Hello, and welcome back! I hope wherever you are that Mother Nature is actually letting you have consistent spring weather, unlike here, where it's been summertime-hot and then early-spring cold again, all within a matter of days. My flowerbeds need attention, but with the weather so temperamental, I'm staying inside with my books and my writing.

This time out, I have A Town Called Valentine (Avon, received from publisher) by Emma Cane, aka historical romance author Gayle Callan. This one kicks off a new contemporary series with Emily Murphy arriving in her late mother's rural hometown after the end of her marriage. She thinks she can sell the building she's inherited and make a fresh start. A stop for dinner on her way into town brings sexy rancher Nate Thalberg into her life, and she'll soon discover that he's going to be more tangled up in her life than she could have imagined. The building she owns is in need of a lot of repair work before she can sell it, and it turns out Nate might come in handy there, too. The longer she spends in Valentine, though, the more tangled up in the town and its citizens she finds herself, and learning about old family secrets gives her already shaky life another turn. Nate keeps to himself, but there's something about Emily he can't seem to resist, even though he knows she has no intention of staying in Valentine, and pretty soon, the knowledge that she won't stay is painful to the private cowboy. There are a lot of "small town" romances out these days, and some are better than others. This one falls into the 'better than others' category, with its engaging characters and endearing hero and heroine. Emily has a lot to deal with, both from her past and her present, and she's got more spunk than she ever realized when she envisioned a new life for herself after the heartbreaking end of her marriage. I quite enjoyed this one and am looking forward to reading the next installment in the series, so I can revisit some of the town quirky characters and fall in love all over again. I'm borrowing three and a half of Cupid's five arrows for this one.

Until next time, happy reading!

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Emma Cane