USA TODAY Bestseller! She shouldn’t get involved with the cowboy next door… Laid off from her teaching job in the city, Jemma Monroe takes a job teaching in a tiny town and rents a house on the outskirts. A visitor soon shows up at her door–a horse. His owner, a handsome neighbor in boots and a cowboy hat, comes by to collect him. When single dad Wyatt Langford meets Jemma, it’s the first … single dad Wyatt Langford meets Jemma, it’s the first time he feels interest in a woman since his wife left. But she’s his daughter’s new teacher, so they both know they should keep their distance.
Nonetheless, Wyatt keeps finding excuses to spend time with Jemma, and Wyatt’s daughter becomes more and more attached to her. With them, Jemma discovers the good things about country life, from starry skies to s’mores cooked over a fire. But she still misses her past life in the city. Is there any reason for them to dream of a future together?
This heartwarming cowboy romance includes a Hallmark original recipe for Classic Italian Lasagna.
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4 1/2 stars!
Jemma has just been laid off from her job and she takes a temporary position for a teacher who has gone on maternity leave. The city girl finds herself out in the country where her first visitor is a horse looking for carrots. Her second visitor is her neighbor, who also is the horse’s owner.
Wyatt is an honest to goodness cowboy. He’s also a single dad who is raising his adorable daughter, Bailey Rae. (side note: Bailey Rae was absolutely adorable and also hilarious and everything I want from a child character in a book). Taking care of the farm and raising his daughter is pretty much all he has known the last few years so Jemma coming into their lives is a breath of fresh air.
This book is a slow burn (a la Hallmark), but that didn’t matter to me. Jemma and Wyatt started as neighbors, but they find themselves growing closer in no time. It helped that Jemma was Bailey Rae’s teacher, so between the neighbor thing and the teacher thing, the two of them find themselves in each other’s company quite often.
This book is the sweetest! I was left with the warm and fuzzies by the end. And with it being under the Hallmark publishing brand I can easily see it as a movie, so let’s just all keep our fingers crossed!
A wonderful heart warming story of love that we don’t know that is right in front of us!! This pulled at the heartstrings like all Hallmark stories do. It makes you think that love could always be right around the corner….. or next door!!!
Small town, country living! Jemma and Wyatt are perfect together. Cowboy neighbor and daughter’s teacher come together in this beautifully written story. I adored Bailey Rae; she was the icing on the cake. These two will have you swooning in your boots and your heart turning to mush. Just in time for Valentines.
Sweet wholesome romance.
This is a Hallmark romance in book form. City teacher moves to the country for a temporary teaching gig and falls for a cowboy and his daughter. This is sweet, touching, and Bailey Rae will steal your heart.
Wyatt was a little crusty at first, but of course warms up to the teacher whose invaded his town. Jemma learns there is more to life here in the country.
This was a cute, no nonsense read. It truly reads just like a Hallmark movie.
I voluntarily requested and read an advance reader copy.
Country Hearts is feel good kind of heartache. Madsen knows how to bring out the smiles even while drawing a few tears. Jemma and Wyatt are life lesson about falling in love. Sometimes the road we choose to ignore can hold a reward we’ll never regret.
Hallmark Publishing has officially captured my heart by publishing this heartfelt, feel-good warm story. Jemma Monroe is a grade school teacher. She loves her job and she loves the kids. Unfortunately she’s been laid off and is trying to find another job. Not being able to find one in the city she expands her search and happens on an ad for a country location. It’s only a temporary position while the teacher is on maternity leave but she decides that after all she’s been through she needed a little adventure to take her mind off of things while still doing what she loved. She rents a little cottage but isn’t used to a slower life and smaller community and it takes a little getting used to especially when she meets her neighbor, the good looking cowboy and his daughter. Wyatt Langford and daughter Bailey Rae live next door on their ranch and Wyatt hasn’t even looked at another woman since his wife left them. Then he meets Jemma and finds out she’s Bailey Rae’s new teacher and he tries to stay away from her. While they both have been burned and are not looking for a forever kind of love, the other town folk seem to see things a little different.
I enjoyed this book enough to tell my daughter that we couldn’t watch our shows until I was finished reading it. It flowed with emotion and character. It was easy to read just like I would imagine that it would be easy to live in a community where everyone made you feel like you belonged. It’s a nice and sweet romance that was easy to fall in love with. At times I thought ‘someone needs to smack one of them’ so that they could wake them up but it was too early in the book then I laughed when they were getting along so well because you could literally read how they were falling for each other. The characters were great. I laughed everytime Bailey Rae gave such wise advice or said something that just floored the adults (it happened pretty regularly). I think if this was a movie her character would definitely steal the show. Second would be the little boy Chase, who also stole my heart. Everyone should have a little of Jemma in them, with the strength and compassion that she shows for the children in her third grade class and the rest of the community.
Community and love is at the heart of this book, while it is mainly about Wyatt and Jemma and how they must take the risk of falling for each other in order to heal from past experiences, it is the community that helps when they support them. I think we all look for that type of feeling. This book hits a homerun in the effort of having the community being a shelter for all the residents. I laughed and I cried more than once and I felt my heart grow three times larger (Grinch reference).
Loved this sweet funny romance with city girl Jemma and single dad cowboy Wyatt. She takes a job in the country and her student is Bailey Rae whose handsome father is Wyatt. His wife left them to go back to the city so he is not interested in another city gal but there is something about Jemma and with the help from his little girl and some of the towns people they are constantly thrown together. Love this story and all the characters were wonderful. This is one not to be missed.
This was my first Cindi Madsen book but definitely will not be my last! I love this story about the city-girl teacher that goes to a small town for a new job and finds a new extended family and love. The stories from the classroom and Jemma’s insight into the minds of the third graders are priceless. Don’t miss this clean, fun read!!
A sweet read that will put a smile on your face, a tear or two in your eyes, and give you a warm fuzzy feeling. This is such a well-written, sweet story that will keep you glued to your seat and reading page after page from beginning to end.
This story was unbelievably sweet. At other times, I might think that was too much of a good thing, but right now, it was exactly what I was looking for. There was an almost Parent Trap kind of feel to this book – definitely very Disney – along with a pronounced city mouse/country mouse theme. I really liked that Jemma is an introvert forcing herself to be extroverted. Wyatt, while having the emotional sensitivity of a root vegetable, was still a total sweetheart. And Bailey Rae is just such a precocious imp that she completely ran away with the show.
I received a complimentary advanced copy of this book from the author.
This is the story of transplanted city girl Jemma and home town country boy Wyatt as they develop a delightful friendship that steadily grows into love. I had never read anything by this author before but since I’m always looking for new authors to discover, I was really glad I went ahead and gave her book a try. Very, very nice.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced ready copy of this book.
This is a sweet story of a city girl with a country heart who met a country boy whose heart had been broken by his ex-wife. I liked everything about this story from the characters, the charming cottage that Jemma rented to the coffee shop to her pet rabbit and the horse that knocks on her door for carrots. I especially liked the cowboy and his daughter that lived next door to Jemma.
There were many funny moments in the story that made me laugh as I fell for Jemma, Wyatt and Bailey Rae along with the small town of Haven Lake , Colorado. Thank goodness Jemma had a good sense of humor or she would have been packing after her first day as a third grade teacher.
This is a great story by Cindi Madsen. I can easily see myself reading this story again! I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.
Country Hearts is a phenomenal contemporary western romance by Cindi Madsen. Ms. Madsen has provided readers with a well-written book populated with an outstanding cast of characters. Jemma lost her job due to budget cuts and took a temporary position in Haven Lake. Wyatt meets Jemma when chasing his horse and catches up just as Jemma answers the strange knock on her door. Wyatt and Jemma’s story is packed with drama, humor, spice and cupids of all ages. I totally enjoyed reading this book and look forward to my next book by Cindi Madsen. Country Hearts is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Big City meets Small Town!
This book was a bit of a surprise for me! I don’t know why I thought I knew this plat, but from Jemma’s first encounter of Haven Lake residents (human and otherwise), to her growing love for her student and neighbour, Bailey Rae, and her attraction to her father Wyatt, this book was a mix a surprises, smiles, chuckles and the feeling of satisfaction at the HEA.
I was so pleased to read this book and enjoyed so many scenes which I could totally relate and those I couldn’t! A wonderful small-town novel!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
This was definitely a Hallmark type feel good, make you smile often novel. Small town living at its best with nosey but love able townsfolk. Jemma is a dynamic grade school teacher who just lost her job because of budget cutbacks. Her best friend Randa finds her a temporary fill in job teaching third grade for a teacher taking maternity leave. She is hesitant because she’s used to big city living but begins to look on it as a new adventure although terrifying too. Her first week is a disaster with several mishaps. Her neighbor Wyatt and his nine year old daughter Bailey come to her rescue more than once.
I loved the characters in this small town and how they cared about each other, sometimes the stick your nose in other peoples business kind of people. The romance was sweet although it was cry your eyes out one minute and chuckle the next. The town is so small that any event draws in the whole community for lack of anything else to do. Reminds me of the small town my husband grew up in. He laughingly said during a Friday night football game anyone could come in and rob the town blind because everyone was at the game including the police!
If you like Hallmark movies this story will warm your heart and get you in the mood to celebrate Valentines Day.
I received a complimentary ebook copy of this book from the publisher but was not required to write a review positive or otherwise.
Heartwarming Story
Such a great story. I loved Jemma and Wyatt’s story and all the characters. It captivated me, made me laugh and left me with a smile.
What happens when you take a city girl and plop her down in the middle of a small country town? You get a great sweet romance! If you’re not a fan of Hallmark type stories, stop reading right now and move on. If you’re a big fan of them like I am, you may continue….
Jemma Monroe takes a temporary job in a small country town when she’s laid off from her teaching job in the city. It’s an adventure, right?
Once burned by a city girl, Wyatt Langford doesn’t want to risk his heart––or his daughter’s––on this spunky, beautiful breath of fresh air. Things are just fine the way they are. Aren’t they?
What I like about this book: It’s a slow burn. I love Cindi Madsen’s romcoms with their sexy times, but I also crave a good sweet romance with a handsome, yet tortured hero and sweet but sassy heroine. Country Hearts checks all of those boxes and then some. There are some lighthearted moments and there are some very emotionally charged moments and everything in between. Watching Jemma form lasting friendships beyond her relationship with Wyatt was another element to this book that spoke to my heart. The animals with big personalities was also a huge plus, as well as the budding romance between Wyatt’s daughter and her classmate.
NICUnurse’s Rating: I love small towns. I love books set in small towns. I’m a country girl at heart, and I love Hallmark movies. So when you combine all of those into a book, I’m going to grab that sucker up pretty quickly! Plus, I’m a huge fan of Cindi’s writing style, so this was a no-brainer for me. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again…I’ve yet to be disappointed in any Cindi Madsen book and happily recommend them a LOT! If you’re a fan of sweet romance, you’re going to love Country Hearts. Now to wait (not so) patiently on her next book from Hallmark Publishing!
I give Country Hearts by Cindi Madsen 4.5 out of 5 stars!
Jemma Monroe gets laid off from her teaching job in Denver, CO and decides to take a temporary long term sub job in the little town of Haven Lake, CO. Never having lived in a small town, Jemma looks at the change as an adventure and moves her and her bunny, Senor Fluffypants, to the new town where she quickly meets Wyatt Langford. Wyatt is a single dad to Bailey Rae who is in 3rd grade. Since Jemma and Wyatt are neighbors, they seem to keep running in to each other. It also doesn’t help that Jemma turns out to be Bailey’s new teacher. For the first time since his divorce Wyatt finds himself attracted to someone….too bad it is his daughter’s teacher.
The more time Jemma and Wyatt spend together, the more they cannot deny the attraction sizzling between the two of them. As Jemma’s temporary job is winding down, she needs to decide what it is she truly wants for her future and if that future includes Wyatt and Bailey. At the same time Wyatt has to figure out if Jemma is worth taking a chance on and if he can finally let his past demons rest.
Overall this was a sweet, romantic story that had such fun characters. Jemma and Wyatt are just two sweet people who deserved to find their happy ending.
Country Hearts by Cindi Madsen was a sweet and charming small town romance with all kinds of feels. When Jemma needs a new job, she finds herself in a small town. Wyatt is a single father who loves his daughter more than anything. It’s just the two of them since his ex-wife left them for city life and yet, his relationship with his daughter was sweet. Now they are neighbors, two people who may be worlds apart, but just may be what they need. Wyatt is not willing to open his heart again, especially to a woman like Jemma. Jemma was sweet and caring. Country Hearts was an adorable and charming read with some delightful characters and will leave you feeling happy.
Happy reading!
Jemma is on an adventure as a fill in 3rd grade teacher, as she finishes up her online classes. Her goal is to become someone in administration so she can make changes. Wyatt is her cowboy neighbor, who is a single dad, always keeping busy and keeping away from the nosy gossip of the town.
From the first knock on her door ( a surprising guest) the story will have you smiling and heart full. The interactions everyone has within these pages shows exactly what a small country town entails. I fell so hard for these two and reading the love grow was wonderful.
” He needed to remember that flickers turned into flames that could burn you”
” Sometimes dreams change”
You will really love every character in Country hearts. I really highly recommend reading this if you love single dad, small town, cowboy romance.