Southern Charms

by Trana Mae Simmons

Ellie spends her time running the family ranch, while her adoptive mother and sister spend their time enjoying themselves, until her mischievous fairy godmother, Fatima, sets out to bring together Ellie and Shane Morgan, a handsome city slicker. Original.

Genres: Romance

48 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1999

About the author

Trana Mae Simmons also writes paranormal mysteries as T.M. Simmons.

Reviews

[Margaret Watkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romance with a sprinkle of fairy dust, this novel is entertaining and made me laugh. Orphaned Ellie dreamed of having a fairy godmother, one that would whisk her away and reunite her with her family. Instead, she got a mischievous fairy named Fatima and her overweight cat, Pandora. Sent on a mission by his mother to determine whether Ellie is indeed the daughter of her late friend, Shane Morgan arrives in Texas, where there is little respite from the heat. Under the guise of looking for investments in the area, Shane inveigles an introduction to Ellie, never expecting to find himself attracted to the tough little lady with steely determination. Shane is completely outside of Ellie's frame of reference and whilst she is aware of the courting rituals, she is caught unawares by her feelings for the New York businessman. Both Shane and Ellie have unresolved issues in their lives, making Fatima's match-making that much more difficult, however with a little bit of magic, this fun romance comes to a happy conclusion. I received this book for free from eBook Discovery. I voluntarily post this review. This is my honest review.

[Paranormal Romance · Rating 3 out of 5]

The hero is a big man, strong and has a reputation of being ruthless in business but when it comes to his mother she us in control. So when she tells him to head down to Texas to investigate the possibility that the daughter of her deceased friend has been found, he is helpless to naysay her even though....it's Texas.... So arriving on the ranch under the pretense of becoming an investor in the failing ranch she meant a beautiful but tiny adopted daughter of the owners and realizes he's in big trouble. The heroine takes one look at this giant of a man and is struck dumb but the feeling that he's the most perfect man she's ever encounter. And while she hasn't encounter many, she knows he's something special. Still, the very notion such a man would pay any interest in her has her fleeing in terror. But he won't give up. Living at the hotel in town and frequently popping around the ranch to lead his aid, she is torn between the attraction she has for him and her own self doubts. She's got a lot of think about as her ranch very well be lost to her and there's this strange woman who has entered her life claiming to be her Fairy Godmother. With her head spinning, the heroine tries to centre herself in reality. The hero too is shocked by just how quickly he's come to care for the spitfire Texan who works the farm like a ranch man. She's as skittish as a deer when he first makes his move but she surprises him by returning his desire. Only, she doubts herself again come morning and the constant running of hot and cold is making the hero dizzy. Despite the heroine's habit of looking for the worst case scenario instead of thinking before jumping to conclusions she is quite a lovely person. She shames him for ever for a second thinking his scars are ugly and gets quite angry when he uses them as an excuse to keep things from her. To the hero, he's in love and he's found the perfect woman to spend his life with, now all he has to do in convince her to marry him. Still, with the secret out about his reason for being in Texas and the heroine's skittishness, it's going to take a dose of magic to finally break her free of the chains that bind her.
I enjoyed this book but I did find there was a disconnect that prevented me from loving it. I don't know what it was, but It just couldn't grab my attention like I really thought it would. It had all the elements to be a great novel but the pacing was slow and the lack of a antagonist made this love story a bit.....I won't say boring but 'Uneventful'. Which pains me because I didn't dislike it. I found the hero charming and relentless in his pursuit of the skittish heroine even though he himself has severe insecurities as well. The scars on his back and hands are what ruined his life, he believes and though he got them saving a lot of people from a fire, in his opinion, they keep him from being a true man. When the heroine discovers this, I adored how she handled it. She got angry. She told him how silly it was that the scars don't make the man and to remember he saved those people's lives in the process. She also, kissing them and shows tenderness because he was horribly insecure about them. Mostly the heroine was, I feel, looking for a reason NOT to be with the hero. This was because she was afraid of taking that chance and putting herself out there. It wasn't because she was stuck up or anything, she was just not secure in believing any man could love her. Which was sad because she was adopted into a family but the child left behind will always feel unwanted despite the love she gets at home. I guess I'll say I liked this book. Perhaps down the road I will try it again because it had sparks of brilliance in it that deserves a second try.

[Jill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A retelling of Cinderella, but without the mean step-family..which is nice, but means there is little conflict. The fairy godmother is a hoot.