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Chief Cook and Bottle Washer (Travers Brothers #1)
by
Rita Hestand
Emma Smith hadn't been straight with her new boss, but he hadn't given her much of a chance to explain. Trapped in her own lies and uncertainties Emma was running in fear of losing her baby. Deke Travers, oldest son on the 4 Bar None Ranch, needed one thing to make his life more peaceful, his brothers to settle down and get with the business of ranching. There was only one...more
Kindle Edition, 182 pages
Published
October 5th 2009
by Smashwords
(first published February 1st 2003)
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I have to say this was a good book but I've definitely read better. Course there was the classic Heroine\Hero isn't able to tell the Hero\Heroine the truth but this time she had what can be considered a good reason. When the Hero (Deke) finds out the truth about Emma he's not mad because the reason she didn't tell him the truth is because she was afraid that if Sammie Jo's Paternal Grandparents' found her they'd take her away. We learn fairly early on in the book that her cousin Kate had somethi...more
An OK little romance, if you can suspend reality contact and ignore inconsistencies. On the plus side the characters were human, likable, and had a lot to offer each other, so the author paid enough attention to character development, to have us rooting for the two hard-headed main characters to get together. However, the book was generally formulaic and gave the impression of being hastily thrown together. The whole overdone misunderstanding-carried-to-ridiculous-lengths plot was handled poorly...more
Give me a book with cowboys, sexy hot brothers and a sweet woman like Emma I'm in. This story was a good sweet read both characters left your heart melting. The minute the story start for me when Deke and Emma met made you want to keep reading. Emma is this sweet sweet woman that is taking care of little Sammie Jo, she has secrets that she is trying to protect and Deke what a hunk, he was that guy that could leave you melting the way he thought about Emma and watched her in the beginning I liked...more
a free nook book that was okay.
Emma Smith and Deke Travers don't exactly meet on the best terms when she runs into him during a midnight run to the store in the pouring rain. Throwing money at his feet, she makes a quick escape before he can ask too many questions.
A couple months later, he finds her working at a local cafe. When he learns the owner is in a bind over her job when her old chief comes back for his job, he steps in and offers her a job at the family rance as a cook, not giving her...more
Emma Smith and Deke Travers don't exactly meet on the best terms when she runs into him during a midnight run to the store in the pouring rain. Throwing money at his feet, she makes a quick escape before he can ask too many questions.
A couple months later, he finds her working at a local cafe. When he learns the owner is in a bind over her job when her old chief comes back for his job, he steps in and offers her a job at the family rance as a cook, not giving her...more
2.5/5 stars
My favorite thing about this book is the little kid Sammie Jo. The kid is 15 months old at the start of the book, and although it's tough to track the passage of time across the length of the book, I suspect the kid is about 17 months old at the end of the book.
I have a 3-year-old and a 16-month-old, so I was automatically drawn to Sammie Jo, and I really think Hestand nailed her portrayal of the toddler. Maybe I wouldn't have even noticed this sort of thing before I had kids, but it...more
My favorite thing about this book is the little kid Sammie Jo. The kid is 15 months old at the start of the book, and although it's tough to track the passage of time across the length of the book, I suspect the kid is about 17 months old at the end of the book.
I have a 3-year-old and a 16-month-old, so I was automatically drawn to Sammie Jo, and I really think Hestand nailed her portrayal of the toddler. Maybe I wouldn't have even noticed this sort of thing before I had kids, but it...more
Emma Smith and Deke Travers don't exactly meet on the best terms when she runs into him during a midnight run to the store in the pouring rain. Throwing money at his feet, she makes a quick escape before he can ask too many questions.
A couple months later, he finds her working at a local cafe. When he learns the owner is in a bind over her job when her old chief comes back for his job, he steps in and offers her a job at the family rance as a cook, not giving her the time to explain her little...more
A couple months later, he finds her working at a local cafe. When he learns the owner is in a bind over her job when her old chief comes back for his job, he steps in and offers her a job at the family rance as a cook, not giving her the time to explain her little...more
Ok so this story goes Emma is running away from her past with 'her' baby in toe...... she ends up in a small podunk town.... runs into our main 'hero' Deke literally. He gets angry at her so she throws money at him to shut him up....... We skip a few months and they meet again in Deke's local cafe/restaurant where Deke notices she is about to lose her job as the cook to the previous employee (a local)so offers her a job........ she does some lying (usually by omission).... They end up in a relat...more
This was a pretty cute romance. Of course in any romance you have a few things that bother you. But overall I loved it. I thought the Travers brothers were great. I loved the dad. I thought it was super cute when they brought the baby over and they all just fell in love with her. The only thing that really irritated me was how she didn't tell anyone that Sammi Jo wasn't hers. I mean, she had the note from her cousin, I guess it just didn't make sense. But we all panic sometimes. I loved the cowb...more
This book was a heart warming story about Emma Smith and Deke Travers.
Deke Travers needs to hire a new cook for the family Ranch. Emma Smith is the new cook at the town dinner who's about to lose her job when the old cook shows up. Making a quick decision Deke hires Emma to cook at the ranch, thinking that if one of his brothers takes a liking to her they may settle down and stay on the ranch.
The Travers brothers and their father are a warm, hard working family that make Emma feel right at home...more
Deke Travers needs to hire a new cook for the family Ranch. Emma Smith is the new cook at the town dinner who's about to lose her job when the old cook shows up. Making a quick decision Deke hires Emma to cook at the ranch, thinking that if one of his brothers takes a liking to her they may settle down and stay on the ranch.
The Travers brothers and their father are a warm, hard working family that make Emma feel right at home...more
I got this free from Amazon.
I love love love the title of this book. What a silly, cute, different way to title a book. It makes me laugh every time I read it.
This was a fun, cute and quick read. I liked Emma and Deke. I thought Hestand did a good job with explaining the characters thoughts and how as humans we convince ourselves into something.
The twist was a little different but not too different that it was crazy.
The ending was short and abrupt but I found that I liked the way the author w...more
I love love love the title of this book. What a silly, cute, different way to title a book. It makes me laugh every time I read it.
This was a fun, cute and quick read. I liked Emma and Deke. I thought Hestand did a good job with explaining the characters thoughts and how as humans we convince ourselves into something.
The twist was a little different but not too different that it was crazy.
The ending was short and abrupt but I found that I liked the way the author w...more
I liked Chief Cook and Bottle washer its a quick simple romance story.
Deke Travers is the oldest brother and in charge of the family ranch, taking care of his dad and trying to get two youngest to stay out of trouble and help. Deke decides he needs to get his brothers married.
Emma is working at the cafe in town but is about to loose her job hires her to become housekeeper and cook on his ranch. Thinks she would be perfect for youngest brother.
Emma shows up at ranch with a baby SammyJo. The guys...more
Deke Travers is the oldest brother and in charge of the family ranch, taking care of his dad and trying to get two youngest to stay out of trouble and help. Deke decides he needs to get his brothers married.
Emma is working at the cafe in town but is about to loose her job hires her to become housekeeper and cook on his ranch. Thinks she would be perfect for youngest brother.
Emma shows up at ranch with a baby SammyJo. The guys...more
Cute story, entertaining enough to keep me reading. A bit predictable and it relies on the "lie by omission" conflict, which I really don't like. Still, the characters were interesting and mostly likable.
Some of their behaviors felt off. There were some inconsistencies that bugged me, such as the heroine's hair changing color, and grammar and punctuation need fixed. There isn't much variation in tension throughout the book. It read very flat.
Overall, a pleasant and engaging read but not overly...more
Some of their behaviors felt off. There were some inconsistencies that bugged me, such as the heroine's hair changing color, and grammar and punctuation need fixed. There isn't much variation in tension throughout the book. It read very flat.
Overall, a pleasant and engaging read but not overly...more
Cheif cook and bottle washer was a quick read, it was fun, sweet and at times i had a small smile on my lips. But i really fell in love with Deke and the rest of the travers boys.
I loved the fact that they all cared and looked out for each other, and new what they all needed even if Deke put the future of the ranch ahead of the future of his love life. But he soon realised what his life was missing even if clint had to spell it out to him.
But i highly recommend the book, it's amazing.
I loved the fact that they all cared and looked out for each other, and new what they all needed even if Deke put the future of the ranch ahead of the future of his love life. But he soon realised what his life was missing even if clint had to spell it out to him.
But i highly recommend the book, it's amazing.
This was a pretty good book. I loved the characters and the plot was good. I would definitely like to read more in this series. This was sweet, a little steamy, a bit stressful, fun, and had me smiling and 'biting my own nails' some. The ending was perfect allowed breath to rush from lungs and had a misty moment of relief and happiness. I wouldn't mind reading this again. This would be a good rainy day read or for something to cuddle up with. Enjoy
The way the characters acted you would think it takes place in another time... I know Texas is a unique place but really? The story was cute but not wowing. The ending was a bit of a flop. The characters were a bit annoying. Also there was way too much name dropping. The author mentioned way too many ppl I understand you want to setup characters for other book but at some point enough is enough. There are better books out there.
I really did enjoy this book. I think the title sucks but I read it anyway and was pleasantly surprised at how well written the story is. I did not find it predictable and what girl does not love a cowboy, who loves his family and his land in that order. When Sammie Jo called him daddy for the first time I could not help but smile. I am considering reading the remaining stories in the Travers Brothers series.
It was free ... And really, I was very put off from downloading it based on the cover alone. Creepy. But I caved, because Amazon rated it as one of their top bestsellers on the free list. This book leaves you wanting. There's not enough of it. Not enough character development, not enough relationship building, not enough to make me care about anything that's going on. There wasn't even smut. Come on...
I bought a Nook in order to try more new authors easily and it has been champion for that. Out of the 30 or more ebooks I have read so far (I've had the Nook two weeks and most of the ebooks seem to be short), there have only been about four I'd like to read more by. Rita Hestand is one of them. This book is not only sweet, it is well-written, has good dialogue, wonderful characters, and a story line that is believable. It was a very enjoyable, if light, read.
This book has the ugliest cover on the planet which put me off getting it for quite a while. It was an ok read, I'm a sucker for a cowboy story. However one good conversation would have cleared away the conflict which was all external so it didn't really deliver.
Who would have thought with a title like this would be a good read.
really enjoyed getting to know the characters and would like to see if they show up in another of her books. Love my Kindle allowing me to search other areas to read.
really enjoyed getting to know the characters and would like to see if they show up in another of her books. Love my Kindle allowing me to search other areas to read.
Not a bad story, but there were some semantic issues that occasionally threw me out of the flow of things and interrupted the reading. It had promise and with some judicious editing, could have been a rather good book.
Cute story!Kept me awake at night trying to finish the entire book.Love Deke Travers and his sexy hot brothers too.Sammie Jo is such a sweet baby and it touched me when she called Deke 'Daddy'. I like the romance between Deke and Emma.All in all it was a sweet romance.Love it!Hope to read more of her books too.:)
This was a quick, easy, light romance noveel. I really enjoyed the characters and the storyline was very good and kept my interest. I look forward to reading the others in this series.
May 19, 2012
Aerial
added it
this book was seriously a really good read. Perfect and very romantic. Of course like every romance book you can see what's coming but this one was just a very good plot.
Pretty good book for the most part. I would like to actually see a wee bit of romance/action which this didn't seem to have. Went ahead and purchased the other 3 in the series and I hope they have a bit more substance to them. Good for a free read.
This is a very sweet romance. I loved all the back and forth between the hero and heroine. It took them long enough to figure it out, but they finally did. :)
Loved Emma's sense of responsibility and stead fast desire to do the right thing. Great read! Second book I've read by Rita Hestand and I've liked them both.
Free on kindle. This was a quick read. It is a pretty much follow- the- formula romance. I did not get fully hooked. (Do not like the cover.)
This book was a great surprise. It was a sweet and clean romance. I loved it. The only thing I didn't like was the cover. Please change that cover!
I really liked this story. The characters were well written and the editing was better than I expected for a freebie! Good read!
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By now most of you know that Rita Hestand is from Texas, that she's a widow, a mother, and a grandmother. You know that she was an only child, and that she traveled the US as a child extensively. What made her a writer was the fact that she was an only child growing up in an age when a kid had to use their imagination to entertain themselves. You probably know that she acted out her first books in...more
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