“Dell takes you on a fun, wild ride!” —B.J. DANIELS, New York Times Bestselling AuthorHe’s always been the black sheep: the troublemaker. But this Christmas, the prodigal cowboy returns.Rodeo bullfighter Hank Brookman was headed straight for the top. But after a single misstep resulted in devastating injury, he disappeared under a mountain of regrets. Now he’s back, ready to face the loved ones … mountain of regrets. Now he’s back, ready to face the loved ones he left behind-starting with the one girl his heart could never forget.
When Hank stormed out of Texas, he left Grace McKenna picking up the pieces…and struggling with a secret that changed everything. He may be back looking for redemption, but after everything they’ve been through, how can she admit what he really walked away from all those years ago?
Hank always knew persuading Grace to trust him again would be a tall order. Convincing her they deserve a happily ever after? That may take a Texas-sized Christmas miracle.
Texas Rodeo Series:
Reckless in Texas (Book 1)
Tangled in Texas (Book 2)
Tougher in Texas (Book 3)
Fearless in Texas (Book 4)
Mistletoe in Texas (Book 5)
What People Are Saying about the Texas Rodeo series:
“Look out, world! There’s a new cowboy in town.” —CAROLYN BROWN, New York Times Bestselling Author
“An extraordinarily gifted writer.”—KAREN TEMPLETON, author of Wed in the West series
“Real Ranches. Real Rodeo. Real Romance.”—LAURA DRAKE, author of Sweet on a Cowboy series
“A sexy, engaging romance set in the captivating world of rodeo.”—Kirkus
“Illuminating…a standout in western romance.”—Publishers Weekly
more
First let me say that after reading this book I did not have a problem with the female character. One being adopted me I was grateful that my birth mother did not have an abortion, for she was young and that would have been an option for her. Two of my parents paid for me as a private adoption it is done more than people think I am sure my parents did not spend that much money since we are talking the 60’s but it does happen legally all the time. I could also find fault with both characters if I wanted to it seems as though that by reading some of the reviews more people are finding fault with the female character and giving the male character a pass for being gone for seven years. He is also the one who pursued her and then yea embarrassed her really in order to get rid of her. But all of that is okay. The real problem is that she felt that she had nowhere to turn to and she felt she could not talk to her parents for help. I actually enjoyed this book for it was a story and not an autobiography, and both characters are flawed and maybe that was what the author was trying to point out. I don’t know? What I do know is that I will read her book again and that I was and am glad that my birth mother had me and gave me up for adoption! I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 4 stars. Follow us at http://www.1rad-readerreviews.com
With an explosive storyline, Kari Lynn Dell has added another winner to her phenomenal Texas Rodeo Series!!!!
With the gifted grace of amazing talent, her fan’s are swept back into the roping arena, as only a true Rodeo competitor can deliver.
When an author can write a series that draws her readers in, makes them believe these characters are real, she has done what most cannot.
Three years ago Grace enter the Lone Steer Saloon, she had life changing news for Hank.
However, Hank’s attitude toward Grace’s arrival was anything but cordial and as she left crying, so did her secret.
Now three years later both have returned to Texas.
Grace’s secret she took to Oregon still hidden. Will she be able to finally reveal what she’s kept from Hank? Will he be able to handle the news after all this time?
As the past comes back to haunt them, can they move on and start over or is it too, heartbreaking?
Kari Lynn Dell’s ability to write such entertaining books, create such dramatic plots that carry over from one book into the next and deliver it with finesse, sets her apart.
Not only does she incorporate great Rodeo like no other, but she twists it up with truly dynamic- earth shattering storylines that will remain with her fans a lifetime.
Received an advanced copy for a fair & honest review.
Hang on to your hat! It going to be a bumpy ride. In Mistletoe in Texas by Kari Lynn Dell Hank Brookman is back in Texas and the ride is going to get rough! Emotional, riveting and a page turner, Hank and Grace’s story has it all. Kari Lynn Dell has out did herself. This is her best book to date. Add this to your holiday reading list, it one book you will re-read year after year.
Heartwarming, sexy, emotional, fun and exciting second chance romance filled with lots of small-town backwoods country homeyness…… was yummy from beginning to end.
Hank Brookman is a sexy, strong rodeo bullfighter that was injured and is now back home trying to rebuild his life and reconnect with loved ones he left behind all those years ago…… Grace McKenna is the sweet, charming, smart and sexy woman that captured his heart years ago and never let go.
I have always loved Ms Dell’s cowboys. The descriptions are always spot on in all things cowboy like ranching, rodeoing, training and loving, just everything to make you feel you’re in the thick of things with them all. She knows her stuff!
This read goes further into some hardhitting emotions I’m just not impressed with, as I like heroes and heroines, even with flaws so it’s more realistic, but this is a roller-coaster I wanted off of. Yes, it got my emotions firing, but I wanted to kick both their butts. Is there such a thing as too realistic, too packed and then everything is all ok?
I read for enjoyment, excitement, escapism, this didn’t quite do that for me.
I received an ARC thru NetGalley and am giving my honest review.
I wasn’t sure about this author because I haven’t read any of her work before. I loved this story which covered some tough subject matter but was well written with strong characters. Cowboys with a heart of gold you cannot go wrong. Pulled me in from the start and easy to follow along.
I was under the impression that this was a stand a lone in a series of books, but I felt completely overwhelmed with all the names and places thrown at me in the beginning of the book. It was hard to make heads or tails of the situations (at least to me). I’m not sure that I liked Hank and Grace together either. Hank was a jerk to Grace, and for some reason Grace still loves him. The thing that gets me about that though, is they were never really together. They were intimate one time, but other than that, they were just friends. I never really felt a romantic connection between them. Friendship, yes, but not romance. The writing itself wasn’t bad, and I would be willing to give this author another read.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.
Hank is a good guy with a big heart, but he’s pretty damaged, more than a little broken, and has left a path of destruction through all of his family and friends. Eventually though, he’s done hiding out in Montana and returns to Texas to face his past and make amends. To face Grace, the one girl who has always been there for him, a true friend, and one he treated terribly. But there’s a lot that happened in the three years he was gone, and just when it looks like they could be friends again, and maybe more, Grace reveals a secret that leaves Hank torn.
“it’s complicated” is simple compared to the way things are between Hank and Grace. There are so many regrets, fears, judgments and expectations all layered together with the love, longing, pain and desires that it’s a wonder things can ever get sorted between them. Dell has a way of creating flawed, realistic, endearing characters so that their story so is heartfelt, hypnotizing and compelling that the reader hangs on every word. If you like a romance with a little heat and sexy cowboys, and one full of redemption, heart, hope and second chances, you’ll love Hank and Grace’s story!
What’s that saying about pride before a fall? Young love becomes adult mayhem, when a wandering cowboy revisits his past regrets. Mistletoe in Texas is a look at how foolish pride could have life long repercussions. For Grace and Hank emotions didn’t turn out so well. The first time around was a bust that left a great deal of collateral damage. Neither realized the impact of the choice they made to walk away. As they say too little to late. When the life found turns out not to be the one hoped for is when it helps to rethink a few things. Whether you agree or disagree with many of Grace’s choices and a few of Hank’s, a few things have to be remembered. When young we don’t always use our heads, but listen with our hearts. That’s a casualty that makes us human. The lessons we learn from our mistakes are what help us to grow into a more understanding person. Dell reminds us what it means to be young and in love. The innocence, heartache and hopefulness, but loving also means a willingness to forgive and move forward. In this maze of hurtful secrets and foolish pride, we find the truth of what love is…FORGIVING.
After finishing the astonishing Fearless in Texas, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on MISTLETOE IN TEXAS, and as you can see, it didn’t go as expected. Those of us who had read the previous book already knew what Grace’s “secret” was, while I presume those who haven’t can guess when reading the blurb: Grace had a baby. I don’t consider mentioning it a spoiler, as it’s revealed very early on anyway. Sad to say, the romance never worked for me: Grace and Hank had been friends since they were in fourth grade, she had been in love with Hank for ever it seems, while he … I don’t know. At some point towards the end, it seems he has always been in love with her. Okay. Right. Well, he had some strange ways of showing her in the past. I felt there were a whole lot of details missing proving that Hank had been in love with Grace all this time. Lust, yes; friendship, yes; love? I didn’t see it. Also, and this is not limited to Ms. Dell or this book, but I have a serious problem with heroines (never heroes! it never happens to men!) who put their love lives on ice because they keep pining for years after “the one that got away”; I think it’s pathetic. Or maybe I don’t have a romantic bone in me? I also had a real problem with the timeline: 12 months plus 2 months plus 9 months equals 23 months – unless there’s some novel way of adding up that I’m not aware of; so what was that with the 3 years that kept popping up?
I wasn’t expecting a barrel of laughs, but I found MISTLETOE IN TEXAS quite depressing, especially at the beginning. There is so much hostility towards Hank, and it wasn’t very clear why until later on, and there’s the bad blood between Hank and his father. I like flawed characters, but honestly Hank had been a real loser while Grace had a solid career, and I just couldn’t understand why Grace was still crazy about him. And unlike other reviewers, I had no problem with Grace’s decision; it was actually refreshing to see a heroine whose point of view differs from the accepted norm. But I couldn’t see Hank’s appeal, and I couldn’t help wondering why I was supposed to want to see them together. It’s not even as if they had really “been together” in the past. It was also a bit strange how both Grace and Hank were in some sort of “love vacuum”; in those types of stories, you usually have at least one member of the opposite sex gravitating around either or both protagonists; here, no one seemed remotely romantically interested in either Grace or Hank. I couldn’t make myself care how the “romance” turned out, I just wasn’t invested in whatever happened. In fact, I would have much preferred Trevyn as the hero, or the hero of a second romance; he was splendid and very charismatic. You know the sort of people you dislike upon meeting and no matter what they do, no matter the grovelling or the good deeds, your first impression never changes? That’s how I felt about Hank. Neither did I really care about the second romance that happened which, in my opinion, was not necessary and made the book longer. I also found extremely convenient it is to have super rich people solve others’ financial woes. Kari Lynn Dell’s descriptions of rodeos, horses, and farm life are stunning, as usual; her writing is flawless, and I would have been much more interested in everything else that happened were it not for the two romances that never worked for me.
Hank Bookman is about as far down as a man can go without being as lost as a shadowy figure of a man, hiding out in the Blackfeet Nation in Montana. Bing, a pyschological therapist swoops in to become Hank’s counselor to stop Hank’s descent. Yes, Hank had hit rock bottom. With his counselor’s help along with having Gil Sanchez as his crisis sponsor there was no where for Hank to go but up. It was time for Hank to grow up and face his demons and get back to the living. That meant heading back home to Ernest, Texas and doing what he had to do to make up for past mistakes and earn some respect again, especially make up for past mistakes with Grace McKenna. He could do this! He was ready! But Grace has a major secret to share with Hank which could mess up his plans, his dad had to get some counseling from Bing too and all his friends had to accept the new and better man he had become.
Mistletoe in Texas is the fifth book in author Kari Lynn Dell’s Texas Rodeo series. I binge read this series from the beginning in one week and am ready for more. The stories were all excellent. The whole series is extremely well-written with loveable characters and true to life rodeo scenes which is no surprise considering the author competes in various rodeos. Mistletoe in Texas is such a complete and detailed story with screaming emotional scenes. A reader just can’t not get caught up in the emotions of the characters whether, joy, sadness, anger or despair. But there also is the Christmas spirit included in some fun ways like the hot spot in town, The Lone Steer, where everyone goes in December to watch the National Rodeo Finals happening in Las Vegas. It has a sprig of mistletoe hung from all the light fixtures and the joy of family getting together for Christmas. All this together makes this a super Christmas read.
You have to read this book or you will miss all the hidden jewels. Zap! Out of nowhere this author hits you with a line that leaves you laughing out loud. You really never know when she is going to hit you with a real zinger!
Mistletoe In Texas by Kari Lynn Dell is an amazing western romance. Ms. Dell has delivered a well-written book. The cast of characters is a little overwhelming at first, but the main characters are phenomenal. Hank was on his way up in his rodeo bullfighting career until bad luck or bad choices sent him into hiding in northern Montana. Grace grew up as Hank’s friend but wanted more. Their decisions and their paths bring them both back to Texas. Hank and Grace’s story is loaded with drama, humor, sizzle, lots of angst and a ton of friends and family. I enjoyed reading Mistletoe In Texas and look forward to reading more from Kari Lynn Dell in the future. Mistletoe in Texas is part of the Texas Rodeo Series but can be read as a standalone. This 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.