Camille wanted her independence and to stay in her hometown. A little romance there, too. I’m happy Camille had support and understanding from Chelsea and Frank, her fledging beau. I enjoyed it!

Coming Home was just the kind of low-drama, heartwarming second chance romance I love! The small-town setting sounded beautiful, and I enjoyed the supportive secondary characters, too. Lots of potential for future romances.

4 Stars

Book Description:

When an army vet becomes a firefighter in small-town Colorado, the flames of an old love reignite in this sweet romance by bestselling author Shelley Shepard Gray

In Woodland Park, a small town nestled in the foothills of Pikes Peak, Anderson Kelly and Chelsea Davis were once the high school "it" couple--the star quarterback and the valedictorian. They broke up when Anderson joined the army and one poor decision at a fraternity party changed Chelsea's life. Now, she works long shifts in a senior center to support her nine-year-old son, Jack.

After multiple tours in Afghanistan, Anderson has changed, too--physically scarred but mentally strong--and he decides to move back to Woodland Park. Anderson and Chelsea steer clear of each other to avoid reopening old wounds, until they are forced to reconnect through the senior center. They soon discover that the love they once shared never completely vanished. But it will take a fire, a dangerous collision, and the love of one little boy to help Anderson and Chelsea see that the future they've always yearned for is in sight...

About the Author

Shelley Shepard Gray is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author, a finalist for the American Christian Fiction Writers prestigious Carol Award, and a two-time HOLT Medallion winner. She lives in southern Ohio, where she writes full-time, bakes too much, and can often be found walking her dachshunds on her town’s bike trail.

Review: A Christmas Courtship by Shelley Shephard Gray

 

A Christmas Courtship (Berlin Bookmobile #3) by Shelley Shepard Gray

Publication Date: October 19th 2021 by Gallery Books

Pages: 320

Source: Publisher

Rating: ★★★★½

Links: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Audible | Goodreads 

My Thoughts:

Atle, a forty-year-old bachelor, has admired Sadie Mast from afar for years, but she’d been off limits being married. Now a widower, mother of three, she asks Atle to build a room for her oldest son, Cale now that he’s older to give him so space and growing room, and Atle sees this as an opportunity to court Sadie if he can muster enough courage speak up and make his desires known.

Sadie feels bad that she’s had to rely on her teenage son, Cale, to help get the family by after the death of her husband, but now that she’s more steady she wants to make Cale’s Christmas gift extra special and give her son more room now that he’s getting older. Having the quiet and handsome Atle around is an unexpected joy.

There were two romances to love: Atle and Sadie and then Sadie’s son Cale and Hope, the daughter of his boss on the farm he works.  Atle is quiet and shy, so he asks Sarah Anne, the librarian running the bookmobile for some self-help books on romance, but Sarah Anne thinks Atle might have more success reading a couple of her favorite romances for advice. The novel ending up more inspirational to Atle, because if the couple in the book could somehow find love through all their unnecessary drama, then he for sure should be able to! The fictional book couple was kind of a mess, lol.

I just adored A Christmas Courtship so much! So heartwarming and sweet! I also loved the Atle and Sadie’s relationship with her kids. Sadie’s past husband left some emotional scars they all had to deal with, and I thought both Sadie and Atle dealt with it beautifully. I think I’ve only read one story featuring the Amish, but the premise of finding romantic help through a romance book appealed to me. Also, with life so messy and complicated having a story set in community where a simpler life is embraced sounded nice.  Now I’d like to go back and read the previous two romances.

4.5 Stars

Book Description:

In this endearing Christmas tale, a bookmobile librarian knows just the novel to help an Amish bachelor woo his next-door neighbor in the latest installment of the “charming” (Carla Laureano, RITA Award–winning author of Five Days in Skye) Berlin Bookmobile series.

A solitary sort, forty-two-year-old Atle Petersheim spends his time hard at work in his wood shop. But as the days get long, he realizes just how lonely he’s become. When his longtime crush, Sadie Mast, a widow and mother of three, asks him to help her build a room in their barn for her son Cale, Atle can’t say no. Eager to pursue Sadie at last, he turns to bookmobile librarian Sarah Anne Miller for courting advice. More than happy to help, Sarah Anne decides the best way to learn about love is through books—romance novels to be precise.

Between completing holiday orders for her flourishing food business, helping Cale navigate a dramatic new relationship with his boss’s daughter, and coming to terms with the trauma her late husband had inflicted upon her and her children—not to mention Atle showing up at her door with flowers—Sadie is in over her head. Though Atle’s efforts are initially clumsy and his declarations a bit awkward, Sadie can’t help but be charmed by him. He’s patient and kind...and at times even seems to know far more about romance than he’s let on.