Review: Fantastic read!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 30, 2014
This book sucked me in from the very first page and then continued to hold my attention until the very last word. While I totally loved the first book in this series, which happened to be Allison & Cole's story, IMO- this book was so much more. And truthfully....I think that was due to the interesting cast of secondary characters involved in this book. IMO- the first book involved so much more angst and darkness. And even though this one had that, too, it also had so much more lightness added into the mix. Does that make sense?In this book Danielle is a character who's basically been through hell and back, yet, she never really lets her past get her totally down. She may have lost her parents at a young age, and a serious boyfriend when she was only twenty yrs. old, but that still hadn't detoured her from living a life of happiness. In other words; after all she's lost she doesn't go around acting bitter, or into playing the pity card like someone else might have. No. She is just grateful for the things she still has, like the love and affection she shares with her grandmother and her Uncle Jake. She's also very grateful for her very good friends Allison and Faith, who's always been by her side through thick and thin. Not only that, but she also has a successful business that she built from the ground up.Her only fear these days, is that she'll open up her heart.....and getting hurt again by losing them in the end. After all, why wouldn't she be afraid to open her heart again, when she'd already lost so much in the past. Down deep she's not sure if she'd even survive another major loss. The worst part of all, is when the people she loved the most had died, she had never had a chance to say her good-byes. And because of that, she's decided she's not willing to open her heart to anyone new.BUT......That's before the handsome movie producer, Gray shows up on her Uncle Jakes ranch. She's so attracted to him right from the very first time their eyes meet. But she's not sure she wants it to go any futher, especially since she knows he'll only be there for a week at the most.Grayson has dated many beautiful women in the past, but none of them ever affected him the way this little spitfire did. She nothing like the Hollywood glamous type he's used to, she's even beautiful without even knowing it. She's more of natural beauty. She doesn't need the expensive clothing, jewelry, or the heavy make-up to enhance her looks. She has him more on edge dressed in her faded bluejeans and t-shirt, than any other woman he's ever known.The way Ms. Ingram wrote all of those beautiful descriptive scenes, made me feel as though I was right there watching the whole scene unfold before my very own eyes. I could see the birds in flight over the lake, as the sun began to set in the horizon. I could actually smell the scents of wild flowers growing in the fields. I could picture the deep blue cloudless skies above, as they rode the trails on horseback. I could hear the call of mother natures creatures in the distance, as the sun lower in the sky at dusk.The scene with Dani standing on the mountain side. Her long curly blonde hair blowing loosly in the breeze, as she tightly held the reins of her horse and bravely waved goodbye to the jet passing overhead, taking the man she had fallen head over heels for in such a short time, away from her forever. I felt it all. EVERY SINGLE EMOTION! The passion, the loss, the heart-break, and I could even feel her turmoil running through her heart and soul, wondering if she had made the right decision by letting him go.I also felt Grays pain and agony the same way, too. I could picture him looking out that tiny port hole of a window and spotting the love of his life standing there wavying him good-bye, and feeling his heart-break. I cried so hard through these scenes, and so many more, in fact. But there were also times I laughed so hard, like the scene in the barn where Dani & Gray met for the very first time.This story touched my heart and soul, in ways that  I have never felt before while reading any other story. But it wasn't just about Dani & Gray...the secondary characters made me feel the same way, too. The undeniable love building fast and furiously between Jake and Carmen. The precious love of her grandmother, Orla Flynn. Her great friendship with with Faith, Allison and Cole. The great relatioship she had with Nick, her foreman. And most of all was the great love between Esperanza & Enrique, and the way they always treated Dani as if she was one of their own children.I just can't say enough about this story, I really can't It's one of those stories that leaves you thinking about the story and it's wonderful characters, days and maybe even weeks after you've turned the last page. If I could give this a 10 star rating I would, that's just how good it was!I highly recommend not only this book, but this whole series.