Christmas at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels

Well this certainly wasn't a relaxing Christmas romance. It barely had any Christmas at all actually. But there was adventure and mystery.  And this is the fourth book in a series that has had its ups and downs but takes place in the beautiful state of Montana.

Tag headed up to Montana in hopes of spending the holidays with his father.  It was a sentimental thing, and he sure didn't expect to become embroiled with a couple of murders.  Worse, his father is acting like his is a part of it.  And a local lady he just met the acquaintance of seems to be involved as well.

I actually didn't get much of a personality out of Tag.  He was more of a prop to keep Lily out of trouble and respond to what she was doing.  And he's highly suspicious of everyone even though he doesn't know them.  I guess that's a reason to be suspicious, but being that he normally works in a social setting (is in the restaurant business) it just doesn't seem authentic.  Lily is smart.  She's a mathematician and more logical than most.  And it was made clear that she's just helping her brother out by waitressing because she's family, not because she needs to.  There are a couple of reoccurring characters in this book.  Hud and Dana are there, but while they have glimmers of themselves in the first book, they're still much weaker characters than they used to be.

There was a lot going on in this book.  The excitement never ended and there was always someone after somebody else.  It was a little overwhelming in fact.  I think that the author tried to mix in a few too many plotlines and it left the story very convoluted and fast paced.  Just removing a side story (namely the one involving an antagonist from the last book) would have given more detail to the main plot and made the book more believable and easier to read.  I'm not saying that the book was terrible, but it wasn't as good as the last one in the series.  I did enjoy all the descriptions of Montana again and think that the author always has a good setting for her romances.  And there was a little bit of romance in this particular romance novel, which I also appreciated.

I'm sure there will be more books in this series, and I'll probably read them.  It would seem that they are definitely more action oriented than romance though.

**This book was received as a Goodreads Giveaway**

Christmas at Cardwell Ranch
Copyright 2013
218 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2013

Cardwell Ranch Trespasser by B.J. Daniels

Cardwell Ranch Trespasser is the third book in the series.  I hesitate to send you back to the first two, as I didn't really enjoy them, but I think they're necessary in order to understand the background for this book.  This book was much better than those two were though.

Hilde is a little disturbed when her friend Dana invites a long lost cousin to come and stay for an indeterminate amount of time.  And from day one, her instincts prove right.  Dee Anna isn't just mysterious, but she seems to be the cause of many of Hilde's most recent accidents.  Growing more worried for her friend, Hilde finds out what it's like to have everyone think she's crazy, while this stranger grows closer and closer to Dana.

Hilde is probably the best written character that I've come across in the series so far.  She has sense, speaks her mind, but still acts like a normal person.  And she's written so well that you actually feel frustrated right along with her when it comes to the situation.  Dana grows dumber and dumber with each book unfortunately.  She starts out so strong but becomes less of herself with each additional book.  Same with her husband.  I realize we're focused on new characters, but I'd like to see the original ones make a comeback.  The antagonist in this story was exceptionally well written.  You knew who was trouble from the start, but still wondered what lengths they could go to and just how psychopathic they could get.

Like I said, you knew from the start of this book what you were getting into.  But that didn't stop it from being an on the edge of your seat type of book.  I was worried the whole way and eager to find out what happened.  And there was even some romance in this book (and a small sex scene) which compared to the amount of romance thrown in on the previous two books is a lot.  It was still fast paced though, but not as bad as the first two.  This one didn't feel as if you were running a sprint while reading it.

Much better than the first two.  I'm now eager to read the fourth book, especially since it's a Christmas one.

Cardwell Ranch Trespasser
Copyright 2013
282 pages

Justice at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels

Ok, so I won the fourth book in this series in a giveaway, and now I'm reading the three before it in order to get prepared.  I have mixed feelings about it.  They're set in a wonderful place, but the characters leave much to be desired.

Jordan Cardwell is back in town because of a buddy and a mysterious phone call.  So when Liza finds him standing over the dead body of his buddy, things do not get off to a good start.  But Joran's charming, and there doesn't seem to be a feasible way that his friend was murdered by him which means there's a killer at large.  And this is a killer who doesn't want Liza solving the crime. 

In the first book Jordan took his sister by the shoulders and shook her.  And I seem to be the only one who remembers this.  At least out of a pool of myself and the book characters.  So how does he end up the likable protagonist in this book?  It kind of angers me as that was physical abuse and it never comes up again and everything is sunshine and rainbows.  Liza at least is a good character and knows what she wants.  I liked how she made decisions and followed through with them.  It showed she has guts and is a realistic thinker.  We have some of the characters from the first book as well, but they are toned down quite a bit.  Which is probably because six years pass in between the last book and this one. 

Again, I love that these books take place in an area of Montana I'm familiar with.  I've even been to Ousel Falls and having that personal connection makes it sort of special.  Although I do have to wonder why she kept saying "down" to Bozeman and "up" to West Yellowstone.  Bozeman is North and West Yellowstone is South.  The pace in this book was rather fast and jumbled and I thought the ending was a bit unbelievable.  Again, what is going on with the water in that town?  They have more than their fair share of crazy people. There's a little side plot in this book involving Dana's sister that I thought was actually more interesting than the main plot.  It was all very mysterious but then it was resolved pretty quickly too.

I've got the third book in my hands so I'll read it.  But I'd only give this one about 2.5 stars.  Hopefully they improve by the time I get to the fourth one (or the next)!

Justice at Cardwell Ranch
Copyright 2012
216 pages

Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch by B.J. Daniels

So this was more of a mystery than a romance.  Probably because there wasn't enough time to fit both a romance and a mystery in the book.  Something had to be left out.

Hudson Savage is back in town to be a temporary Marshall.  So it's not the greatest of instances when his first case is a dead body found on Cardwell Ranch.  Mainly because the owner of the ranch is his ex-fiance.  An ex-fiance that was hurt terribly by him and someone that he still has feelings for.  As for Dana, she's having the worse birthday ever.  A body, Hudson being back in town, and some deplorable siblings make for a rough day.  And because she's close to the crime, there may be someone who doesn't want her around either.

I don't like Dana.  I think she jumps to conclusions to quick and is kind of flighty, despite the fact that she's supposed to be the solid one of her family.  Sure she holds a lot of responsibility, but she seems to stretch herself thin and I can't say I actually saw her do much hard work in this book.  I just heard a lot alluded to.  Hudson is a better character.  He actually is out there doing something and is pretty level headed.  In fact, he's so reliable that you can't see how things really got destroyed in the first place.  And all the other characters?  Someone needs to fix the water in that town. 

I was pleased that this took place in a part of Montana that I really know.  Especially hearing the Emerson in Bozeman mentioned.  That just made my day.  It's such a beautiful area that I love when books take place there and cringe when the details are wrong.  And I did enjoy the mystery in this book, although I somewhat guessed what it was half ways through and thought that it should have gone a different way.  But I'm hoping the next book in the series will include a little of the romance.  I sure didn't get enough of it in this one. 

This is an ok book, considering that on the cover it's advertised as free and so many have enjoyed it for nothing.  Quick, rushed, but still easy to get through, it's good for a read you don't have to think about.

Crime Scene At Cardwell Ranch
Copyright 2011
248 pages