I might be a country girl from the same small town of Sweetwater, Texas, as horse wrangler Roarke Frost, the girl next door who knows him like few know him, but I didn’t know enough to save my heart. He’s the reason why I left Sweetwater behind. But now fate proves she loves a wicked twist and sends me back to Sweetwater to pull together a Christmas festival–and I run smack into the man again, … the man again, quite literally. His body is pressed to mine, his hands on my arms, and I’m melting like chocolate in the sizzling Texas sunshine. And I run.
I know it’s not exactly respectable, but it works, just not for long. No matter how much I try to get tangled up in Christmas, I end up tangled up in Roarke instead–and the man has me feeling the heat of our attraction and the warmth of our past friendship. He feels like Mr. Right, but history says he’s Mr. Wrong.
But if he wants a second chance, Roarke Frost is going to have to work for it. He’ll need to prove to me that this holiday is a season of new beginnings, the kind that last forever.
Each book in the Texas Heat series is STANDALONE:
* The Truth About Cowboys
* Tangled up in Christmas
more
I was so excited to read Roarke’s story. You will remember him from The Truth about Cowboys. He is Jason’s best friend. Roark is known as the horse wrangler but he wasn’t able to save his relationship with the only woman that he ever loved. She was the one that got away. He has tried to move on but just couldn’t seem to get over Hannah.
Hannah moves back to Texas from LA. She had a great job as a photographer, but was caught up in a scandal her boss was in. She decided she wants to start her event planning business. After bumping into Roarke at the airport all these past feelings come again. She left Roarke and Texas and never thought she’d see him again. Circumstances have Hannah filling in for her friend doing a photo shoot. Well…Jason and Roarke are the reason for the shoot. She can’t believe it. She puts on her big girl panties and puts her feelings on hold. But she too, never could get over Roarke.
Can these two find love once again?? Definitely pick up the book and read for yourself. It’s a second chance love book. You will not be disappointed. This can be read as a stand alone, but if you want a little more background on Roarke, I’d read A Truth about Cowboys.
This was just okay. The writing wasn’t bad, but it just felt off to me for some reason. There were parts that I felt like I was told rather than shown, and that just doesn’t make a good book for me. I wasn’t a fan of the h, she was very immature and acted more like a teenager than a grown woman. Rourke was better, but I wasn’t a huge fan of them together. Hannah ran away because she thought Rourke cheated on her, but she forgave him pretty quickly. The ending was okay, although I would have like more with the epilogue.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.
A sweet and heartfelt second chance romance. Rourke and Hannah’s story wasn’t perfect but the journey was filled with love and friendship, leading towards a beautiful life. I absolutely enjoyed this book.
Hannah and Roarke had a falling out years ago.
I loved loved the character of Roarke. This man is the perfect book boyfriend. He is caring, compassionate, loyal and just everything that is good in the world. While he made some questionable decisions in the past, for the most part, they were to spare pain in others. The weight of those decisions had to weigh on him.
Hannah is a character I grew to love. While I understood some of the reasons she made some of her decisions it just seemed so silly. One conversation could have stopped years of longing.
I loved reading about these two working together and rebuilding. I loved that Roarke had no problem telling Hannah he loved her right away and was determined for her to hear him and feel that they belonged together.
So good
“Tangled Up In Christmas” is book two in Texas Heat and it is a really good book. Roarke Frost is the horse wrangler, an equine surgeon, one of the best. When Hannah finds herself back in Sweetwater, Texas the first person she runs into just happens to be Roarke, the one person she did not want to encounter. There is nothing wrong with the handsome vet, except that he broke Hannah’s heart and she wants nothing to do with him. Since she is in Sweetwater to pull together a Christmas festival she will probably see a lot of him.
This is a standalone second chance romance, loaded with passion, secrets, answers and forever.
Texas Heat perfectly describes this series. This is a second chance romance. Roarke and Hannah were driven apart years ago. Each believing their own version of the end. A chance encounter throws them back together. Old sparks that never died reignite their love story. And this time nothing, not even the true story of the previous break up, will tear them apart.
Roarke has never gotten over the girl of his dreams. Heck he was engaged to marry her, when she fled to California. He does know some secrets that would devastate her. Now that she’s back, he needs to win her love and make her his own.
No matter what she tells herself, Hannah has never gotten over her first and only love, Roarke. Years ago when she received a video of him kissing a girl, she fled to California to start a new life. Now that she’s back in Texas to start her new business, all Hannah wants to do is avoid him, but her heart is telling her other things. However, before anything can happen between them, Hannah needs answers. When she does get them, it’s absolutely shocking to her.
This was a beautiful love story at second chance.
I received a copy of this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Avid Reader –
M/F Second Chance Romance
This is a story about allowing yourself to love again. After Hannah thought her world had broken apart, she left her hometown for a different life. She has been away for years and now finds herself back in town to help promote a Christmas festival.
Roarke is known as the horse whisperer. Now a vet that caters to all kinds of animals, Roarke knows that he has to find a way to get Hannah to forgive him – to listen to him. He has never loved another woman as much as he has loved Hannah.
With secrets about to be discovered and a festival that needs to be put on, Hannah and Roarke start this dance around their past and future.
The secondary characters are well developed and I really enjoyed watching this story unfold. The couple is easy to relate to and the secrets are not super angsty. Both will have to decide if the past will rule their future or if they are willing to carve out their own path.
Triggers: Cheating.
Ruthie –
This is the second book in the series, but can be read as a standalone – I did! I may have to go back and read about Jason and Jessica, as they are important in this story, and we get some strong hints that how their relationship started is definitely worth knowing.
Hannah finds herself back in the town she grew up, and that she left after being sent an incriminating video of her fiancé, Roarke. She never found another to love but has lived in denial ever since. Inevitably they meet on her return, and the chemistry is still there. He never found anyone who filled her space either – so in theory, this should be easy!
As we find out what really happened and how they both misstepped, it is just a matter of time and circumstance that should bring them back together. The timing in particular is key. What the author cleverly does, is ensure that we can see growth in attitude and confidence by Hannah. She is older, wiser, and prepared to listen and believe. It is refreshing and works well, rather than repeating the errors of the past.
I enjoyed seeing Roarke’s career of caring for animals, and whilst being a big deal in his world, he liked nothing better than the home he has created in Sweetwater. The side characters were also great fun, and I enjoyed how Hannah was drawn into a family that she felt she had lost.
A very enjoyable Christmassy and romantic read, thank you, Lisa Renee Jones!
Reviewers received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.
I was so glad to read this early, even though I don’t do Christmas books until around Christmas, but it was definitely worth the read. I absolutely love Lisa’s work and who doesn’t love a good cowboy romance. This was a really cute read and I definitely enjoyed it.
Thank you Netgalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
A second chance that will have you flipping the pages. I’m a little obsessed with this series. And they keep getting better and better.
This one is so entertaining. I can’t wait for the next one.
A great new series that is a must read.
*I was given a free advanced copy of this book by Net Galley in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.*
Tangled up in Christmas & Santa Baby
by Lisa Renee Jones
Two holiday stories with happily ever afters in one volume! The first, Tangled Up In Christmas, sees Hannah and Rourke get a second chance after six years apart. There are some issues they both need to deal with before they can move on into an even stronger relationship than they had before. Small town romance between two people that definitely belonged together. The second book, Santa Baby, has Caron late to get dressed for a fashion show, put into a Marilyn Monroe rather than Audrey Hepburn costume and in that costume perhaps channeling a bit of Marilyn. Having caught Baxter Remington’s eye she has the night of life thinking it is a one off…but perhaps he thinks it could be more. What a sizzling little story this was!
Thank you to NetGalley and Entangled Publishing for the ARC – this is my honest review.
4 Stars
Okay, so I’m a big fan of this authors books, and I have never read a book of hers that has a wishy washy character, until now. This author usually writes strong characters, buy Hannah was definitely not in my eyes. I almost ended up with whiplash given the number of times Hanna doubted herself, her relationship with Roarke, how she lost her job in LA (not a fan of the reason behind it) and her move to Sweetwater. There were so many whiney moments with her character, at one point I wanted to jump through the page and smack her. Now having got that off my chest, I loved Roarke, Jessica, Jason, Ruth, Linda and Martha. They brought a lot to this story that actually saved it for me. Loved all the animals and the working pet hospital on Roarke’s land, and how he worked to save and keep safe all of the animals who ended up in his care. Ending was also a saving moment for me, overall a decent book. Even though I wasn’t able to read The Truth about Cowboys, I will probably go back and read it to get Jason and Jessica’s story, which could be pretty good I think.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC copy of this book.
I have to admit that at first, I was a bit frustrated with “Tangled Up in Christmas” by Lisa Renee Jones, though I ended up really liking this book in the end. While I found the main characters to be likeable and well-developed, the pace of the story felt rushed to me in the early chapters. For example, I couldn’t believe how quickly the friendship between Hannah, the main character of this book, and Jessica, the main character of the first book in the series, developed. Yes, Hannah grew up with Jessica’s husband, Jason, but I still found it strange that it only took about five minutes during a media event for Jessica to decide not only that she and Hannah were going to be good friends, but also that Hannah was the perfect person to hire to plan a Christmas festival for Jason’s baseball camp. A lot had happened since Hannah left Texas, and it was unrealistic to assume that she was still the same trustworthy person that Jason remembered. (Of course, she was trustworthy, but that’s beside the point.) In addition, later that same night, Hannah was already treating Jessica as a confidante. Maybe it’s just me, but I can’t imagine spilling personal information to a near-stranger so quickly after meeting, even if she was married to a childhood friend of mine.
Hannah’s relationship with her love interest, Roarke, also developed incredibly quickly. Again, yes, they did have a previous relationship when they were younger, but they basically just jumped right in where they left off instead of taking the time to get to know each other again. It really bothered me that they acted like their breakup was a week earlier, not six years earlier. I can’t imagine that neither of them changed or grew up at all in the intervening years. The one thing that was clear is that there were a lot of mistakes made on both sides, and I wouldn’t say that either one of them handled things the right way back then.
All of that said, as the timeline stretched out and the characters had more of a chance to interact on the page, the story really started to click for me. Hannah and Roarke were both wonderful, likeable characters, and I wanted so much for them to be happy. They both learned some very important things about themselves and their relationship, which allowed them to overcome the baggage of their past and finally move forward together. Their HEA felt very well-deserved, and the book’s epilogue practically had me in tears.
I also appreciated that this story answered some of the questions I had after reading the first book in this series, especially about Jason’s parents. However, it is still a standalone novel, and it is not necessary to read the previous book to enjoy this one. I do recommend Jessica and Jason’s story (“The Truth about Cowboys”) based on its own merits, though!
*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.
Tangled Up in Christmas is the second book in this series. I haven’t read the first one, but this can be read as a standalone. It featured the brooding, famed Horse Wrangler and vet, Roarke who was mentioned in the first book. This is a contemporary cowboy, small town, second chance romance and told in dual POV, but mostly through the heroine’s take.
The story started when Hannah had to move back to her small town of Sweetwater to open up an event-planning business after the disaster that was New York. She had a very promising career working for a famous fashion photographer until he got involved in the Me Movement which resulted for her being blacklisted as well. She knew that going back, she might bump to her old flame, Roarke. The man she was engaged with before. The man who broke her heart when he cheated on her. Or so she thought. When her friend asked her to cover for the photoshoot, she didn’t know that she will then be offered planning for an event. Much less, a job that will make her deal with Roarke, up close and personal.
It was evident in the story that they were still both hanged up about what happened between them years ago. Feelings still lingered and apparently, they haven’t moved on. This is a story of forgiveness, growing up as a person, loads of feel good romance and the beauty of small town community. A light and entertaining pre-holiday read perfect for every romance lovers.
I love second chance romance and Lisa Renee Jones delivers another great one in Tangled Up
in Christmas! Hannah and Roarke have great history that was broken by struggles among families. Circumstances bring them back into each other lives years later and the love and chemistry is undeniable. Loved their story that also includes Jessica and Jason from The Truth About Cowboys!
~~ 4 GLORIOUSLY HOPEFUL STARS! ~~
Holiday revelry comes early in this gift-wrapped confection by Lisa Renee Jones! TANGLED UP IN CHRISTMAS is an utterly delightful, second chance story that dazzled me from page one!
THE PREMISE:
Hannah and Roarke were madly in love and engaged to be married six years prior until an unspeakable betrayal by the tall, dark, and devastatingly handsome horse wrangler had a heartbroken Hannah hightailing it out of town. Over the years, she pursued a photography career in the fashion industry in Los Angeles but she never quite got over the ruggedly sexy man whom she loved and lost. But then a Me Too scandal involving her boss got her blacklisted by association, putting he kibosh on her dream job and sending her back to Sweetwater with aspirations to start her own event planning business.
Hannah’s homecoming is a long time coming. Only downside? She is forced back into her ex’s orbit again because Roarke is one of the facilitators of the Christmas festival she’s pulling together to launch her new enterprise. It’s clear from the instant they first bump into each other again that the sparks are still flying and they have lots of unfinished business to deal with. Before long, they find themselves back in each other’s arms—and sizzling between the sheets—but can they truly find their way back together again with all the bad history between them? Gotta read to find out but a Christmas miracle might be in store for this love-smitten duo!
MY MUSINGS:
The incomparable Lisa Renee Jones once again captured my heart with this heart-stirring Western-themed reunion romance! Readers of book one in the Texas Heat series will recognize Roarke as the best buddy of Jason from THE TRUTH ABOUT COWBOYS, and I must say I was over the moon excited to see this gruff, big-hearted horse wrangler get his own book!
While this novel is light on the melodrama and not ott angsty, it’s heavy on the swoony feels, fully engaged me from start to finish, and the chemistry between Roarke and Hannah is COMBUSTIBLE. These two have many fences to mend on the road to reconciliation but the ensuing journey is a pure adrenaline rush! I love how they are constantly thrown back into one another’s orbits, for professional reasons, but obviously their feelings are deeply personal. Through the course of the book as we watch Hannah once again fall under the spell of this honorable vet/horse wrangler, she also must come to terms with their past and begins to see Roarke in new, less judgmental eyes. And their shared love of animals just warms my heart! Speaking of which, I absolutely adore how Hannah sings to the horses who are under Roarke’s care! Can we get a collective awww?!
Meanwhile, Roarke aka “Saver of animals…Breaker of hearts” is determined to fight for his beloved “Han,” and right past wrongs, but he is harboring some secrets that could derail them once again. And when all is said and done, will his one truelove ever be able to trust him with her heart again? Both these characters have their own emotional trials and tribulations to overcome throughout the story, but no matter what, it’s undeniable how good they are together, how perfectly in sync they still are.
As with all of this author’s books, the story is evocatively written, the plot fast paced, and the witty banter between the characters is highly entertaining! I also found the close-knit small-town setting of Sweetwater to be the perfect backdrop for this second chance tale. The secondary cast is stellar, adding a rich sense of community and providing a plethora of support to our main characters.
The themes that LRJ explores throughout, involving Hope….Friendship… Home…Forgiveness…and Forever Love are beautifully interwoven into the story and there is an also a bit of a mystery revolving around the chain of events that tore Roarke and Hannah asunder all those years ago. While I got antsy over the prolonged separation between the H&h while he was out of town tending to sick horses at one point in the story, and felt those scenes could have been streamlined to accelerate the romance, I nevertheless was fully invested in this strong, stoic, sinfully sexy cowboy and the feisty filly he never stopped loving! Since this is a traditionally-pubbed romance, the sex scenes are not as plentiful and a bit less steamy than in LRJ’s indie releases, but their romantic interludes still left me breathless! Furthermore, there is wonderful push-pull and palpable sensual/emotional tension throughout, all leading up to a captivating HEA that’s guaranteed to fill your heart with gladness and put you in the holiday state of mind!
BOTTOM LINE:
TANGLED UP IN CHRISTMAS proves that you can indeed come home again! I truly cannot rave enough about this rollicking Lone Star romance which is chock full of swoony, feel-good moments, high octane chemistry and irresistible small town charm!
HIGHLY RECOMMEND!
Hannah has returned to her home in Texas to restart her life after things don’t turn out the way they should have in California. The last thing she expects is to run into her ex-fiancé fresh out of the plane and that’s a twist of fate she was definitely not looking for.
Hannah and Roarke have a history that ended bitterly and, when they have to work closely together for the benefit of their home town, the time to confront their past will only close in on them.
This was my first read by the author and it was a nice story, sweet and romantic, but I wasn’t crazy about the delivery and it ended up being just an ok book for me.
Ho Ho Ho! Santa isn’t in this book but he sure did bring some Christmas cheer and a a miracle that makes snow in 70 degree weather look like a magic trick.
Tangled Up in Christmas is a jump start on the Holiday hotness. Is it wrong to say that this should almost be an advent calendar? We might need some more books in the Texas Heat series before we can make that happen. However. We are off to a good start.
Holy hotness in some Wranglers, Levi’s, or whatever that man is wearing! LisaRenee Jones can supply me with cowboys any day of the week and twice on Christmas.
This second chance romance is enough to make any girl swoon. The right setting, some truth, and a whole lot of heartache before we get our Happily Ever After. But let me be clear, we get our Happily Ever After!
Bonus story….Santa, Baby 3 stars
This naughty like Christmas treat is an adventure of a different kind. Santa, Baby is a whirlwind romance started by a meet cute that definitely gets brownie points for it’s normal yet completely unusual circumstances. Roleplay maybe the start of something beautiful in this book but it isn’t everything.
Once she finds her self confidence, this little Marilyn rocks it in the sexiest way possible.
Tangled Up In Christmas by Lisa Renee Jones is the second book in her Texas Heat series and it was a charming second chance romance with very low angst. Hannah is back home and what she wants most is to avoid Roarke. He broke her heart and she can never trust him again, right? But now he is suddenly everywhere. Can she open her heart to him again?
I loved Roarke. He was sweet and caring and knew what he wanted. Hannah was not sure she could believe in him, but he slowly knocked down her walls. Now they are rebuilding their friendship and possibly even more! Tangled Up In Christmas by Lisa Renee Jones was a great holiday read with all the best feels.
Happy reading!