Wedding at Cardwell Ranch by B. J. Daniels Series: Cardwell Cousins #2
Published by Harlequin on 17 June 2014
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 224
Format: eARC
Source: Netgalley
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Jackson Cardwell won't stop until she is safe.
In Montana for his brother's nuptials, Jackson Cardwell isn't looking to be anybody's hero. But the Texas single father knows a beautiful lady in distress when he meets her. Someone's hell-bent on making Allie Taylor think she's losing her mind. Jackson's determined to unmask the perp...and guard the widowed wedding planner and her little girl with his life.
Allie has no idea who wants to harm her and take her daughter away. The truth is even more shocking. For Allie's past has stalked her to Cardwell Ranch. And not even the sexy cowboy who awakens irresistible passion may be able to save her from a killer with a chilling agenda.
*I received a free ARC of Wedding at Cardwell Ranch from Harlequin via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*
Romance, mystery, suspense and some hot cowboy in an amazing community, Wedding at Cardwell Ranch is a pleasant read.
My Wedding at Cardwell Ranch review:
Finally back to work after her husband’s possible death, Allie is quite happy to be organizing a wedding at Cardwell ranch, if only to be out of her cabin and the strange things that are happening there. Of course, the fact that her precious daughter Natalie has lots of other kids to play with helps as well. Strange happenings continue to occur in her cabin, from finding lighted candles in the middle of the night, to her late husband’s favorite shirt – that she has thrown out several times – to smelling his aftershave when coming into the cabin after work. The fact that her mother-in-law seems hell-bent on getting Natalie away from Allie to raise her grandchild herself doesn’t help with Allie’s paranoia.
The mystery part of Wedding at Cardwell Ranch was almost a little too much in my opinion, there were so many possible culprits, and it became a little difficult to feel sorry for Allie after a while. I should have felt chilled to the bone, but I really didn’t. The whirlwind romance between Jackson and Allie didn’t make a lot of sense to me either, especially because Jackson had been through a horrible divorce, and he seemed to have sworn off women – especially those who seemed helpless – so the fact that he fell for Allie so quickly made me feel the dose of suspended disbelief needed was bigger than the one I had while reading.
A quick read, Wedding at Cardwell Ranch is still pleasant, though, even if I enjoyed the community and some of the side characters more than I enjoyed Allie. Written in third person past tense, mostly from Allie’s point of view, I think that the fact that I didn’t enjoy Allie or feel connected to her all that much also made my overall enjoyment for the story as a whole less.
About Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms
Linda is an English as foreign language teacher and has a Master's degree in English Language and Literature. She's an avid reader, blogger, compulsive one-clicker and a genre omnivore. Ever since she learnt how to read she has been seen with a book or two in her hands everywhere she goes.
Twitter: bmreviewsohmy
Your review reminds me that I need to read and review this one still. 🙂 Hope your having a great week!
Stormi
I’ve had an awesome week, thanks 🙂 I look forward to seeing what you think of this, Stormi.
Aww, sorry this one wasn’t what you hoped for Lexxie. Sounds like there was a lot going on, I don’t think I would have connected with this story either. I hope your next read is a five star review! 😉
There was a lot going on, so much so that it was a little much for just one book… Oh well.
Thanks for stopping by, Lori.
Good to hear it was a pleasant read even if mystery was a bit too much
Yeah, I love cowboys and small communities, so I did enjoy it anyway 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Brandi.
Twitter: talksupeblog
You know how I feel about cowboys… but living in a small town somewhere in TN, I can relate to the down home feel of this story.
The small community and the interactions between some of the characters were really good, Braine 🙂
Thanks for stopping by.
Gah! Another one that didn’t quite hit the mark. I’m sorry this installment was a little disappointing, Lexxie. At least the community element was strong. 🙂 If I remember correctly, you’ve enjoyed the previous books you’ve read in this series? Hopefully, the next one will warm your heart.
Great review, my friend! **BIG HUGS**
Yes, I have enjoyed previous books in this series, Brandee 🙂 You are correct. I’m pretty sure some of the times my current mood has a lot to do with how I end up reviewing a book, too, but that’s just how it is.
Thanks for stopping by, my dear! *BIG HUGS*
Mystery? LOL, by looking at the cover, it doesn’t look like it. Sorry that element was too much in your opinion. But, hey, yay for cowboys. 😉
I knew there would be some mystery in it, because that’s how the Cardwell series works, but it was a little too much in this one.
Thanks for stopping by, Lola.
What did Allie do for not getting your full favor, Lexxie? And I get you about Jackson. Had this been another book, male MCs would have spent a good portion of the book doing an inner monologue that goes I-am-not-going-to-fall-in-love-again-because-all-women-are-bitches. It’s really funny and frustrating but this one exactly did the opposite. Apparently, the author still didn’t get the right formula. 😀
Happy that you still enjoyed this one despite Allie, the unbelievable romance progress, and Jackson’s behavior towards falling in love again!
Allie hesitated a little too much about whom to trust, whom not to trust and what to do about that! And even if Jackson was a great character, with all that had happened to her during the past year, it just didn’t feel ‘right’ that she would fall for him and completely trust him after just a couple of days.
One of the things I would have done if I was her, would have been to change my locks! She found things moved around in her cabin, and one way to easily deal with it was to make sure she was the only one with a key, you know?
Eh, Jackson was thinking all of these things, but he still fell for Allie.
Thanks for stopping by, Charlotte 🙂