Will their attraction grow into something deeper, or will it wither and die on the vine? After the Syracuse Stallions clinch the championship, Nathan Zinkan, the renowned wild man of the AHL is arrested for a DUI. Again. When a no-nonsense judge adds a heavy dose of community service to an already stiff sentence, Nathan has to forget a summer of partying and slide on a pair of gardening gloves. … gardening gloves. His entire future now rides on how well he can behave while helping elderly urban gardeners tend to their tomatoes.
Watching local garden center owner Bran Cavanaugh working without his shirt is a benefit he wasn’t expecting. Pity Bran is also the one in charge of the community garden as well as keeping tabs on Nathan’s hours served. The two men are instantly at odds due to Nathan’s rebellious nature and Bran’s icy demeanor. Yet there’s no denying the attraction that begins to build between the hot-headed athlete and the cool as a cucumber master gardener.
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If you want a fantastic story that will tug at your heart strings, make you laugh, clinch your fist and shout for joy, this is the book!!! Oh how I love Bran and Nate!!
Bran is still grieving the loss of his husband from a few years ago, putting everything he has into his garden center. Nate is young and has been dealt a very harsh life with family, things that are hard to deal with as an adult let alone a young child. Drinking has become his go to, hockey is his life. But after two drink driving incidents, the judge decides community service, probation, AA, classes are needed. Working at Sunflower Acres garden center with elderly people in their gardens is not the way he wants to spend his summer. But it just may be the best thing that ever happened to him in his short life so far. Bran can’t resist him. Meet the hippy elderly ladies, grumpy old men, the judge, two seagulls, a group of hockey kids, all who help Nate in their own way realize his worth!
Bran is hesitant, Nate is cocky. Both of issues with grief, but together they can heal each other’s hearts. I’ll just say you have to read this book, the whole series is awesome, this may be my favorite but really who could pick just one!!! Hockey and love go so well together. Enjoy this!!
I loved it, a snarky, heart-warming love story.
I’ve really been enjoying this series of stories that are connected only by theme (so you can read them in any order). Like book two, A Touch of Yellow Sun, The Good Green Earth is about redemption.
Nathan (Nate) Zinkan is on his way to the NHL as a star player for the Syracuse Stallions AHL team. Just one problem: he’s just gotten his second DUI and he’s not even of legal drinking age. He gets off lucky with only a fine, loss of his license and community service but he really needs an attitude adjustment.
Bran Cavanaugh is the owner of the garden center where Nate has to perform his community service. The two of them throw sparks off of each other almost instantly but Bran’s cool demeanor becomes an instant challenge to Nate.
V.L. Locey has penned another wonderful romance that kept me glued to my ereader. I should never have started reading it late in the evening. I read until my ereader nearly fell from my hands because I just couldn’t stay awake any longer, no matter how much I wanted to.
Nate resists attempts to help him at first and Bran resists Nate’s flirting. Both of them have very valid reasons for being the way that they are but you’ll need to read the book for yourself to find out why. As the story progresses, and both of their defenses slowly breakdown, they develop a relationship that means more than either of them expected.
It definitely isn’t all smooth sailing as Nate faces several challenges (some expected, some not) that endanger his new-found sobriety. The Good Green Earth had my emotions all over the place and my eyes leaking a lot. I enjoyed this story so much and can’t wait to read the next one.
A copy of this book was provided to me but my review was voluntary and not influenced by the author.
***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***
I got pulled into this story very quickly and became invested in Nate a couple of pages in, despite thinking he needed to lose his attitude. I figured early on that there was a story behind Bran’s cool demeanour. I enjoyed reading about his and Nate’s mutual attraction and slow building friendship. Given Nate’s past, I could well understand why he had difficulty staying away from alcohol. Both he and Bran are hurting, and not coping in different ways. I thought the author did a great job in revealing their backgrounds and personalities as the story progressed.
I loved the supporting cast too. Maggie, in particular, is great. She’s quirky, yet caring, and I liked the way she helped Nate to open up by asking about his tats. He really is quite clueless about gardening. I loved Dixie too. She’s very smart, yet empathetic, and straight up about both Bran and Nate needing to ‘sort their shit out’. On the flip side, Nate’s brother is a totally unpleasant guy, and came across well as just that.
I liked that Bran being Nate’s boss as he works out his community service was brought up, and why that would be problematic moving forward. I also thought it felt realistic that Bran would feel guilty for dating again. I like relationships that are equal, and I enjoyed that both men are fragile and damaged for different reasons, and are able to support each other.
The characters and setting felt very real. I found myself sitting up late, and turning pages, needing to know what happened next.
I’d recommend this feel good story to readers who enjoy a slow burn romance with damaged characters who struggle to regain their emotional strength, and grow a strong friendship along with their relationship. 5 out of 5 stars.
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This is book three in the Colors of Love series, but save for the hockey player and the agent (Arn) there is not real connection, so you don’t need to read Lost In Indigo or Touch of a Yellow Sun before this one.
I enjoyed this one, as much as book two, but not as much as book one, and the same reason applies.
Only Nathan has a voice. Now I know I say it often enough, but here I think I’m justified!
Nathan is a force of nature and he plows himself into Bran’s business while doing his community service. Bran is still grieving the loss of his husband two years before. Nathan decides he wants Bran but Bran is in a position of power over Nathan and Bran doesn’t want Nathan, or so he says.
But I wanted to hear from Bran, about how he feels about the attraction to Nathan, a much younger man. About his grief for the loss of his husband. About taking the steps he does to, not remove his husband, but to allow Bran and Nathan to move on, without his presence. And Bran doesn’t have that voice.
I enjoyed watching Nathan get to the root cause of his behaviour, felt for him when he finally lets it all out, when we hear what happened. Wanted to punch the brother so bloody hard though!
I don’t know if there will be any more of this series, but I hope so. I’m enjoying watching these hockey players meet the men who will colour their world!
4 solid stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
Two men meeting in less than ideal circumstances is an often enough exploited plot starter. What makes this book stand out is how the plot is developed and how charming the MCs were! VL Locey is taking us here on a journey hard to predict and even harder to let go, even for a second! I really enjoyed reading the story!