An old flame rekindled . . .
Zara Cinders always knew Ham Reece was the one, but he wasn't interested in settling down. When she found someone who was, Ham walked out of her life. Three years later, Zara's lost her business, her marriage, and she's barely getting by in a tiny apartment on the wrong side of the tracks. As soon as Ham hears about Zara's plight, he's on her doorstep offering her a lifeline. Now, it will take every ounce of will power she possesses to resist all that he offers.
Ham was always a traveling man, never one to settle down in one town, with one woman, for more time than absolutely necessary. But Ham's faced his own demons, and he's learned a lot. About himself, and about the life he knows he's meant to live. So when he hears that Zara's having a rough time, he wants to be the one to help. In fact, he wants to do more than that for Zara. A lot more. But first, he must prove to Zara that he's a changed man.
So this was definitely a bit different from the other books in the series so far. We still get a complicated guy and a somewhat sassy girl, but no more real mystery and intrigue, which was a bit of a shame to me. Ham is a wanderer and in the past he and Zare had a good thing going on. They even really dated for a while, but other than that it was more of a hook up whenever he was in town. Being sick and tired of that arrangement, Zara breaks things off with Ham. She feels more for him, but also knows he won't ever change and she deserves real love. I honestly couldn't agree more with her and loved the fact that she made this big decision, instead of waiting for Ham to chance his mind.
Couple of years later and things haven't worked out that well for Zara. She lost her shop, had to leave her house and she has only just recovered from a divorce, when Ham sweeps into town. Apparently after all these years he has come to his senses, and realized that Zara is the only woman for him. I'm inclined to say too litlle too late, but he's a stubborn man not wanting to give up. Convincing Zara of his intentions and feelings won't be that easy, he will have to work for it. Though it's not like the woman has a lot of choice, as Ham has a tendency to give orders and people follow them.
Slowly though Zara's heart warms again and Ham finds a way to sneak in behind her defenses. He's there every step of the way to help her get her life back on track the way she wants to. When things from Zara's past rise up again, she can definitely rely on him to be their by her side.
While I very much enjoyed this story, I didn't feel quite as invested in the story. I liked Zara best from the two main characters. She had a very interesting, hard past, add all the things she's been through in the past year and now Ham showing up again. You know there will be drama. The thing was that I wasn't completely convinced by Ham. I really liked that he was always there for Zara throughout the years. This showed he did really care about her, but the whole part of letting her go because she deserves happiness and then later realizing you were an idiot, just seemed even a bit arrogant to me. He shows back up and he didn't expect that much resistance from Zara (which she is very much entitled to). I can take a guy who likes to take control, but Ham just takes it to another level and that was too much for me.
3.5
Colorado Mountain - Reading order and purchase links
The Author
Kristen grew up in Brownsburg, Indiana but has lived in Denver, Colorado and the West Country of England. Thus she has been blessed to have friends and family around the globe. Her posse is loopy (to say the least) but loopy is good when you want to write.
Kristen was raised in a house with a large and multi-generational family. They lived on a very small farm in a small town in the heartland and existed amongst the strains of Glenn Miller, The Everly Brothers, REO Speedwagon and Whitesnake (and the wardrobes that matched).
Needless to say, growing up in a house full of music, clothes and love was a good way to grow up.
And as she keeps growing up, it keeps getting better.
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