Synopsis

Secrets are the best protection against love

Rose Badger is the local flirt, and if the other inhabitants of backwoods Blake’s Folly, Nevada, don’t approve, she couldn’t care less. With a disastrous marriage and a dead-end career far behind her, settling down is the last thing she intends to do. Newcomer Jonah Livingstone is intriguing, but with his complicated life, he’s off limits for anything other than friendship. Besides, Rose has a secret world of her own—one she won’t give up for any man.

The last person geologist Jonah Livingstone expected to meet in a semi-ghost town is the sparkling and lovely Rose Badger. But Rose, always surrounded by many admirers, doesn’t seem inclined to choose a favorite. So why fret? Jonah keeps his personal life well hidden…and that’s the best way to avoid disappointment.

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Review

This is the last book in the trilogy, and I have been wondering about Rose’s story after meeting her in the second book, All About Charming Alice. The stories do overlap a little bit, but we don’t see much of Alice in this book until she brings one of her dogs to Rose to adopt. Granted, Rose is not on board with this, but Noodle is a sweetie. How could she not love him? But he is a small part of the story.

The main story centers around Rose, her vintage shop, and a secret she is keeping from everyone in Blake’s Folly. Considering this small town has a gossip grapevine that would put anyone else to shame, she is wise to keep this a secret. You’ll have to read the book to find out what it is, and it isn’t anything bad. There is also Jonah, a geologist that is working in the area that is captivated by Rose. Not that Rose lacks suitors. She has several men interested in her, but it isn’t quite reciprocated. At least not until she meets Jonah. These two get along like a house on fire. I like that their conversations take time, and nothing is rushed. They are getting to know one another.

I enjoyed learning more about Rose and Jonah’s ancestry. Her Russian family, his Native American. This makes for some interesting conversations. Rose is holding back, but she finally lets down her guard a little to let Jonah into her world. Considering her past, it is understandable why she holds everyone at arm’s length. But there is something about this relationship that brings out the better part of both of them.

I enjoyed reading this series, and while each can be read as a standalone, if you read it in order, you will discover more about the town and its residents.

We give this book 4 paws up.

About the Author

Writer, photographer, social critical artist, and impenitent teller of tall tales, J. Arlene Culiner was born in New York and raised in Toronto. She has crossed much of Europe on foot, has lived in a mud house on the Great Hungarian Plain, a Bavarian castle, a Turkish cave dwelling, a haunted house on the English moors, and on a Dutch canal. She now resides in a 400-year-old former inn in a French village of no interest where, much to local dismay, she protects spiders, snakes, and all weeds. She particularly enjoys incorporating into mysteries, non-fiction, and romances, her experiences in out-of-the-way communities and her conversations with very odd characters.

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