"Song of the Valley" by Britt Howard

Y'all know I don't read a lot of romance-centric books.  I read a lot of books that have some romance in them, but that's not the same thing.  Romance-centric means the romance is the central point of the book, and the plot will hinge on it.  Once in a while, a romance-centric book will interest me enough to pick it up.  Usually, only historical fiction romance will catch my interest -- I can think of two modern-day romancey books I've read before.  Both were Christian fiction, like this -- I shy away from secular romance books because I know they're going to be smutty and skanky, and nope.  Not going there.

So.  All of that is really just me explaining how special Song of the Valley is.  Because I not only got interested in this book, even though it's modern-day Christian romance, I signed up to read an ARC of it.  

And friends, this book did not disappoint me.  It promised clean romance, second-chance romance, cowboy romance, and happily ever after... and BOY HOWDY, did it deliver!!!  My goodness, I could have curled up inside this book and stayed for weeks.  You know how getting me to want to be friends with the characters is the way you make me love a book?  Well, I want to be friends with the entire McCade family.  And with their friends.  I am super excited that this says "McCade Family Novel, Book One" because that means I'll get to hang out with all these characters again :-D

Okay, so this book is about Samantha McCade, a recent college graduate who spends her summer back on her family's ranch in Montana.  She wants to work for a nonprofit organization in Europe, so while she sends out query letters and preps for interviews, she volunteers to help do the marketing for a neighbor's summer camp.  Samantha figures that'll be good for her resume.  The only catch is, the summer camp is run by a neighbor she absolutely loathes.  She blames Caleb Kane for her father's death years ago.  She can't stand the man.  Too bad he's super handsome, great with horses and kids, and clearly attracted to her.  Oh, and she used to have a crush on him when she was a teen.  

One thing leads inevitably to the other, and pretty soon Samantha doesn't hate Caleb anymore, and then Samantha and Caleb kiss secretly, and then Samantha's awesome cowboy brothers find out about them kissing secretly... and then Samantha lands an interview for her dream job in Italy.  But everything gets wrapped up beautifully, I promise :-)

Oh, and I know just enough about horses to be happy with all the horse-riding and horse-care discussed in the book, because it was all good and right and accurate.  Yay!  I love it when that happens.

One of my favorite things about this book is how it explores how difficult it can be to decide between two good options.  Sometimes, that can be a lot harder than making a choice between a good and a bad option, or deciding which one is good and which is bad.  I'm actually exploring that a tiny bit in my current WIP too, because it's something we do experience in life, but I don't see it discussed all that often in Christian fiction.  It excited me to find it here too!

I should mention that I did receive an advance copy of this book from the publisher, but I was not asked or required to provide a review of it.  All opinions are my own truthful thoughts on this book.

Particularly Good Bits:

I laughed until my stomach ached, and my heart hurt for the family that we used to be.

I was already itching for city life, with the constant noise, coffee shops on every corner, and shopping malls.  A person didn't have to think so much in the city.

I didn't want to be that girl anymore though.  The one who naively thought that no harm would ever come to her loved ones.

By the time the autumn colors washed over Cascade Valley, I would be on a journey to womanhood that seemed like a river with no end, endless possibilities stretching vast and wild before me.

"But it's easy to get so caught up in searching for the extraordinary that you miss the beauty of the ordinary gifts right in front of you."

"All good things come from you, don't they, Lord?  But what if there are too many good things to choose from? What do I do then?"

If This was a Movie, I Would Rate It:  PG for on-page kissing and explorations of grief and anger.  No cussing, no violence, no sex.  Not even off-page, fade-to-black sex.  Utterly clean.  

Also, this is a bit random, but I kept imagining Caleb Kane looked like Clint Walker, and so now I'm just watching Clint Walker movies and shows whenever I get a chance.  Good thing I own all the seasons of Cheyenne...

(Caleb Kane has a beard, though.  I've seen Clint Walker with a beard,
but the internet is loathe to provide me with a picture of him with a beard,
so you just have to have this one instead.)