Nine days to build a future… snooping around, she’s challenged every which way. Then Jack Shepperd comes home.
Prodigal son Jack is forced to return home to his family ranch when his uncle decides to retire. He has nine days to close down the ranch and pay a debt to Pepper’s grandmother. A debt that will keep him all but glued to Pepper’s side. Pep is the most captivating, spirited, headstrong woman he’s ever met. Years ago, she broke his heart. What are the chances of a clean getaway this time around?
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Lone Star Defender is an inspiring story to never give up on your dreams! Jack Shepperd is exactly what you’d expect from a man who’s had his heart broken before, especially by the one person he’s forced to spend time in order to pay a debt. Pepper Mackillop lives up to her name, feisty and stubborn, but she’ll have you rooting for her from the first page. This is the 3rd book in the Calamity Valley series, and the perfect addition.
Jennie Jones delivers in the third book of The Calamity Valley Trilogy – Pepper comes home to help the Valley comeback and Jack comes back to help when his Uncle retires, their second chance at love has to be better than what happened when they were younger.
Enjoy the ride such a great book.
I have been anticipating Pepper’s story since I started reading the Calamity Valley series. The Mackillop women are all soothsayers and they have a curse on them. Every MacKillop female would forever remain, husbandless, man-less and homeless. To overcome the curse when they find true love, they have to fight off their great-grandfathers, known as the GGs, the ones who created the curse.
Pepper didn’t think she had any mystical powers like the rest of her family had and she didn’t care about the curse. She didn’t plan on ever getting married or having a family. That was until Jack Shepperd turned up in town and turned her world upside down. The things Pepper didn’t think she wanted in life were soon changing. She was given a job of rejuvenating Reckless and Jack was put in charge of protecting Pepper. Working so closely, Pepper and Jack soon realized they were meant to be together. That’s when the GGs finally showed up. Pepper and Jack had to work hard to fight off and get rid of the curse so they could get their happily ever after.
This book was an exciting read. I was drawn in right away and it kept my full attention until the very end. It was a perfect addition to the series. Each book can be read as a stand-alone, but I would still recommend reading them in order. The author does a good job of refreshing the background in each book, but there might be a few small details that get overlooked and can be found by reading in order.
This is a sweet, fun and all around highly entertaining second chance romance!! Pepper and Jack are great together and it was so easy to get drawn into their story. I really enjoyed it and wish it was not a series conclusion.
Thank you to Netgalley ant the Publisher for this ARC.
First off, I have to say that I have loved the entire Calamity Valley series. Each story was so clever with some complex guessing going on and each had its own tangled knots to unravel.
Lone Star Defender was terrific! I love second chance romances with lots of “what if’s” and “maybe’s” in them. Plus, Jack and Pepper play so well against each other.
It is a great book and a great series!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Lone Star Defender is an entertaining second chance love story. Jack & Pepper had a chance when they were younger but misunderstandings caused Pepper to leave town & Jack couldn’t stay without her. Now, Pepper has come back home to help the valley & Jack’s been called home to help his uncle retire. Pepper is fighting her “gift” & the idea of her one true love & Jack is fighting his feelings for her. Can they find their way to each other?
I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this story. They were all well thought out & lifelike. I could see parts of them all in the small town I grew up in! The interactions between them all were a joy to read & laugh about. The grumpy old men. The interfering old women. The jealous self-centered young women. The energetic young men. The conniving out of town developers. The tangled webs of lies & deceit didn’t tear the town apart, instead it brought them all together to support Pepper & the town they all loved. I didn’t realize this was the third story but it was a fitting end to the series.
4.5
Loved it
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: Calamity Valley
Standalone
HEA
I look forward to reading more from this author.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC from NetGalley.
I usually enjoy reading contemporary western romances, and perhaps my feelings about this one are due to my not having read the first two books in this series, but try as I might, I kept finding myself staring off into space and wondering why I was reading this disjointed novel, with characters I either didn’t know or care about, who weren’t well-developed, or the silly semi-paranormal plot about one young woman who is expected to turn around the entire town’s fortunes by selling herbs and veggies on-line, fulfill and end a 3 generations-old curse on the women in her family by meeting her fated love interest, deal with her soothsayer grandmother, gain access to her boarded-up family home, and I’m sorry, but I found the entire plot and characters in this novel utterly ridiculous. I’d have given it a one-star rating because the story was so preposterous, but since the writing wasn’t terrible, I gave it a 2-star rating, and I have no interest in reading the first two novels in this series.
I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.
I had a hard time with this book. The story was somewhat disjointed and I just wasn’t engaged with the story.
There was a curse on Pepper and the women in her families from years ago. The only way to break the curse was to marry your one and only like her cousins had done. Pepper had returned to town to get her inheritance, a home, but her grandmother wouldn’t give her the keys. She had to help Jack, a long ago friend whose friendship had ended when he helped humiliate her years ago. Now, Pepper and Jack were both back in town to help family and try and end the curse.
I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.
Pepper and Jack’s love story in Lone Star Defender by Jennie Jones, book three in her Calamity Valley series, is a story of family, expectations, and fate. Pepper Mackillop returned home to help rebuild her rundown town, Reckless. She ends up fighting many problems, including the return of Jack Shepard; Pepper broke his heart years back. All of the Mackillop women are soothsayers; having a curse on them. All of the females will remain, husbandless, man-less and homeless. To fight off this curse they need to fight off their great-grandfathers, known as the GG’s , whom created the curse, by marrying their true love. Jack finds himself returning to his family ranch since that his uncle has decided to retire. He plans on being in town for a short time, needing to close down the ranch and pay a debt to Pepper’s grandmother; a debt that forces him to keep Pepper safe. As these two spend time together fixing up the town, they unexpectedly work together to break the curse and hope for a future together.
Ms. Jones wrote an enjoyable story that it would have been better if I read the first two books in the series. There is a light element of paranormal throughout the story.
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.
Pepper Mackillop has returned home help rebuild her rundown town, Reckless. She fights many problems, including the return of Jack Shepard. Pepper broke his heart years back. The Mackillop women are soothslayers and they have a curse on them. All females will remain, husbandless, man less and homeless. To fight off this curse they need to fight off their great grandfathers, known as the GG’s , whom created the curse. Now that Pepper and Jack have reunited, they will work together to break the curse for their HEA.
This was an enjoyable read, it would have been better if I read the first two books in the series. There is a light element of paranormal through out the story.
I liked the story, the setting and the anticipated romance. I do think there were redundancies and could maybe have been a shorter read. The back and forth between Pepper Jack (sorry, I just kept thinking cheese lol) took forever with the same ol history. Get over it and move on or not, but Pepper just couldn’t make up her mind and did more damage talking to herself all the time, instead of really talking with Jack.
It all worked out with a happily ever after and I always enjoy that. I haven’t read the 1st two books, not sure it would have made a difference to the way I didn’t connect to this one as they are all stand alone.
I received an advance reader’s copy thru Netgalley and am freely giving my honest review.