Can she forgive the past or will she sacrifice her present?When she finds herself sole legal guardian of her teenage sister and the heir of a significant fortune, Harper Maddox drops out of medical school to move back to her small hometown of Willow Creek, Georgia. Her return brings her face to face with Russell Hart (aka Cowboy), her fiercely independent and sexy first love who broke her heart … broke her heart three summers ago after gaining her wary trust.
Harper is determined to protect her heart and resist Cowboy’s allure, but when she decides to remodel and reopen her parents’ B&B, she must turn to the one man she was determined to ignore for advice and assistance. Cowboy proves to be a surprising ally and friend, and it’s only a matter of weeks before she finds herself falling for him all over again. He appears reformed, but Harper still questions his ability to fall in love.
Will Harper’s fear of getting hurt outweigh a chance at true happiness?
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Daring to Fall is a fun and entertaining second-chance romance that is just plain sweet. It is also the second book in the Willow Creek series, but it’s truly a stand-alone. Ms. Stults has done a wonderful job of creating engaging characters in a captivating small-town atmosphere.
Harper left town for Boston U’s medical school three years ago. To say she left abruptly is an understatement. She was, and for the most part, still is the typical class nerd: valedictorian, socially awkward, hence no social life to speak of, more comfortable with books than people. You know the type. All that changes when Cowboy, the town bad-boy and manwhore, sees her stranded on the side of the road and decides there’s much more to Harper Maddox than anyone knows and he’s going to uncover her. What starts out as a series of dares quickly becomes much more.
I will warn you, the book is a little confusing at the beginning. There are “Days” (beginning with Day 1 and continuing through Day 100+) and then there are chapters. Sometimes the two get mixed together. The book opens with Day 1 where Cowboy finds himself in an awkward position with his latest one-night stand. He sees a woman with car trouble on the side of the road and instantly uses her as his excuse to get out of the situation. Day 1 is only a few paragraphs long and then you enter Chapter One. It took me just a little while to figure out that the “Days” are flashbacks to three years ago and the “Chapters” are the present time. It’s an interesting way to lay out the story and honestly, once I got used to it, I liked it! There are two stories unfolding simultaneously and both are intertwined almost seamlessly.
It took me about 5 minutes into the book to realize I hadn’t missed something. The author was reverting to the past by indicating the days according to numbers, i.e., day 1, day 2, etc. It made perfect sense towards the end. It was very creative and rather romantic. I enjoyed the book very much.
I really liked the overall story. I really liked the characters. I really hated the going back and forth between past and present. I realize that is a somewhat popular tool for stories. I’ve seen it done well, and even had some others dislike it when done well. It was not done well, nor was it needed. Took me awhile to figure out the story had switched to the past initially. A part 1 or prologue and then 3 years later part 2 would have been better.
Good Read!
I enjoyed this story. I did get a little tired of jumping from present to past then back to present. Still a worthwhile use of time reading this story.
It skipped around alot, wasn’t sure if it was the present or the past
“Daring to Fall” (nook) is a fantastic story. I loved the characters with all of their foibles and frailties. Harper’s and Cowboy’s love story is very special in spite of their misunderstandings. Angst, heartbreak, healing and deep love. Sigh.
The way the book began with “Day 1” threw me off. It took me a while to understand that the “day” designation was three years previous.
This book is the kind I like to re-read.
The second-chance story of Harper and Cowboy and what a great story! Harper returns to her hometown after the death of her grandmother to take care of her younger sister and sell the house. She has not been home in 3 years, after the ending of her relationship/friendship with Russell (Cowboy). When she finds there is an inheritance for her and her sister she decides to bring the B&B of her late parents back to life and repair the damaged relationship with her sister. And Cowboy? How does he fit in her life. Will she give him a second chance, as he is asking for?
The story is told in flash-back structure. From the day Cowboy and Harper strike up their friendship until the sad ending. It is woven through the current-day events. I don’t really like this structure, but it does give you a very good insight to what happened and into their personalities. My heart broke for Cowboy in the past I must admit and I appreciate even more how hard he worked for his second chance (even when it was not even his fault..). I like the fact the characters grow and can admit to mistakes made.
I so loved this story and am buying the first book immediately! This author has a way with words that give you the feels…
Quote: ‘Promise me something, Midge.”What?’ He studied her bright blue eyes, silently praying he’d never had to know that it felt like to miss them. ‘Promise me you won’t break my heart. ‘
This is the first book I have read from this author and I did enjoy it even though it seems to be the second book in this series. We meet Harper who is back on home at her hometown because her grandmother died and not she is in charge of her teenage sister. Harper has not been home for three years because she left her hometown on a heartbreak and she couldn’t deal with possibly seeing and running into her ex Cowboy. Even though Cowboy and Harper were together for just 3 months they both knew that this were the love of their lives, however Harper left thinking that Cowboy cheated on her. While back she is having problems with her sister whom she doesn’t really know anymore and finding out that Cowboy has been there for her family since she left. Her sister felt abandoned and it was understandable, while back her and Cowboy start to spend time together as friends, until they both start feeling more for each other but Harper does not think she could go thru that heartache again. However stuff comes out that has her wondering if it was actually her that ruined everything.. My pet peeve was that Cowboy apologized for what he thinks he did, yet Harper didn’t and she really should have.
rcvd an ARc at no cost to author..(netgalley) Voluntarily reviewed with my own thoughts and opinions
I liked this story so much I need to read, Keeping Score which is the first book in the Willow Creek series. I liked the characters that brought you right into the story. Harper is refreshing and grows up into a woman who is beautiful inside and out. I enjoyed watching her grow up and watching her become her sister’s guardian and watching her rekindle her love with Cowboy.
I also found the story interesting as it was woven from events three years earlier to the present day which helped to really get to know and understand the characters and their feelings, their weaknesses, their strengths, past hurts and how they grew in their love for each other.
It was nice to see this second chance romance come full circle for “Midge” and Cowboy. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.
Loved this book of second chances between Harper and Cowboy. They started as friends which developed into so much more, then a miss communication and they went their separate ways. Now Harper has returned to Willow Creek to help with her teenage sister after their grandma dies. Their friendship starts all over again, but will they both let the past be in the past.
Wonderful strong characters that learn to love again. Plenty of family drama. This is heart warming emotional sweet romance that I could not put down. Love the characters of this town. This is the second book in the series, but can be read as stand alone. Now, I can’t wait to read the next book.
A heartwarming and emotional story with wonderful characters.
Harper and Cowboy dated before Harper left to go to college. But when they parted ways, it wasn’t on the best of terms. It was a big misunderstanding that left them both heartbroken. Harper is now back in Willow Creek to take care of her teenage sister after her grandmother passes away and it is a second chance for her and Cowboy.
I really enjoyed seeing how Harper and Cowboy were able to move forward with friendship and then fall in love again. The mistrust was still there, so they had to work through it. It was heartbreaking to read those parts, but when they would get together and things would be perfect, I couldn’t ask for anything more. There are a lot of ups and downs and family drama in this book. It flashes to the past so readers can see exactly how Harper and Cowboy’s romance was like in the past. This is a really good book and a great second addition to the Willow Creek series. I liked catching up with the characters from the first book too.
4.5
I enjoyed revisiting Willow Creek and its characters.
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Second chance
Part of a series: Willow Creek
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue
I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC from NetGalley.
I love the cover art, it really captures Harper and Cowboy.I was hesitant about this one,I’m not for medical romances but then it went into a whole different direction with Harper leaving medical school to deal with family issues and a different career path by opening up their parents B&B .That would mean depending on Cowboy one person who she rather not see and ask for help to bring the B&B up to code so she and her estranged sister can run it.I will definitely recommend Daring to Fall .
I loved so many things about Daring to Fall. The story itself is engaging and captivating. I loved the dual story of Harper and Cowboy’s past combined with the current status. I loved the characters of Harper and Cowboy, the credible tension between Harper and her teen sister, Sadie, and the complexity of all the different stories combined. It is a story of tender love that took a bad turn due to wrong perceptions and preconceived notions.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.