Above Rubies
His chivalry was strangling her. He thought he was helping her—and in truth, he was. She was in desperate straits. But as honorable as he was, he was also breaking her heart. Her attraction was drowning him. When World Champion rodeo cowboy Rossen Rockland and his friends rescue a young runaway who has been abused by her foster father and take her home to his parents’ ranch, he expects her to turn out to be a pain in the neck. And sometimes she is. It doesn’t take him long to figure out that she has way more than her allotment of troubles—and far more than her share of gifts. Lovely, talented, and ravingly brilliant, Kit Star is too young, unbelievably humble, and oh, so loveable. Knowing that she needs his protection and time to grow into her potential, Rossen also figures out that what she really is, is a pain in the heart. Watch for more of the Rockland Ranch Series! 
Praise for Above Rubies:
I absolutely could not put this book down. It had me laughing, crying, angry and pretty much every other emotion. I can not wait for the next one in the series to come out. Keep them coming!!! ~Addicted to Books This is the second book in the Rockland Ranch Romance Series. It can be read as a stand alone or copies of Peace River can be supplied if you would also like to review it.
Before I review this book I must say this is the second book in the Rockland Ranch series. It can be read as a stand alone so don't fear if you haven't read book 1. The second thing I feel I must let you know is that this is a highly religious oriented book. I had to have a good giggle at the bit at the very end where the author tells about how her mother viewed the book and thought the kiss was inappropriate. I am not a member of the LDS community, but I have studied religions so I wasn't lost with any of the terminology. I knew what a ward was, and I knew what a blessing was. But if you do not know what those things are you may get a little lost until you figure it out.
Now that being said I shall continue on.
Considering this is a romance, there wasn't a whole lot of romance to the book. It was a bit overwhelming for me to read as many times as I did about the faith based issues. There were a lot of conversations about Jesus and God in general and conversion to the LDS faith and being baptised.
Now all that aside, for me the characters while entertaining were a little over the top. Lets just start with Kit, she had an absolutely horrible childhood, she was a runaway when Rossen finds her, yet she is this absolutely perfect girl. She is beautiful, every man wants her, she is so talented that it makes you want to scream. Not only can she sculpt these gorgeous sculptures but she is also amazingly musically inclined and winds up making into the music industry all the while thinking she is "Just Kit" and add to all that she is absolutely brilliant with a photographic memory. A tad bit unreal, but okay lets leave her and move on to Rossen. Rossen is COMPLETELY religious. And so far into his own self that he can't see how much his actions effect others. The things he does while honorable and so completely any woman's dream are just so far over the top, what man denies himself even a kiss? Not many, and not many will tell the woman they are in love with to date other men. I won't go into anymore with that but suffice it to say that Kit has just so many men falling at her feet it is just a bit unrealistic, and they all "LOVE" her.
My favorite character would be Nick, and even he was a bit over the top. I won't spoil him for you ladies, but he personally would have been MY choice.
All in all, it is an enjoyable read, it will bring tears to your eyes, even if you aren't religious, I know because it did to me at a few points. I have to honestly give this book 4.5 stars. I can't give it 5 because the characters for me were just way too perfect. Not one of them seemed to have even a teensy tiny flaw. I also think that the ending just ended abruptly, after all the time spent with Kit and Rossen we just leave it at the wedding. For me that was just a bit disappointing. But go check it out for yourself!
Details/Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the Author for my honest review. The free book held no determination on my final review.
Peace River (Book 1)
The police didn't understand the danger, but she did. Her father had always been abusive, but now, with a ten million dollar Thoroughbred farm on the line, and a powerful bookie leaning on him, her father had become out of control. But how do you get away and take a world famous stallion with you? Carrie was getting desperate when a handsome and honorable but thoroughly cynical rodeo cowboy from Wyoming happened to show up with a horse trailer. He didn't ride a white horse, but he was definitely a knight in shining armor. He'll protect her from the mob, but can she survive falling in love with a bull rider? 
Praise for Peace River
"Give me a clean romance, humor and a good looking cowboy and I'm a happy girl. LDS fiction isn't always my favorite, but I really enjoyed the characters and adventure in this book." ~Carol - Goodreads "There was plenty of action, adventure and danger to keep me guessing just how everything was going to turn out. I didn't want to put it down until I finished! Jaclyn Hawkes is one of my favorite LDS romance authors. You really can't go wrong with any of her books that you pick up!" ~Cathy -Goodreads
Author Jaclyn M. Hawkes
Jaclyn M. Hawkes grew up in Utah with 6 sisters, 4 brothers and any number of pets. (It was never boring!) She got a bachelor’s degree, had a career and traveled extensively before settling down to her life’s work of being the mother of four magnificent and sometimes challenging children. She loves shellfish, the out of doors, the youth and hearing her children laugh. She and her fine husband, their family, and their sometimes very large pets, now live in a mountain valley in northern Utah, where it smells like heaven and kids still move sprinkler pipe. 
Blog Tour Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card or Paypal Cash
Ends 6/26/13
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