Need You Now (A Mile High Romance #1)
Released: May 30, 2017
Contemporary Romance
Zebra
Reviewed by Mandi
I’ve really enjoyed Nicole Helm books in the past – she writes really fun contemporary romances, sometimes featuring farmers (score!) and they make me smile. So I’m sorry to say Need You Now did not give me the smilies. I usually love a grumpy hero but Brandon was just so…depressing…it was hard to root for him. Brandon grew up in Gracely, Colorado and his family owned a mine that employed many people. But after some shady business dealing from his father, the mine fails, and unemployment sky rockets. Brandon, who assumed he would one day take over the mine, is angry at the devastation his father’s actions affected the town he loves. With the mountains, and the forests and the water, Brandon’s blood sings with the beautiful nature. Wanting to give something back to the town, Brandon, his brother Will, and their friend Sam open an adventure company, taking groups of people on hikes and other adventures in the mountains. While their company is successful, the town still gives them the stink-eye and local businesses refuse to work with them. Will and Sam outvote Brandon and decide to bring in a PR person to help their image.
Lilly really needs some work. Moving from Denver to Gracely with her sister and nephew (who were in an abusive relationship) Lilly finds herself in a small town and supporting several people. When she hears the adventure company wants to hire her, she is ecstatic, yet cautious. She knows those three guys are wealthy but also arrogant and does she really want to have to deal with three men, one (Brandon) who really doesn’t even want her there? But she needs the job so she takes it. She starts carefully repairing relationships with local townspeople and all the while, falls for Brandon.
As I said earlier, Brandon is grumpy – but super grumpy. He feels responsible for the town and how his family has let them down. He totally disagrees with hiring Lilly, who isn’t even from Gracely to help with their image. He rarely smiles, and is just in a bad mood. There is no “lusty grumpiness” – you know, the bad mood a hero is in when he won’t admit to himself how attracted he is to the heroine. This was just Brandon with a rain cloud hanging over him.
Lilly definitely has a more sunny personality but in my opinion she comes across as though she thinks she is better than everyone else. Maybe others will get a different impression of her, but to me that is how she felt. There are two twists to the story, one to set up a future book but there is one that directly affects Lilly and Brandon. This makes the HEA complicated, and it felt very rushed at the end. I would say it’s more of a HFN (happy for now) than a HEA.
The setting in this is beautiful, and Will, Brandon’s brother is the town flirt and Sam, their friend is mysterious (he doesn’t own a cell phone!) I hope to like their books better.
Grade: C-
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