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jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Hard-driving real estate developer Samantha Kane travels to Gold Mountain to persuade a last holdout to sell land to her company so she can realize her dead father's dream to develop the Washington state ski mountain into a major resort. But she ends up meeting the holdout, Austin Reede, on the slopes and because of their attraction, doesn't immediately reveal who she is. And she keeps not telling him the truth, as they engage in a weekend tryst that turns into something far more emotionally meaningful than either expected.
Brooks crafts a compelling romance between two strong characters in this brief novel, both of whom have had difficulties opening up emotionally to other people (and for very good reasons). And it was great to see the big developer role taken on by a female character, especially one as hard-driving and as savvy about gender issues as is Sam.
I'm not a big fan of books where one character hides his/her identity from the other, though; I hate anticipating that cringeworthy moment when the truth comes out. The deceived partner has a right to be angry, too, and so the making-up between the two is hard to craft without making one or both partners look silly or stupid. Brooks falls into that trap here; Austin's turnaround happened far too quickly, after only one short conversation with his friends. As Sam says toward the end of their make-up scene, "I don't understand how we got here"—readers will likely wonder, too.
Brooks crafts a compelling romance between two strong characters in this brief novel, both of whom have had difficulties opening up emotionally to other people (and for very good reasons). And it was great to see the big developer role taken on by a female character, especially one as hard-driving and as savvy about gender issues as is Sam.
I'm not a big fan of books where one character hides his/her identity from the other, though; I hate anticipating that cringeworthy moment when the truth comes out. The deceived partner has a right to be angry, too, and so the making-up between the two is hard to craft without making one or both partners look silly or stupid. Brooks falls into that trap here; Austin's turnaround happened far too quickly, after only one short conversation with his friends. As Sam says toward the end of their make-up scene, "I don't understand how we got here"—readers will likely wonder, too.
caseroo7's review against another edition
3.0
Find this review and more at Ramblings From This Chick
Make Me Stay is the first book in the Men of Gold Mountain series by Rebecca Brooks. I was excited about this one because I love sports romance stories and Austin is a retired skier and this one sounded like it would check all my boxes. I have to say though that while there were some cute and sexy moments here, ultimately I had a tough time getting over a few details and that kept me from loving the story.
Austin retired from a successful skiing career after an injury changed his life. Now Gold Mountain is his home and refuge and Kane Enterprises threatens to ruin everything for Austin once again. When Austin meets Sam on the slopes, he has no idea that his sexy one-night stand is also Samantha Kane, the woman determined to get him to sell his land for her to develop. As Sam and Austin start to fall for one another it is only a matter of time before the truth comes out.
Sam and Austin had a lot of chemistry. They were great together, and their scenes were sexy. They were clearly forming a connection and I would have loved to have seen the focus more on that, rather than the secret being dragged out to the very end. As much as I loved these two together, the secret about Sam's identity seemed to be used solely for the purpose of building conflict and I would have preferred to see these two deal with that earlier so that we could have seen more depth to their relationship.
As much as I wanted to really love Austin, the author made that a bit impossible as she made him come off as a bit too stupid for my liking. Austin knew he was supposed to be meeting a woman named Samantha Kane, and yet when he bumped into a woman named Sam he was just completely clueless. I found that to be completely unbelievable and hurt my enjoyment of the story as well as how much I could like Austin's character. I think that this book had potential, but unfortunately it was just hard for me to really feel invested when things were unrealistic for me right off with this story. Don't get me wrong it was still a good read, and aside from that it was a sweet and sexy romance. I would read more in the series and I think contemporary fans will enjoy this story even if they don't all love it.
**ARC Provided by Publisher**
Make Me Stay is the first book in the Men of Gold Mountain series by Rebecca Brooks. I was excited about this one because I love sports romance stories and Austin is a retired skier and this one sounded like it would check all my boxes. I have to say though that while there were some cute and sexy moments here, ultimately I had a tough time getting over a few details and that kept me from loving the story.
Austin retired from a successful skiing career after an injury changed his life. Now Gold Mountain is his home and refuge and Kane Enterprises threatens to ruin everything for Austin once again. When Austin meets Sam on the slopes, he has no idea that his sexy one-night stand is also Samantha Kane, the woman determined to get him to sell his land for her to develop. As Sam and Austin start to fall for one another it is only a matter of time before the truth comes out.
Sam and Austin had a lot of chemistry. They were great together, and their scenes were sexy. They were clearly forming a connection and I would have loved to have seen the focus more on that, rather than the secret being dragged out to the very end. As much as I loved these two together, the secret about Sam's identity seemed to be used solely for the purpose of building conflict and I would have preferred to see these two deal with that earlier so that we could have seen more depth to their relationship.
As much as I wanted to really love Austin, the author made that a bit impossible as she made him come off as a bit too stupid for my liking. Austin knew he was supposed to be meeting a woman named Samantha Kane, and yet when he bumped into a woman named Sam he was just completely clueless. I found that to be completely unbelievable and hurt my enjoyment of the story as well as how much I could like Austin's character. I think that this book had potential, but unfortunately it was just hard for me to really feel invested when things were unrealistic for me right off with this story. Don't get me wrong it was still a good read, and aside from that it was a sweet and sexy romance. I would read more in the series and I think contemporary fans will enjoy this story even if they don't all love it.
**ARC Provided by Publisher**
kymreads's review against another edition
2.0
This "book" was part of a freebie group of giveaway books, however, it was NOT the complete version. I was disappointed that it wasn't until the end of the book that I discovered it was just a teaser for the full story. Dissapointing...
sasha2599's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Ski Slope Stars
I adore small-town romances, the ones with hole-in-the-wall bars where everyone knows everyone else's business. Somehow city girl Samantha keeps her real identity from ski instructor Austin as her feelings for him quickly turn into something a lot more than the business relationship she was there to explore. The romance in this was scorching!
This book was an excellent start to a promising series. It's filled with gorgeous scenery, interesting characters, and plenty of flames. I'll definitely be watching for more books from Rebecca Brooks.
**ARC provided for honest review**
I adore small-town romances, the ones with hole-in-the-wall bars where everyone knows everyone else's business. Somehow city girl Samantha keeps her real identity from ski instructor Austin as her feelings for him quickly turn into something a lot more than the business relationship she was there to explore. The romance in this was scorching!
This book was an excellent start to a promising series. It's filled with gorgeous scenery, interesting characters, and plenty of flames. I'll definitely be watching for more books from Rebecca Brooks.
**ARC provided for honest review**
lauraanne9's review
3.0
***ARC Provided by the Publisher and NetGalley***
This was an interesting read, although I think the "secret" of Samantha's identity was kept away from Austin for too long, which made it a little difficult to engage in the story.
I get the fun of the idea of a story in which one of the people has a secret...but in this instance, I thought it was a little obvious and that there was no way the secret of her identity could have gone on for as long as it did. And, for all of the time the book spent focusing on it, I thought it was made a non-event once everyone knew.
Other than that, I actually enjoyed he relationship between Sam and Austin. I also really liked her story arc, as she became more of a person in charge and came out of her father's shadow in the company.
I thought their relationship seemed authentic and that there was a lot in the book that really worked. I just had issues with the secret and how long it went on.
***This and other reviews also featured on “I’m A Sweet and Sassy Book Whore” http://www.imasweetandsassybookwhore.com***
This was an interesting read, although I think the "secret" of Samantha's identity was kept away from Austin for too long, which made it a little difficult to engage in the story.
I get the fun of the idea of a story in which one of the people has a secret...but in this instance, I thought it was a little obvious and that there was no way the secret of her identity could have gone on for as long as it did. And, for all of the time the book spent focusing on it, I thought it was made a non-event once everyone knew.
Other than that, I actually enjoyed he relationship between Sam and Austin. I also really liked her story arc, as she became more of a person in charge and came out of her father's shadow in the company.
I thought their relationship seemed authentic and that there was a lot in the book that really worked. I just had issues with the secret and how long it went on.
***This and other reviews also featured on “I’m A Sweet and Sassy Book Whore” http://www.imasweetandsassybookwhore.com***
bookbriefs's review
3.0
**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: https://bookbriefs.net**
Make Me Stay is the first book in the Men of Gold Mountain series by Rebecca Brooks. Make Me Stay is an adult contemporary romance. I really enjoyed the first book in the Men of Gold Mountain series, and I can't wait to read the next book. It is a new spin on a familiar concept, one that I have seen done more in romantic comedy movies rather than in books, so it was fun for me to read about it. In this case Sam Kane was a developer wanting to buy land on the mountain to develop a ski community and finish out her father's dream, but the concept can be used for anything. It goes like this, two people have never met but one is mad at the other one because that other one is trying to make them do something they don't want to do (in this case sell his land). Two individuals meet but one or both of them don't know who the other is. They like each other. Then they find out who the other one is, and disaster ensues.
I like the concept a lot and I really liked watching Sam and Austin get to know each other without him knowing it was Sam. That being said, I always kind of think the other person should just introduce themselves sooner rather than later. I feel like Sam would have gotten so many more brownie points if at her first meeting she said who she was. She was meeting Austin on good terms and I think he would have respected that, but it never seems to happen that way. Either way, watching them two of them interact before, during and after they knew who the other one was, was a lot of fun. Make Me Stay is a very well written and well executed story, and I can't wait to see where the series goes from here.
Austin is such a stand up guy. He is my favorite kind of guy actually. Sure, he is a little bit stubborn but he has a kind streak a mile wide. And Sam is kind too, even if she doesn't want to admit it. Austin is good for Sam. Make is Stay is a delightful read, though a little predictable in concept, this book is very well done and it will surprise you. I really enjoyed this one.
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
Make Me Stay is the first book in the Men of Gold Mountain series by Rebecca Brooks. Make Me Stay is an adult contemporary romance. I really enjoyed the first book in the Men of Gold Mountain series, and I can't wait to read the next book. It is a new spin on a familiar concept, one that I have seen done more in romantic comedy movies rather than in books, so it was fun for me to read about it. In this case Sam Kane was a developer wanting to buy land on the mountain to develop a ski community and finish out her father's dream, but the concept can be used for anything. It goes like this, two people have never met but one is mad at the other one because that other one is trying to make them do something they don't want to do (in this case sell his land). Two individuals meet but one or both of them don't know who the other is. They like each other. Then they find out who the other one is, and disaster ensues.
I like the concept a lot and I really liked watching Sam and Austin get to know each other without him knowing it was Sam. That being said, I always kind of think the other person should just introduce themselves sooner rather than later. I feel like Sam would have gotten so many more brownie points if at her first meeting she said who she was. She was meeting Austin on good terms and I think he would have respected that, but it never seems to happen that way. Either way, watching them two of them interact before, during and after they knew who the other one was, was a lot of fun. Make Me Stay is a very well written and well executed story, and I can't wait to see where the series goes from here.
Austin is such a stand up guy. He is my favorite kind of guy actually. Sure, he is a little bit stubborn but he has a kind streak a mile wide. And Sam is kind too, even if she doesn't want to admit it. Austin is good for Sam. Make is Stay is a delightful read, though a little predictable in concept, this book is very well done and it will surprise you. I really enjoyed this one.
This review was originally posted on Book Briefs
bookgyrl's review
3.0
Samantha Kane wants to finish the big ski resort project her late father started and to accomplish that she has to convince Austin Reed to sell his land. After he keeps refusing, Sam travels to Gold Mountain to meet him in person. And she does meet him, but during a ski trip and she does not tell him who she is.
Not a bad read, but it was unbelievable how dense Austin was. He knew Samantha Kane was coming to Gold Mountain, yet he never suspects Sam is Samantha Kane? There were so many signs..
I could have cuffed him for his stupidity...
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Not a bad read, but it was unbelievable how dense Austin was. He knew Samantha Kane was coming to Gold Mountain, yet he never suspects Sam is Samantha Kane? There were so many signs..
I could have cuffed him for his stupidity...
I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
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