Review #1: The Montana Creeds series by Linda Lael Miller

I am going to lump all three of these books into one review. Not because they don't each deserve their own reviews, but because I want to catch up on reviewing the books I have read thus far this year.

The Montanta Creeds: Logan:

Synopsis(provided via amazon.com product description):

Descendants of the legendary McKettrick family, the Creeds are renowned in Stillwater Springs, Montana—for raising hell…
After years of wandering, Logan Creed, a cowboy with a dusty law degree, has returned home. To put down roots, to restore his family's neglected ranch…to have kids of his own proudly bearing the Creed name.

Divorced mom Briana Grant has heard the stories about her gorgeous neighbor. So Logan's kindness with her young boys is a welcome surprise, especially when her ex reappears. And when an unknown enemy vandalizes her home, Logan shows Briana—and the folks of Big Sky country—just what he's made of.

The Montana Creeds: Dylan.

Synopsis (provided via amazon.com product description):
Hailed as "rodeo's bad boy" for his talent at taming bulls and women, Dylan Creed likes life in the fast lane. But when the daughter he rarely sees is abandoned by her mother, Dylan heads home to Stillwater Springs ranch. Somehow the champion bull rider has to turn into a champion father—and fast.
Town librarian Kristy Madison is uncharacteristically speechless when Dylan Creed turns up for story time with a toddler in tow. The man who'd left a trail of broken hearts—including her own—is back…and this time Kristy's determined to tame his wild ways once and for all.

The Montana Creeds: Tyler.

Synopsis (provided via amazon.com product description):
Whether winning championship belt buckles or dealing with Hollywood types for endorsement deals, former rodeo star Tyler Creed can handle anything. Except standing on the same patch of land as his estranged brothers. Yet here they are in Stillwater Springs, barely talking but trying to restore the old Creed ranch—and family.
Lily Kenyon knows all about family estrangements and secrets. The single mom has come home to set things right, to put down roots for her daughter. What she doesn't expect is Tyler Creed, whom she's loved since childhood. Now the handsome, stubborn cowboy who left home to seek his fortune just might find it was always under the Montana sky.…

Review of all three books:
Overall, I really enjoyed this series. It was fast paced, sexy, and most importantly romantically real.

Book one in the series, Logan, is a very nice opener. Logan is an extremely likable character, and you really enjoy watching him try to do the right thing after a lifetime of not. His relationship with Briana and her sons is believable right from the start. You can feel the attraction between Briana and Logan, which helps the believability of the story for me because, let's be honest, the whole point of romance novels is a suspension of belief. I can only suspend my belief so far, though, before I want to put the book down. I also found Briana likeable. I enjoyed her role as mother trying to tough it out for the sake of her boys. When she did need to lean on Logan for support, I was actually rooting for her to let her guard down. The plot twists helped move the story quickly along, and by the end, I definitely wanted Briana and Logan together.

Book two in the series, Dylan, was by far my favorite. Something about the romance between Dylan and Kristy just enthralled me. Dylan is the most likeable Creed brother in my opinion. His relationship with his daughter is adorable, and he is the peacemaker between his two brothers. His history with Kristy makes it easy to believe the way they pick up again when he swings back into town. The only problems I had with this book were the portrayl of Dylan's ex (and daughter Bonnie's mother), and the portrayl of the daughter Bonnie. The little girl is supposed to be 2, but she's already completely potty trained while having very few words. Unrealistic portrayls of little kids always bugs me. That said, the portrayl of her mother, Sharlene, which I felt was fairly two dimensional. Overall, though, I was sad to see this book end.

Book three in the series, Tyler, was my least favorite book in the series. Tyler was the hardest character for me to like. And there were a lot of unresolved sub-plots. I almost feel like the author took on too many details, and summarily forgot about a handful of them. And Lily, the female protaganist, felt a little two dimensional. This book also had the most explicit lovemaking in the series. The problem I had with these scenes is that the connection between Lily and Tyler never quite felt real to me. Their attraction was all say so, and not so much on a deeper level. Still despite my problems with the book, I think it was well worth the read to wrap up the series.

The epilogue for the whole series was happily cheesy as one would expect, with marriages, babies, and happiness.

Challenge #3: My own self-imposed challenge

I am challenging myself to read at least one nonfiction book a month, for a minimum total of 12 during 2010.

If anyone out there is also reading nonfiction books, I'd love to hear what you are reading.

Challenge #2: Romance Novel Reading Challenge

Okay, so romance novels have always been my guilty pleasure. If I have a reason to read them, you bet I will.

I am participating at the challenge over here:
Royal Reviews.

My goal is to reach the Addicted level of 12 books.

Challenge #1: J. Kaye's 100 Books in 2010

As I mentioned in my intro post, I am challenging myself to read at least 100 books in 2010 so this challeng is perfect for me.

My books read will be listed in my sidebar.

If you want to check out the challenge:
J. Kaye's Book Blog.

Introductions and Such

I am a 30 year old happily married mom of two adorable little boys who works part time with teenagers as a youth director for a Lutheran church.

I love books. I don't know when I learned to read, but I don't have a time in my concious memory when I didn't have books in my life. I will pretty much read anything, although I do tend to read a lot of young adult books.

One of the greatest joys in my life is being able to pass my love of books on to my little boys. My three year old loves to sit through book after book, and my one year old loves to "read" books to us or himself.

The purpose of this blog is to record the books I read throughout this year (2010) complete with reviews. I am challenging myself to read at least 100 books this year.

Let the challenge begin.