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Diamond Dust Trilogy #1
A Marine for Christmas
Growing up in her perfect sister's shadow wasn't easy. Especially because JC Montgomery had been in love with Liz's boyfriend for as long as she could remember. Brady Sheppard, a guy who thought of her as only the kid sister. But that all changed when Liz married somebody else and Brady ended up in bed with JC It was like a dream come true.Except now JC's pregnant. And Brady's a wounded marine, so it's going to be difficult for him to get down on one knee and tell her she's his reason for living.... But he will.
Because she still believes in Santa Claus.
Because she still believes in Santa Claus.
313 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
216 people are currently reading
495 people want to read
About the author
Beth Andrews
49 books102 followersRomance Writers of America RITA® Award Winner Beth Andrews writes heartfelt contemporary romance and young adult novels. She loves coffee, hockey and happy endings.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 84 reviews
December 25, 2018
I should have listened to Preeti. It wasn't that this was awful, just not that good.
We're told that the heroine is in love with the hero who was engaged to her older sister. Getting ditched then losing fellow Marines in an ambush and major PTSD has made the hero very, very bitter.
H causes a scene at the sister's wedding, and the h is dispatched to handle him. Drunk as a skunk, they have sex and you know what happens when you have sex in a Harlequin! Unless you want to get pregnant.
Not much to say except the heroine balances between handling the H and his full bore rejection and caving.
The sister is a piece of work. She sent the H a Dear John letter a year ago, but won't let go. Basically wants her cake and eat it too when she warns the sister off the man who will be the father of her child.
NOT a Christmas story.
We're told that the heroine is in love with the hero who was engaged to her older sister. Getting ditched then losing fellow Marines in an ambush and major PTSD has made the hero very, very bitter.
H causes a scene at the sister's wedding, and the h is dispatched to handle him. Drunk as a skunk, they have sex and you know what happens when you have sex in a Harlequin! Unless you want to get pregnant.
Not much to say except the heroine balances between handling the H and his full bore rejection and caving.
The sister is a piece of work. She sent the H a Dear John letter a year ago, but won't let go. Basically wants her cake and eat it too when she warns the sister off the man who will be the father of her child.
NOT a Christmas story.
March 2, 2025
This is not a Christmas read. (Should come with the warning)
Hmmm, not a bad book or story per se.
But neither does it fall under my idea of a romance novel.
Not with the more beautiful, more accomplished sister, more selfish, more everything sister hogging much of the book, even getting a pov and definitely a hea of her own.
The once pudgy h has played second fiddle to her older sister all her life.
The book didn’t have to continue the tradition.
So a sad, sloppy seconds tale with the H still actually besotted with his ex is not my go-to-trope at all. The H/sister have been ‘in love with each for half their lives’. My mind kept going to the question of how many times they must have had sex. The figure keeps growing exponentially in my head.
The book begins with the sad, mad, drunken H crashing his ex-fiancee/her sister’s wedding and upsetting both the families. And then gets the h pregnant on the very same day. There would be no h-H if not for that pregnancy and I can say that very emphatically. (I hate when authors use pregnancies to ease their way.)
The H-ow do not really talk/resolve their ‘thing’ till the very end, and I wasn’t happy about it for several reasons - disbelief being one.
The h would have done much better to stay away from him. Those family dinners would always cause uneasiness and doubts, no matter how much they think things have been resolved.
Hmmm, not a bad book or story per se.
But neither does it fall under my idea of a romance novel.
Not with the more beautiful, more accomplished sister, more selfish, more everything sister hogging much of the book, even getting a pov and definitely a hea of her own.
The once pudgy h has played second fiddle to her older sister all her life.
The book didn’t have to continue the tradition.
So a sad, sloppy seconds tale with the H still actually besotted with his ex is not my go-to-trope at all. The H/sister have been ‘in love with each for half their lives’. My mind kept going to the question of how many times they must have had sex. The figure keeps growing exponentially in my head.
The book begins with the sad, mad, drunken H crashing his ex-fiancee/her sister’s wedding and upsetting both the families. And then gets the h pregnant on the very same day. There would be no h-H if not for that pregnancy and I can say that very emphatically. (I hate when authors use pregnancies to ease their way.)
The H-ow do not really talk/resolve their ‘thing’ till the very end, and I wasn’t happy about it for several reasons - disbelief being one.
The h would have done much better to stay away from him. Those family dinners would always cause uneasiness and doubts, no matter how much they think things have been resolved.
April 22, 2011
J.C. has been in love with her sister's boyfriend for a long time. And when Brady reached for her - she slept him, and like it usually happens in Harlequin land, she got pregnant. She has some issues and insecurities, mostly because her sister was always the prettier, more successful one in the family. It doesn't help that Brady is still in love with Liz, the sister.
Brady had some rough times. First the his fiancée sent him a Dear John letter while he was in Afghanistan, then he was badly injured by a land mine that killed a friend of his. He is suffering from PTSD and is using alcohol to deal with flashbacks and nightmares. He is seriously messed up.
J.C. and Brady are okay characters, but J.C. did put up with a lot of Brady's baggage. And Brady was occasionally an ass. But he had good moments when I almost loved him, until he does something incredibly stupid and hurts J.C. (which happened a couple of times).
But the worst thing in the book was Liz. I hate her. Her attitude toward J.C. and the way she more or less mined Brady and J.C.'s relationship. "How could he love you when he's still in love with me?" - that isn't the exact quote, but the way I understood her stand. And the way J.C. let Liz manipulate her is annoying as well.
Brady, although far from perfect, is the one who really made an impression on me.
Rating:
3.5 stars
Brady had some rough times. First the his fiancée sent him a Dear John letter while he was in Afghanistan, then he was badly injured by a land mine that killed a friend of his. He is suffering from PTSD and is using alcohol to deal with flashbacks and nightmares. He is seriously messed up.
J.C. and Brady are okay characters, but J.C. did put up with a lot of Brady's baggage. And Brady was occasionally an ass. But he had good moments when I almost loved him, until he does something incredibly stupid and hurts J.C. (which happened a couple of times).
But the worst thing in the book was Liz. I hate her. Her attitude toward J.C. and the way she more or less mined Brady and J.C.'s relationship. "How could he love you when he's still in love with me?" - that isn't the exact quote, but the way I understood her stand. And the way J.C. let Liz manipulate her is annoying as well.
Brady, although far from perfect, is the one who really made an impression on me.
Rating:
3.5 stars
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February 20, 2025
Saw this book recommended on the Unrequited, Overheard, and Uncovered FB group. This book delivered on the angst for sure. I really enjoyed how cruel the H was and the super soapy overheard scene.
This one was messy. Ugly sister falls for and gets knocked up by older, pretty sister’s ex fiancé. I liked that the sister wasn’t a complete heinous bitch and that she showed character growth though she was initially jealous. The h wasn’t super likable because of her flakiness and immaturity but she also showed character growth.
The grovel wasn’t it though. It was barely two paragraphs! Still I enjoyed this OTT Harlequin goodness. Note: It was originally published as a Harlequin, the newer edition seems not to be.
This one was messy. Ugly sister falls for and gets knocked up by older, pretty sister’s ex fiancé. I liked that the sister wasn’t a complete heinous bitch and that she showed character growth though she was initially jealous. The h wasn’t super likable because of her flakiness and immaturity but she also showed character growth.
The grovel wasn’t it though. It was barely two paragraphs! Still I enjoyed this OTT Harlequin goodness. Note: It was originally published as a Harlequin, the newer edition seems not to be.
May 22, 2024
2.5 so-so Stars
This one wasn’t great. I really expected A LOT more drama when dealing with the sister-seconds content. For me there were a few issues.
⚫ Unlikable characters
⚫ Lack of any drama-llama
⚫ Unequal balance of hung up on each sister
Brady Sheppard grew up loving Liz. They were engaged when she sent him a Dear John letter and swanned off with another dude. The book opens with Brady crashing her wedding and leaving with her younger sister (J.C.). They have sex and a few weeks later… surprise.
The problem is that Brady reads like a grouchy alcoholic, J.C. is portrayed as immature and selfish (like dropping out of college for a year having her parents still paying the tuition and selling the car they provided her to go on vacation), and Liz is described as a self-absorbed bitch.
Everyone is so focused on themselves that there’s no feels, and nothing is going on, so there’s no drama. ZZZzzzz. They aren’t really fighting, no one is manipulating, there’s no back and forth, and he’s wavering until the end of the book.
Bottom Line- It wasn’t terrible, but this is soap and I expect some suds. I wanted some drama, and the ending was too rushed. The sis’s part wasn’t really resolved. She didn’t act the way she did because she needed closure, so that felt like a copout.
This one wasn’t great. I really expected A LOT more drama when dealing with the sister-seconds content. For me there were a few issues.
⚫ Unlikable characters
⚫ Lack of any drama-llama
⚫ Unequal balance of hung up on each sister
Brady Sheppard grew up loving Liz. They were engaged when she sent him a Dear John letter and swanned off with another dude. The book opens with Brady crashing her wedding and leaving with her younger sister (J.C.). They have sex and a few weeks later… surprise.
The problem is that Brady reads like a grouchy alcoholic, J.C. is portrayed as immature and selfish (like dropping out of college for a year having her parents still paying the tuition and selling the car they provided her to go on vacation), and Liz is described as a self-absorbed bitch.
Everyone is so focused on themselves that there’s no feels, and nothing is going on, so there’s no drama. ZZZzzzz. They aren’t really fighting, no one is manipulating, there’s no back and forth, and he’s wavering until the end of the book.
Bottom Line- It wasn’t terrible, but this is soap and I expect some suds. I wanted some drama, and the ending was too rushed. The sis’s part wasn’t really resolved. She didn’t act the way she did because she needed closure, so that felt like a copout.
May 1, 2021
I feel the author wasn’t kind to the heroine. I get that she was plain if compared to her slender sister. Slightly overdone though.That was the only minus for me.
Why did she need to be curvaceous ( it was hinted she also had overweight problems in the past) with big frizzy hair? Wasn’t it enough that she was a loser on other fronts : a college dropout with difficulties to keep a job? That she had an unrequited love for her sister’s ex?
Otherwise the plot was interesting and the writing was good. There was no stupid misunderstanding and miscommunication. The drama and heartache had a valid cause. The sister’s unresolved feelings added to that which I appreciated.
Why did she need to be curvaceous ( it was hinted she also had overweight problems in the past) with big frizzy hair? Wasn’t it enough that she was a loser on other fronts : a college dropout with difficulties to keep a job? That she had an unrequited love for her sister’s ex?
Otherwise the plot was interesting and the writing was good. There was no stupid misunderstanding and miscommunication. The drama and heartache had a valid cause. The sister’s unresolved feelings added to that which I appreciated.
November 14, 2016
This sucked me in. The quality of writing was so good that even though I didn't like the h, until almost the end it was only after I finished the book that I realised that the quality of writing that makes it real and that it was exactly what I was supposed to feel.
The resolution was difficult to swallow as I just couldn't buy the 'I'll always love her' (the sis), to 'I love you'. It gave me whiplash. Upto that point I was riveted.
The resolution was difficult to swallow as I just couldn't buy the 'I'll always love her' (the sis), to 'I love you'. It gave me whiplash. Upto that point I was riveted.
February 20, 2025
Way to ruin and entire glorious and brave category, the Navy.
Hero is a marine but he’s so awful that he could be a mafia mob.
He’s been dumped by his fiancee, the heroine’s sister, when he was in Afghanistan, then he was hurt and came back home to recover, but his leg wouldn’t allow him to go back or to enlist in the Police.
Well, he goes to his ex wedding and there, drunk and pissed, he sleeps with the heroine.
Of course he regrets it and he even says his ex name during sex.
Oh joy.
And three months later, the heroine is pregnant and goes to tell him.
His reaction, he doesn’t want anything to do with it.
He’s drunk and wasting away, not just for the loss of his fiancee, but also because he suffers from ptsd.
He’s planning to leave town and doesn’t want to be a father, but then his family intervenes and he offers child support. Peachy.
The heroine is quite a sad loser. She always had a crush on him,but he was with her sister, that is prettier, more intelligent and better in any ways, while the heroine is just a happy goof. Apparently she was just the little sister, and overweight moreover so the hero never considered her, while now she’s at least slimmer and grown up, but yet not as good as her sister. This is in the hero’s mind every time he sees his ex.
The sister is also a selfish spoiled bitch, she broke up a 12 years relationship by letter to a man who was fighting for his country, the bitch, and the day after she wrote the letter she was already screwing another man, the one she married, a rich and handsome doctor.
When she finds out the heroine is preggo with her ex child, she’s angry and basically forbids the heroine from seeing the hero since this could cause issues with her new husband, who’s jealous.
I wanted to puke.
The hero in the meantime finds out that the heroine could be some kind of emotional support when he’s down and wants to drink,so he uses her repeatedly.
Sadly not even this helps, because the heroine overhears him telling her sister that he will never love the heroine because she’s not her.
And he doesn’t want the child.
Even if he apologizes and realizes he loves her, this is absolutely a case of very bad second best. Not a chance in hell the hero would have chosen the heroine, not when he had her sister, not if she hadn’t got pregnant.
The heroine is second best, because he realizes that if he can’t have her sister, she would do, since she already is pregnant with his son.
I hated this book, it’s so wrong I just can’t.
Beside the second best issue, and the constant unfavorable comparison with her sister, the hero is a whiny useless idiot, he has a loving family and a lot of money since they have a successful winery and he has a job with them, but he can’t stop complaining about things he can’t have, like being a cop, being a marine, marrying his ex.
Fy idiot.
Another thing I hate, the sister bar hero’s ex.
She is such a spoiled snotty bitch. She treats the hero abominably, she acts proprietorial because she doesn’t want him to be with her sister, she dare to be angry because her sister had sex with him. And she ends happily married anyway with a man who loves her to death, a rich, handsome, and successful doctor. No karma here.
Safety of course is no good.
Hero was with heroines sister for 12 years, then after he came back had sex with the heroine and I suppose he didn’t have sex with anyone else.
Heroine had two previous boyfriends so no virgin here but apparently she didn’t enjoy sex, god forbid she could have had a healthy sex life at 26.
Yuck.
Hero is a marine but he’s so awful that he could be a mafia mob.
He’s been dumped by his fiancee, the heroine’s sister, when he was in Afghanistan, then he was hurt and came back home to recover, but his leg wouldn’t allow him to go back or to enlist in the Police.
Well, he goes to his ex wedding and there, drunk and pissed, he sleeps with the heroine.
Of course he regrets it and he even says his ex name during sex.
Oh joy.
And three months later, the heroine is pregnant and goes to tell him.
His reaction, he doesn’t want anything to do with it.
He’s drunk and wasting away, not just for the loss of his fiancee, but also because he suffers from ptsd.
He’s planning to leave town and doesn’t want to be a father, but then his family intervenes and he offers child support. Peachy.
The heroine is quite a sad loser. She always had a crush on him,but he was with her sister, that is prettier, more intelligent and better in any ways, while the heroine is just a happy goof. Apparently she was just the little sister, and overweight moreover so the hero never considered her, while now she’s at least slimmer and grown up, but yet not as good as her sister. This is in the hero’s mind every time he sees his ex.
The sister is also a selfish spoiled bitch, she broke up a 12 years relationship by letter to a man who was fighting for his country, the bitch, and the day after she wrote the letter she was already screwing another man, the one she married, a rich and handsome doctor.
When she finds out the heroine is preggo with her ex child, she’s angry and basically forbids the heroine from seeing the hero since this could cause issues with her new husband, who’s jealous.
I wanted to puke.
The hero in the meantime finds out that the heroine could be some kind of emotional support when he’s down and wants to drink,so he uses her repeatedly.
Sadly not even this helps, because the heroine overhears him telling her sister that he will never love the heroine because she’s not her.
And he doesn’t want the child.
Even if he apologizes and realizes he loves her, this is absolutely a case of very bad second best. Not a chance in hell the hero would have chosen the heroine, not when he had her sister, not if she hadn’t got pregnant.
The heroine is second best, because he realizes that if he can’t have her sister, she would do, since she already is pregnant with his son.
I hated this book, it’s so wrong I just can’t.
Beside the second best issue, and the constant unfavorable comparison with her sister, the hero is a whiny useless idiot, he has a loving family and a lot of money since they have a successful winery and he has a job with them, but he can’t stop complaining about things he can’t have, like being a cop, being a marine, marrying his ex.
Fy idiot.
Another thing I hate, the sister bar hero’s ex.
She is such a spoiled snotty bitch. She treats the hero abominably, she acts proprietorial because she doesn’t want him to be with her sister, she dare to be angry because her sister had sex with him. And she ends happily married anyway with a man who loves her to death, a rich, handsome, and successful doctor. No karma here.
Safety of course is no good.
Hero was with heroines sister for 12 years, then after he came back had sex with the heroine and I suppose he didn’t have sex with anyone else.
Heroine had two previous boyfriends so no virgin here but apparently she didn’t enjoy sex, god forbid she could have had a healthy sex life at 26.
Yuck.
December 27, 2017
This was a well done, realistic story featuring the worst characters ever, leaving me on the fence how to rate it. To be clear upfront, protagonist JC rapes her sister’s ex, who is blackout drunk the night of her sister’s wedding. He initiated a kiss but she is sober, had been asked to bring him safely home, and knows he is in no place to consent, much less offer her the fairytale romance for which she so clearly hopes. She and the rest of her family then spend the rest of the book talking about how Brady ‘got her pregnant’ and wasn’t stepping up! She even lays the blame for the absence of birth control on Brady, despite being sober to his very drunk the night in question.
Her sister Liz is a piece of work, selfish and cowardly, in love with her new husband but intent on keeping Brady on the hook as her high school sweetheart who must always carry a torch and may never again love as he did with her, certainly not with her unimpressive chubby little sister.
JC, equally selfish and a scary rapist, is supposed to be an object of empathy because she self-sabotages out of pain for being compared to skinny, smart Liz her whole life. I wanted to shake her out of her fantasy of Brady suddenly loving her and incidentally marrying her and removing from her the responsibility of being a self-supporting adult.
Brady is a mess and deserved better. His family is loving and supportive- I would happily read more about his sequel-bait brothers. But I was offended by JC’s ridiculous belief that she had ‘healed’ Brady with her love. Ick.
The whole mess was engrossing and felt very real- a struggling vet with a drinking problem, competitive dynamics between sisters who have been labeled the success and the loveable loser, the unplanned pregnancy. But I certainly could not believe in a sustainable, mature relationship between JC and Brady after she abused his trust so horribly, when he was so vulnerable.
Her sister Liz is a piece of work, selfish and cowardly, in love with her new husband but intent on keeping Brady on the hook as her high school sweetheart who must always carry a torch and may never again love as he did with her, certainly not with her unimpressive chubby little sister.
JC, equally selfish and a scary rapist, is supposed to be an object of empathy because she self-sabotages out of pain for being compared to skinny, smart Liz her whole life. I wanted to shake her out of her fantasy of Brady suddenly loving her and incidentally marrying her and removing from her the responsibility of being a self-supporting adult.
Brady is a mess and deserved better. His family is loving and supportive- I would happily read more about his sequel-bait brothers. But I was offended by JC’s ridiculous belief that she had ‘healed’ Brady with her love. Ick.
The whole mess was engrossing and felt very real- a struggling vet with a drinking problem, competitive dynamics between sisters who have been labeled the success and the loveable loser, the unplanned pregnancy. But I certainly could not believe in a sustainable, mature relationship between JC and Brady after she abused his trust so horribly, when he was so vulnerable.
February 16, 2015
2.5 Stars.
It's...weird that the hero, Brady, had dated—was even engaged to—the heroine's sister. And I could never really get over the fact that he called Jane her sister's name the first time they slept together. Also, Liz, the sister, sort of sucked most of the story. She's selfish and entitled and superior. She actually wrote a Dear John letter to Brady while he was deployed to Afghanistan and then hooked up with another man the next day—way before he would have received the letter. Classy, honey.
In addition to all of this, the initial hookup between Brady and Jane made me a little uncomfortable. It was so impersonal. And then his reaction when she tells him she's pregnant? But then he uses her to soothe his PTSD, which I am glad somebody eventually gets him some help for. But the whole situation seems unsustainable; Jane's family is angry at him for coming to Liz's wedding and then for being a jerk to Jane once she is pregnant (and I guess for assuming he slept with Jane to get back at Liz, though this theory is all kinds of insulting to Jane since it implies she's only attractive to him as a tool for revenge and also implies that Liz isn't over him though she just married someone else); Carter, Liz's new husband, can't stand Brady—though I never quite understood this because, dude, you're the one who stole Liz from him, he never did anything to you except date and propose to her first; and then there is the little factor that days before declaring his love for Jane, Brady was still shouting that he'd always love Liz. Yeah, I'm just not seeing this HEA working out long term for everybody.
It's...weird that the hero, Brady, had dated—was even engaged to—the heroine's sister. And I could never really get over the fact that he called Jane her sister's name the first time they slept together. Also, Liz, the sister, sort of sucked most of the story. She's selfish and entitled and superior. She actually wrote a Dear John letter to Brady while he was deployed to Afghanistan and then hooked up with another man the next day—way before he would have received the letter. Classy, honey.
In addition to all of this, the initial hookup between Brady and Jane made me a little uncomfortable. It was so impersonal. And then his reaction when she tells him she's pregnant? But then he uses her to soothe his PTSD, which I am glad somebody eventually gets him some help for. But the whole situation seems unsustainable; Jane's family is angry at him for coming to Liz's wedding and then for being a jerk to Jane once she is pregnant (and I guess for assuming he slept with Jane to get back at Liz, though this theory is all kinds of insulting to Jane since it implies she's only attractive to him as a tool for revenge and also implies that Liz isn't over him though she just married someone else); Carter, Liz's new husband, can't stand Brady—though I never quite understood this because, dude, you're the one who stole Liz from him, he never did anything to you except date and propose to her first; and then there is the little factor that days before declaring his love for Jane, Brady was still shouting that he'd always love Liz. Yeah, I'm just not seeing this HEA working out long term for everybody.
March 5, 2011
This book really exceeded my expectations. The characters were realistic and I quickly liked both of them. I enjoyed that there were no big secrets or misunderstandings. The conflict came from the main characters and their families.
Both of the main characters had a lot of growing up to do and you got to see that happen slowly through the book. That was enjoyable and not rushed.
My only hesitation is that both characters had some pretty big issues to come to terms with, but their resolution seemed to come too easy and too late in the story for me. . However, I still really enjoyed the book overall. Another reminder for me of the gems there are to be found with Harlequin!
Both of the main characters had a lot of growing up to do and you got to see that happen slowly through the book. That was enjoyable and not rushed.
My only hesitation is that both characters had some pretty big issues to come to terms with, but their resolution seemed to come too easy and too late in the story for me. . However, I still really enjoyed the book overall. Another reminder for me of the gems there are to be found with Harlequin!
December 29, 2013
very good book would read again
July 29, 2018
I can't root for a couple, when the entire book is filled with him wanting her sister after she dumped him, and his continuing to tell her that he doesn't want her or their baby. For one, why would anyone want to be with their sister's ex after they had been together for 12 years?? That is disgusting. Or with someone who continues to tell you he doesn't want you? Sorry, but no. Not going to happen. I can understand that he had PTSD, which is a bad, harsh thing to have. He wasn't rude because of it, he drank because of that and to rid his mind of his ex. His ex was a piece of work as well. She didn't want him, but she didn't want anyone else to have him either, and thought she was above her sister in all things. Even bashing her to make herself feel better. Just a bad book all around.
February 24, 2025
JC's a pining doormat who is always going to be second best
Brady's a dick who will have to settle for JC because he can't have Liz
The sister (Liz) is a jealous cow who doesn't want anyone to have Brady, the bloke she threw away for an upgrade
The only one I feel sorry for is Carter, the jealous cow's husband who's now saddled with her
I can't with this any more, I'm out at 40%
Brady's a dick who will have to settle for JC because he can't have Liz
The sister (Liz) is a jealous cow who doesn't want anyone to have Brady, the bloke she threw away for an upgrade
The only one I feel sorry for is Carter, the jealous cow's husband who's now saddled with her
I can't with this any more, I'm out at 40%
August 26, 2015
8.9/10
This is absolutely the best harlequin books I have ever read. And I am not being over dramatic. I think I have only ever given these books a max of 4 maybe one other 5 stars, but this was truly phenomenal. no necessarily for the writing entirely but the emotions it evoked in me. The plot was so intense and raw, with several emotional sub plots going on, relationship wise and internally. My heart hurt reading this. It's that feeling you get when you are watching a movie, and a character just dies, but you don't cry the most for the death, but for the pain the other people are suffering from it, their tragedy. (maybe it's just me like that, who knows) That's how it made me feel. the emotion was so vivid and maybe it's because I am an extremely emotional person or whatever but this hit me to the core. It was real and dealt with every aspect of life, that isn't something harsh and vile. Jealousy, pride, independence, insecurities, shame, regret, fear. All of it was handed to me in this book.
Each of the characters had unique characteristics, some I'd idnt necessarily favor but that how it goes right? there is always one character you hate or strongly dislike because there has to be some diversity. Jane was a strong female lead and I admired how independent and selfless she was, even if she did make hopeless decisions at times. But that's a good thing too. at least she has hope in somethings, whereas Brady was the opposite but he made up for it in the end.
This was a fantastic hook that I would definitely recommend. only problem was that this was cut short. maybe around 190 pages at most. Still definitely worth it!
This is absolutely the best harlequin books I have ever read. And I am not being over dramatic. I think I have only ever given these books a max of 4 maybe one other 5 stars, but this was truly phenomenal. no necessarily for the writing entirely but the emotions it evoked in me. The plot was so intense and raw, with several emotional sub plots going on, relationship wise and internally. My heart hurt reading this. It's that feeling you get when you are watching a movie, and a character just dies, but you don't cry the most for the death, but for the pain the other people are suffering from it, their tragedy. (maybe it's just me like that, who knows) That's how it made me feel. the emotion was so vivid and maybe it's because I am an extremely emotional person or whatever but this hit me to the core. It was real and dealt with every aspect of life, that isn't something harsh and vile. Jealousy, pride, independence, insecurities, shame, regret, fear. All of it was handed to me in this book.
Each of the characters had unique characteristics, some I'd idnt necessarily favor but that how it goes right? there is always one character you hate or strongly dislike because there has to be some diversity. Jane was a strong female lead and I admired how independent and selfless she was, even if she did make hopeless decisions at times. But that's a good thing too. at least she has hope in somethings, whereas Brady was the opposite but he made up for it in the end.
This was a fantastic hook that I would definitely recommend. only problem was that this was cut short. maybe around 190 pages at most. Still definitely worth it!
December 29, 2019
I struggled between rating this one two and three stars. I really enjoyed the story line, it was full of family drama however ALL of the characters are really unlikeable. Every single one of the characters had annoying things about them and as a read I found myself not rooting for a single one. I'm not sure if this was intentional by the author to add more to the story however, I almost couldn't get through it because all of the characters were making me roll my eyes at some of the things they would say and how they would act!
I really liked the lesson behind this story however, and the story line was good which made me wanting to continue to know how it ended. I just wish there was one person in this book I liked after walking away from it. I think if you go into this one knowing that the characters are annoying, and are simply reading it for the plot itself you'll enjoy it. However if characters are something you look for in a novel, find something else to read.
I really liked the lesson behind this story however, and the story line was good which made me wanting to continue to know how it ended. I just wish there was one person in this book I liked after walking away from it. I think if you go into this one knowing that the characters are annoying, and are simply reading it for the plot itself you'll enjoy it. However if characters are something you look for in a novel, find something else to read.
February 7, 2020
From the blurb, I should have loved this story. However, Brady (the main guy character) and Liz (the main lady character's sister) were crappy people who deserved each other. I never felt like Brady even liked J.C. so I'm not sure what the point of this book was except that everyone settled.
November 27, 2010
Would be 5 stars because I LOVED it, but the conflict was huge and the resolution not so much.
August 21, 2022
I swear modern day harlequins are such garbage!
I was done with this book at the 15% mark. All the rest was just proof that I was right to begin with. The one main problem is that every single character is selfish. Not one character was likable. The MMC was described as having had so many traumas and losses that he was not who he once was but honestly if he was ever a nice guy I never saw it. He was a wallowing drunk who made everyone angry and I never felt that he fell out of love from his first love. I felt like he settled. He settled well, but it’s settling all the same.
The OW/Liz/the first love was a pointless character. She was selfish because she stayed with her high school sweetheart not because she loved him or was loyal but only because she didn’t want to be alone. She strung him along for years but only when someone else finally caught her eye she dear john’d him and immediately bounced onto the d!€k of the OM. Like, once you licked the postage stamp, that made her a free woman. Oh no honey, not until he received that letter and acknowledged it, for good bad or ugly, then you are still in a relationship and therefore you cheated!
Also, her jealousy, her controlling of her sister the FMC and her ex the MMC was so above her reach it was ridiculous. It’s like if you don’t like someone and you tell your friend who has a completely separate relationship with them to stop being friends with them too. Ummm, no. What are we, twelve?!?! You have NOOOOOOO say on someone’s relationships with people. None, Zip, Zilch, Nada!! Grow the fu€k up. I just really didn’t see why this useless character had a POV. Everything she did could have been done without me having to here her inner struggle to let go of a guy she didn’t want for years to begin with! Smh.
Now my main gripe of this story, the FMC. I could not stand her!! She wasn’t nice and sweet. She was selfish! She quit college and left her parents to pay off an entire year of tuition for classes she never went to because she’s a coward who doesn’t own up to her sh!t! Her parents gave her a car and she sold it to get money for a European tour. She was so entitled and lacking in respect for anyone around her. This was her every time. In every scenario. To me this doesn’t make you naive of ignorant of understanding what the consequences of things would be. It makes you manipulative.
When she went to the MMC in the beginning to tell him about the baby she was like, she expected him to solve her problem for her AND she expected it to be that he’d marry her. Later, when she was talking about giving it up for adoption, the fact that she was 26 was mentioned like she was still a child. What!? Granted, you can not be ready for a life changing experience that a baby can bring at any age, but in NO WAY is 26 so young that it’s inconceivable. You are a grown a$& adult and you shouldn’t be acting like a teenager!
I felt she was immature, manipulative, selfish, narcissistic, and just plain unlikable. I had no respect for her. She could have kept the baby daddy to herself if she really wanted to respect his choice or if she was going to respect her own choice to follow through with the pregnancy on her own like she said. As far I could tell she had no moral fiber. None. I hated her.
I don’t care how this book ended. The only props I can give this book is that it was mostly well written. Mostly. There were minor grammatical errors. But it was pretty consistent in plot. The ages of everyone and the time frames weren’t clear, but it’s a minor issue. You can still follow the tale just fine. Other than when it was vaguely mentioned that the OW/Liz had dumped the MMC and in less than a year she was married to the OM was just the topping on this sh!tty story. Good luck.
I was done with this book at the 15% mark. All the rest was just proof that I was right to begin with. The one main problem is that every single character is selfish. Not one character was likable. The MMC was described as having had so many traumas and losses that he was not who he once was but honestly if he was ever a nice guy I never saw it. He was a wallowing drunk who made everyone angry and I never felt that he fell out of love from his first love. I felt like he settled. He settled well, but it’s settling all the same.
The OW/Liz/the first love was a pointless character. She was selfish because she stayed with her high school sweetheart not because she loved him or was loyal but only because she didn’t want to be alone. She strung him along for years but only when someone else finally caught her eye she dear john’d him and immediately bounced onto the d!€k of the OM. Like, once you licked the postage stamp, that made her a free woman. Oh no honey, not until he received that letter and acknowledged it, for good bad or ugly, then you are still in a relationship and therefore you cheated!
Also, her jealousy, her controlling of her sister the FMC and her ex the MMC was so above her reach it was ridiculous. It’s like if you don’t like someone and you tell your friend who has a completely separate relationship with them to stop being friends with them too. Ummm, no. What are we, twelve?!?! You have NOOOOOOO say on someone’s relationships with people. None, Zip, Zilch, Nada!! Grow the fu€k up. I just really didn’t see why this useless character had a POV. Everything she did could have been done without me having to here her inner struggle to let go of a guy she didn’t want for years to begin with! Smh.
Now my main gripe of this story, the FMC. I could not stand her!! She wasn’t nice and sweet. She was selfish! She quit college and left her parents to pay off an entire year of tuition for classes she never went to because she’s a coward who doesn’t own up to her sh!t! Her parents gave her a car and she sold it to get money for a European tour. She was so entitled and lacking in respect for anyone around her. This was her every time. In every scenario. To me this doesn’t make you naive of ignorant of understanding what the consequences of things would be. It makes you manipulative.
When she went to the MMC in the beginning to tell him about the baby she was like, she expected him to solve her problem for her AND she expected it to be that he’d marry her. Later, when she was talking about giving it up for adoption, the fact that she was 26 was mentioned like she was still a child. What!? Granted, you can not be ready for a life changing experience that a baby can bring at any age, but in NO WAY is 26 so young that it’s inconceivable. You are a grown a$& adult and you shouldn’t be acting like a teenager!
I felt she was immature, manipulative, selfish, narcissistic, and just plain unlikable. I had no respect for her. She could have kept the baby daddy to herself if she really wanted to respect his choice or if she was going to respect her own choice to follow through with the pregnancy on her own like she said. As far I could tell she had no moral fiber. None. I hated her.
I don’t care how this book ended. The only props I can give this book is that it was mostly well written. Mostly. There were minor grammatical errors. But it was pretty consistent in plot. The ages of everyone and the time frames weren’t clear, but it’s a minor issue. You can still follow the tale just fine. Other than when it was vaguely mentioned that the OW/Liz had dumped the MMC and in less than a year she was married to the OM was just the topping on this sh!tty story. Good luck.
February 23, 2025
Man this story absolutely fit the "Cruel Asshole Hero" and the "heroine is second best to her sister" genre. This story was harsh. Our Hero was messed up from being severely and permanently injured in war, and to have the love of his life and who he believed to be his soulmate, ceremoniously dump him while on his mission. The woman he was in love with jumped at the chance to marry a doctor ASAP, and left this poor Hero crushed and devastated, and it was impossible for him to move on.
He shows up at his perceived soulmate's wedding, drunk and devastated, and rejected. Soulmate's sister takes him home and this Hero in is complete drunken state, takes sexual advantage of the little sister. Little sister, who had secretly been in love with this Hero for years, was easy prey. She gave up the goods way too easily, just for the chance to have sex with a man who literally refused open his eyes and actually look at her during the entire encounter, and ending it by yelling out her sister's name as he released inside of her.
Angsty? Hell yeah, this story had angst. And I thrived on it. The Hero is a douche nozzle throughout most of the story, constantly rejecting the little sister, AND HER BABY once she finds out he left her pregnant. He's so madly in love with her asshole "gorgeous" older sister, that he can't even see what he has before him with the younger sister and this instant family he's created but does NOT want.
And the older sister still has her claws in the Hero. She has moved on and married her doctor, but she doesn't want her old beau moving on with anybody else. She's a selfish asshole and keeps trying to reel him back to her beauty, and undermine her sister by letting her know he'll never love anybody who isn't as beautiful as older asshole sister is.
This story was a hot mess, and it caused so many turbulent feelings. And I LOVED it all. I devoured it in one sitting as soon as I had time to sit down and start it. This story would have been a 5 star perfection read for me if there had be a smidgen of grovel in the end. That ending. WTF??? He decides at the last second he wants the younger sister, and she jumps at the chance to have him. No grovel needed. After a full on book of him being a savage prick to her through the entire story. No way. This story needed some grovel. ANY grovel at all. That being said, I loved the storytelling AND the story. I want to go read the rest of the stories in this series next, now that I'm kind of fond of the other characters we were introduced to in this one.
May 20, 2025
the story hits deep notes
First when you know a story is about a wounded warrior that received a dear John letter you know it will touch on rough topics, the book does. It doesn’t go into much detail but it’s there.
JC definitely didn’t get enough credit. She had grown up in Liz’s shadow. When Liz basically said she was second best I was pissed.
Brady was definitely struggling with a lot. I think if he went through the dear John letter or being wounded he would of been okay but having to deal with both back to back crushed his soul.
In the end after all the trouble two hurt ppl found love, worked towards healing, and built a family. All together it made for a good read. 🙂
First when you know a story is about a wounded warrior that received a dear John letter you know it will touch on rough topics, the book does. It doesn’t go into much detail but it’s there.
JC definitely didn’t get enough credit. She had grown up in Liz’s shadow. When Liz basically said she was second best I was pissed.
Brady was definitely struggling with a lot. I think if he went through the dear John letter or being wounded he would of been okay but having to deal with both back to back crushed his soul.
In the end after all the trouble two hurt ppl found love, worked towards healing, and built a family. All together it made for a good read. 🙂
December 14, 2024
This was ass. I should have expected it though. This supposedly has a HEA but personally, it's not the HEA I wanted. The FMC should have grew a fucking spine and just moved on. Brady was NOT worth the drama. JC should have punched her sister in the throat, idgaf about what weird rules y'all have, she didn't want Brady, then she should have kept her fucking mouth shut when her sister wanted him. She doesn't have a personal claim on every man she fucks. And Brady should have grovelled. Idgaf if he's crippled. The annoying mf should have been on his knees and begging for forgiveness for the putrid hurtful shit he spout.
December 13, 2025
This was a lot more interesting than I expected.
It's not your typical cute and lovey-dovey story that rushes to the happy ending. It deals with a lot of heavy stuff, giving you a glimpse of both the protagonists' insecurities, as well as how they allow those insecurities to hinder their progress in life.
It's not easy to deal with your real-life problems sometimes, and I had a hard time with both the guy and the girl not seeing what was there for them. It was rewarding at the end though.
I have to admit, I wanted to smack the heroine's sister a few times. Like girl, decide what you want, stop ruining everything!
It's not your typical cute and lovey-dovey story that rushes to the happy ending. It deals with a lot of heavy stuff, giving you a glimpse of both the protagonists' insecurities, as well as how they allow those insecurities to hinder their progress in life.
It's not easy to deal with your real-life problems sometimes, and I had a hard time with both the guy and the girl not seeing what was there for them. It was rewarding at the end though.
I have to admit, I wanted to smack the heroine's sister a few times. Like girl, decide what you want, stop ruining everything!
December 10, 2017
Not exactly an upbeat Christmas read. But I liked the heroine who, I wish, could have had more strength found through her situation. She just kept getting pushed around by everyone. Her moods/decisions shifted based on how everyone else felt, so it was hard to root for her all the time. The hero made, I'd say, 3 too many mistakes? Just repetitive and didn't try to fix anything till the end so he wasn't worth rooting for. The sister was all over the couple and wouldn't give anyone any peace, she either needed to be in the story less or be the main villain she didn't make sense how she was.
November 13, 2018
Wow
This book was/is amazing. Brady and J.C. Were incredible. They didn’t start off in the typical way that most people beginning a relationship start. My heart broke for both of them. J.C. was always living in her sisters shadow. Never feeling like she enough. Always second best. And to be honest Brady didn’t help that case for a while. But like in real life you really can’t appreciate anything until it’s gone.
This book was/is amazing. Brady and J.C. Were incredible. They didn’t start off in the typical way that most people beginning a relationship start. My heart broke for both of them. J.C. was always living in her sisters shadow. Never feeling like she enough. Always second best. And to be honest Brady didn’t help that case for a while. But like in real life you really can’t appreciate anything until it’s gone.
September 29, 2019
I read Counting Flowers and loved it. I decided to try another story by this author. Just like with Flowers, the story was very well written with complicated characters. I felt for each of their issues and was desperate to see a resolution. I read the book in one day. My only issue is that I feel Brady did go a bit far. I would not have taken him back. JC is more forgiving than me, so I understood.
June 25, 2021
Decent but no grovel
This book is decent with an underdog heroine and a plot I typically enjoy. The problem is that the hero is hung up on the heroines sister (his first love) for way too long and we also get POV from the sister which I found strange. The hero says some really awful things but then apologizes and we get absolutely no grovel. The author missed a real opportunity.
This book is decent with an underdog heroine and a plot I typically enjoy. The problem is that the hero is hung up on the heroines sister (his first love) for way too long and we also get POV from the sister which I found strange. The hero says some really awful things but then apologizes and we get absolutely no grovel. The author missed a real opportunity.
August 19, 2022
3🍭🍭🍭
I read a comment that said “not awful but not that good”. Those are the perfect words to describe this.
OW drama is a difficult one. You need to handle the situations perfectly, in a way where you actually make the H “redeem himself” and really loving the heroine (if that’s the line of the story).
In this case, I didn’t believe the hero actually was over te OW. And it made it difficult for me to buy the epilogue.
):
I read a comment that said “not awful but not that good”. Those are the perfect words to describe this.
OW drama is a difficult one. You need to handle the situations perfectly, in a way where you actually make the H “redeem himself” and really loving the heroine (if that’s the line of the story).
In this case, I didn’t believe the hero actually was over te OW. And it made it difficult for me to buy the epilogue.
):
October 21, 2022
I didn’t hate it - and actually this was deliciously painful lol. Some real sloppy-seconds situations and if you love the kick of angsty unrequited love, then this does the trick.
I wish we had more of Brady’s redemption, he really only turns things around at 96% and even the epilogue is a month after they reconcile and the baby hasn’t even been born. I wanted to see more of his devotion to JC and the shift when he meets his son.
I wish we had more of Brady’s redemption, he really only turns things around at 96% and even the epilogue is a month after they reconcile and the baby hasn’t even been born. I wanted to see more of his devotion to JC and the shift when he meets his son.
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