No last names. No life stories. Those were the rules.Once upon a time a cocky, copper-haired tourist sauntered into Zara’s bar. And even though she knew better, Zara indulged in a cure for the small-town blues. It was supposed to be an uncomplicated fling—a few sizzling weeks before he went back to his life, and she moved on. Until an accidental pregnancy changed her life. Two years later, she’s … her life.
Two years later, she’s made peace with the notion that Dave From Brooklyn will never be found. Until one summer day when he walks into her coffee shop, leveling her with the same hot smile that always renders her defenseless.
Hockey star Dave Beringer has never forgotten the intense month he spent with prickly Zara. Their nights together were the first true intimacy he’d ever experienced. But the discovery of his child is the shock of a lifetime, and his ugly past puts relationships and family out of reach.
Or does it? Vermont’s countryside has a way of nurturing even tortured souls. The fields and the orchards—and hard won love—are Bountiful.
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I loved this book. The third in this series, it was as wonderful as the first two. Great characters that were easy to relate to. I was SO happy to finally learn the identity of Nicole’s father and for Zara to finally be happy. I always love an update with the Shipley family too. I adore this series and cannot wait to read more.
4.5
I have been reading the True North series, but with this cross over, I’m looking at starting the Brooklyn Bruisers as well, I want to know more about them. If they are mates of Dave’s, then they must be special too.
So far, I think this is my favorite out of the four books I’ve read to date. I love a second chance romance, and this one falls into that trope to a degree, but I also love a hero that has a lot of growth and vulnerability. With Dave’s background, he never thought a relationship or family was in his future but coming back to Vermont feels like home and seeing Zara again only emphasizes that feeling. Her revelation shocks him to the core, but he’s a man of honor and give him time to get his head around it and he knows exactly where he wants to be.
I’m not sure if I’m fully on board with the final outcome, it seems Dave was the one to make all the changes. Although I’m happy that Nicole gets to see her dada more often. I can see Dave fitting in quite well with the Rossi’s and even Bess, his sister, when she comes to visit. I’m looking forward to see what Alec Rossi has up his sleeve for May Shipley.
Bountiful is the fourth installment in Sarina Bowen’s wonderful True North series, which features a wide array of beautifully complex characters and relationships all united by one thing – the Shipley orchard and family. I’m a big fan of sports romances, so I was extremely excited to pick this book up and I’m glad to say it didn’t disappoint.
Bountiful focuses on the steamy relationship between the sensual and jaded bartender, Zara, and the charming and in-the-moment professional hockey player, Dave. It began as a passionate affair during a Vermont summer two years ago but became so much more when Zara is left with a baby and no idea where Dave has gone or who he truly is. Determined to raise the baby with as much love as anyone else even though she has an (unknowingly) absentee father, both Dave and Zara are stunned when he returns two years later and the sparks are still there. Now Dave must come to terms with being a father and Zara must move past her natural tendency to shut him out.
I think what I appreciate the most about Sarina Bowen’s work is her ability to craft characters with their own heartaches and trauma and make them not only into likable, strong characters but also worthy of a happily ever after. Zara is arguably a strong female main character – she wields her independence like a sword and refuses to let what anyone says about her impact her life. Dave has a horribly dysfunctional and traumatic childhood with the scars to prove it. This presents its own set of problems throughout Bountiful as he struggles with his assumption that he would make a terrible father. But despite his past and how it has shaped him, Dave is a good guy who wants to help Zara, even though she’s resistant. Seeing their relationship grow from physical to something incredibly sweet and lasting was amazing and I loved Dave’s interactions with his daughter.
Zara and Dave’s relationship was equal parts sweet and sexy, both tentative and sure, and I was happy to see them get their HEA.
Swoon city!
I didn’t realize how much I loved the single parent trope until I listened to the audio of Bountiful! Zara and Dave’s mature dealing of a surprise baby is the best thing ever! I loved it!
Really enjoyed Zara and Dave story. A wild summer fling, that leads to pregnancy, but Zara doesn’t know how to contact Dave, so when he reappears in Zara’s life he gets a big surprise. The chemistry is still red hot, but as they get to know each other, new feelings appear and more dimensions are added. I hadn’t read anything by this author for awhile and decided to play catch up on the series and what I remembered why I enjoy her work. It’s because she writes about characters who have angst, but it doesn’t engulf the characters. They express more than just their angst. They try to find balance, so that you get it all, the steamy, the chemistry, the angst, great dialogue, etc. The author provides great secondary characters that make you want to learn their story. Dave is from the author’s The Brooklyn Bruisers series
yes, hockey & sexy farmers!!
Oh I absolutely loved this one! Dave and Zara’s chemistry is off the charts scorching hot! Their storyline is emotional and swoon worthy. A definite must read in this series!
I have always attempted to give ‘star’ ratings on my completed reads, just as a tracking method for my titles that I have completed. I have unlimited packages for audio, kindle, and utilize the local/state library.
However, I do not check the ‘I recommend this book’ unless I am willing to reread a book and or a series.
[I read about 5-15 books a month through kindle, and I listen to about 15-30 books monthly]
I have a full life as a nurse, professor, wife, daughter [daughter in law], sister, and mother. I love to read and love a thousand other lives by turning the pages in countless books.
Thank you for the opportunity to provide a review. Happy reading 🙂
***4 Stars***
Why did I not pick this baby up sooner?? (Yes, it is a rhetorical question because I do KNOW why…but still)
I mean you have the oopsie, you have a baby surprise thing mixed up with a kinda sorta second chance romance going on AND a dash of sports hottie tossed into the mix – this is seriously my cuppa tea and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It was all kinds of sweet, smexy, eye roll inducing, ovary exploding goodness and I find that I simply need more!
I loved Dave and Zara. Both are strong willed, charming in their own ways and pretty blunt about what they are feeling…most of the time. But squirreled away in all of that are two hearts that are a little bruised and battered and yet still golden.
Their journey to their HEA is a rocky one, for more reasons than one, but it was a fun one to experience as they stumbled around trying to come to terms with the whole parenting thing and dealing with their feelings for each other. The bumps in the road were many, but I liked how the angst was on the lower end of the spectrum and loved how everything worked out for them in the end.
I’m kinda kicking my own arse for not diving into the True North series sooner. I’ve wanted to, even have the first two books in the series burning a hole in the Kindle but something always comes up…until now. So, it looks like I’ll be doing my best to go back to the beginning because I really did enjoy this book and all of the characters in it. My favs were Bess and Ben, Bess NEEDS an HEA, but Kieran is the one who intrigued me the most, which is no surprise since I adore the silent, broody ones. And Nicole was absolutely adorable!
~ Copy provided by the author via Taste of Romance & voluntarily reviewed ~
This book is amazing! I never wanted it to end. The hottest chemistry! The swooniest Hero! And a strong, independent heroine!
“You bring out a different kind of horny in me—the kind that wants to buy furniture as well as fuck on it. The kind that would rather be a patient man. Because you’re worth it, honey.”
A fling with no strings attached takes a turn when Zara finds herself pregnant. No last names or personal information were exchanged so Zara takes on this new challenge on her own until Dave shows up on her doorstep 2 years later.
This book definitely should come with a book hangover warning!!
-5+ Stars!-
I love the Shipleys! I don’t know how anyone could read this book and not love the characters. The nicknames and family banter make this family so relatable. The romance with Grumpy Griff is a sweet story with unpredictable events. Good job making farming so interesting!!!
This was absolutely FANTASTIC! Once I picked it up, I could not put it down. I loved watching these amazing characters come together. I love when a story really makes me feel and this book just gave me so much and I felt so full. The perfect mix of emotion, love, and heat!
*4 Stars*
ARC kindly received in exchange for an honest review.
This was another good read from Sarina Bowen. I haven’t read many of her books yet, but the couple I have read, I have enjoyed.
This one focuses around a month long fling as agreed by both main characters which then greets us two years down the track and reveals that the result of said fling was a baby girl.
I wasn’t really too sure in the first couple of chapters of the book how I was going to like this, but once we got to the ‘two years later’ bit and the real story begins, I really began to enjoy myself.
Dave is a totally intriguing character and the flashbacks and other thoughts he has, and conversations with his sister really showed a part of him. His sister Bess is also a really cool secondary character. More about her please.
I liked Zara and her abilities as a Mum, and the support she had from her family was unreal. Also Audrey is another cool secondary character, and so is Benito, Zara’s twin brother. I’d like to read more about him for sure.
It was interesting to watch the docey-do between Zara and Dave, particularly as Zara is the one holding back a bit more. Seeing them discover how little they know about each other, and then slowly beginning to get to know one other was great, but a big thing for me was watching Dave with Nicole. A big tough man with a little baby, *swoon*!
I definitely enjoyed this one and would recommend.
I really enjoyed the dual narration on the audiobook, the narrators captured exactly what I thought for the characters! The book is easily divided into two, with the first half having all the sexy times and the beginnings of the connection between Dave and Zara. There were emotions just below the surface, but both of them kept them buried by mutual agreement. This was the fun part, the foundation for the second part of our story. The second part had some sexy times, but it is all about the emotions and solidifying those connections. This is the part of the book I couldn’t turn away from and needed to keep going until I saw it through until the end!
I was so excited to finally get to this story. Dave was the swooniest of surprise dads. I loved how it took him a bit to process and be comfortable with the situation. It felt very real for him to freak out a little, because who wouldn’t. I think Zara is such a great female lead. Even in previous books I really liked her. She’s strong, has a bit of attitude, but is genuinely a kind person. The early parts of the book are super hot. Where the second half is more sweet. This was another great story in the true North series
In this book the True North and Brooklyn Bruiser world collide. If you are like me and have read the Brooklyn Bruiser series first and wondered what the heck was going on with David then here it is.
I am not usually a single mom/dad trope person but this was as per Sarina Bowen’s norm and the book was a lovey read.
I have been dying to read Zara’s story since she told Griffin that she was pregnant but wasn’t willing to say who the baby daddy was. I just knew it was going to be a good story. And I was absolutely correct. I loved Zara with her prickly attitude, her unbreakable walls, her façade of emotional detachment and I loved her after her daughter, Nicole, was born and all her priorities change. She was a fierce momma bear and still as sassy as ever but I loved her vulnerability. She has some sort of guilt eating at her when it comes to her brother, Benito, that wasn’t resolved – hoping that it will in his book. Because that irked me not knowing. And then we have baby daddy, Dave, the redheaded hockey god who came back to town hoping to reconnect with Zara but obviously not expecting to learn he is a father. I respected the way Sarina played this out. I loved his gut reaction and how we could feel his fear but wanting to be there for both Zara and Nicole. Watching him grow and fall in love with his girls and see his priorities change was endearing. I loved his character development immensely. I also fell in love with Dave’s sister. I really hope that she has story somewhere.
Read: 1/7/18
Bountiful was Sarina Bowen’s fourth book in the True North series, set in a beautiful country town in Vermont. It was also a crossover with Bowen’s Brooklyn Bruiser’s series.
Zara Rossi was beautiful, independent, strong, guarded, and snarky. She could hold her own with anyone. She was a manager and bartender at her uncle’s bar, The Mountain Goat, when she met Dave Berringer. Dave was sexy, gorgeous, smart, responsive, 100% alpha, sexually attentive and confident. He was a professional NHL player and was on vacation for two months in Vermont. They agreed to enjoy each other’s company temporarily with providing only minimal details.
I loved how Bowen set the stage. She told Zara and Dave’s story in two parts. We knew from other books, as well as the book description, that Zara was pregnant, but we didn’t know details or by whom. For part one, Bowen went back two years to describe their interactions and she was careful to accurately include points that coincided with events from previous books. And for those that are interested, it was sexy and hot! Well done Bowen.
Part two started with the present and Dave coming back to Vermont since their original meeting. Bowen took us through all of the emotions of the surprise visit, their continued mutual attraction, the challenges from being apart for two years, and the adjustments within their current situation.
I loved everything about this book. It was well written and well developed with dimension, depth and complexity. It was told with a dual POV and I loved how Bowen portrayed them. I also loved how Bowen included characters from both series as well as continued to introduce new characters, which I’m hopeful we’ll see get their own stories. They were all an integral part of the storyline, providing even greater depth and dimension.
All in all, it was a journey of attraction, hope, adjustments, reflection, trust, acceptance, yearning and love. Timing is everything when reading, and it was the perfect timing for me to enjoy a book with this type of storyline. I can’t wait to see where Bowen takes us next in both series.
Audible Review
Overall 4 out of 5 stars
Performance 5 out of 5 stars
Story 4 out of 5 stars
Oooh Daddy
Great addition to the True North series.
I didn’t expect Dave to be such a dirty bird, but like Zara, I was here for it!
Normally I’m not a big fan of books that feature babies so predominantly, but I really enjoyed this one. I think the fact that we meet Zara in the previous books and I went into this knowing she was pregnant helped. And the fact that it isn’t a “secret baby” book, really helped!
I liked that Dave and Zara were adults about things, once Dave returned to Vermont after their one hot summer together and discovered he was a father. I loved that Zara didn’t hide Nicole from him, that she told him about her right away.
Dave made my heart ache, as he relived some really painful memories from childhood. His childhood really colored the way he lived his life, at least in regards to relationships. But it made me so happy to see him come into his own as a dad, and to realize he was worthy of a real relationship.
Zara’s brothers, especially Alec, irritated me with how they treated Dave. It’s not like he was a one-night stand who shirked his fatherly duties- he and Zara, together, decided on the no last name, no personal info summer fling. So how was he to know he had a child? And Zara was the one who didn’t offer any details to them, when she found out she was preggers- be mad at her, not him! Zara’s a prickly one, and I did have a few issues with her, when it came to how she treated Dave and her expectations about him. Considering he walked into a major life-changing event, I think he handled it extremely well, She didn’t seem to want to trust him, even though he was proving he was all-in. It was a lot to take in, for both of them.
I enjoyed seeing Zara and Dave navigate all the facets of their relationship- as parents, and as lovers getting a second chance.
Narration by Seraphine and Teddy was terrific. I sound like a broken record when it comes to gushing over Teddy, so I’ll refrain. Seraphine did a great job as Zara. She brought the toughness to her character, as well as the softer, more vulnerable side. I really enjoyed listening to this one.
It is good to see that Zara got a happily ever after once you saw she was broken hearted over Griff in Bittersweet. While her happily ever after took some additional time, Dave seemed like a perfect match for zesty Zara.