Twelve years ago, Owen Carr left Gold Valley—and his long-time girlfriend—in favor of a country music career in Nashville. With one platinum album and a number one hit single under his belt, he returned after things went wrong with his manager and his record label. When he suddenly becomes a father to his eight-year-old niece, he’s in way over his head.He needs a nanny to care for Marie so he can … for Marie so he can keep up with the demands of his busy job at Silver Creek—and Natalie Ringold is a godsend. She can cook, she cleans, Marie loves her—and she just so happens to be the long-time girlfriend that Owen hasn’t made amends with. Yet.
Married and divorced, Natalie teaches ballet at the dance studio in Gold Valley, but she never auditioned for the professional company the way she dreamed of doing. With Owen back, she realizes all the opportunities she missed out on when he left all those years ago—including a future with him. Can they mend broken bridges in order to have a second chance at love?
more
Another hit from author Liz Isaacson! This is a wonderful story of second chances and realizing what is important in life. Owen and Natalie were high school sweethearts but Owen takes off for Nashville and a career in music and leave Natalie behind. This story tackles how the mistakes we make in our lives can derail our journeys but seeing ourselves and others from God’s perspective can bring us to a place of forgiveness and acceptance. God is always offering us more than second chances. I really enjoy how the author develops her characters and the real life struggles they endure and creates a story with meaning and purpose.
I can’t say I expected to be back at Silver Creek again, but I’m not sad about being here. It’s lovely watching these treatment programs. A second chance romance with pain on both sides. I enjoyed the integration of work, second chances, at risk boys, a sweet little girl, cooking, and so much more. A wonderful romance with many real life applications across all stages and situations in life.
Clean reading
The story of Owen and Natalie follows a path through grief, forgiveness, and personal journeys of faith and self discovery.
Owen left 12 years ago to pursue his dreams, abandoning his family and Natalie whom he had made promises of a future together. Since that time, although he had reached a measure of success, he’d also experienced disappointment and great loss in the death of his sister and brother in law. Now, assuming the responsibility of his niece, he has to create a new life and future for not only himself, but his niece as well.
Natalie Lower Ringold has never quite gotten over Owen Carr. Since he left 12 years ago, she did manage to complete her dancing degree, but she never auditioned for the ballet company. She tried moving on by marrying another man, but that ended in divorce. Struggling financially, she responds to Owen’s ad for a nanny. Will this provide the second chance she wants? Is there hope for a second chance between them?
I enjoyed reading about Owen and Natalie. They had a lot of issues to wade through. Each had to decide who they were both as an individual and as a couple. Mingled through their relationship struggles is the grief that Owen and his family are dealing with over the loss of his sister and brother in law. I think that the author was very respectful and expressed the emotions well. In the end, I felt that I had gotten to know the characters and appreciate what they were dealing with and how they handled the situation. It was a good and quick read for me mainly because I was drawn into the story line and felt invested in it.
Romance – PG – kissing
Language – clean
My rating – 5 stars
“Between the Reins” was a very interesting tale about a once before couple that had ended in heartbreak and desertion. Love at a young age is fragile and sometimes easy to forget about, but Natalie and Owen’s love is like a spark that can start a wild fire. The passion that burns between them is from somewhere deep within each of them that God is fueling to lead them back together.
When tragedy has struck and Owen is left with some monumental decisions, who better than to enter back into his life then the love of his life- Natalie. Being around Owen is harder than she thought because falling in love with him has always been the easiest thing she has ever done. Can these two broken hearts become one again? Is there still a chance for happily ever after?
I would just like to say that there are over 6 books in this series (so far), and I am not normally a fan of series that run this long (unless they really hold your attention); however, Mrs. Isaacson grabs your attention with the multiple characters throughout the many novels and manages to keep them all tied together without having to repeat herself a multitude of times throughout each story. Wonderful job, if you enjoy one, you will enjoy all of them.