Wyoming Brides

I know, I know...another book!! This one I read in a day and still had time to fold laundry!!

"Wyoming Brides" by Debbie Macomber is actually 2 books that are now published as a joint story. Debbie wrote the first book "Denim and Diamonds" back in the late 80s, and then just recently in 2006 she wrote the "sequel" or more appropriately, part 2 entitled "The Wyoming Kid." Both books basically center around a brother and a sister who lost their parents years ago and are now taking care of the family ranch in Wyoming.

Let me just say that this is one of the best books I have read in a long time...much better than the last 2 I have read!! This was a wonderfully romantic story, you could just feel the emotions when you read it and I really enjoyed it. It wasn't as graphic as some of the other books I've read lately and I definitely appreciated that.

This book needs to be read to fully appreciate it, and I would definitely recommend going down to Costco and spending the $4.50 to buy it. Basically, Letty and Lonny are brother and sister...Chase Brown owns the farm/ranch next to theirs. Letty and Lonny grew up together and after High School Chase proposed to Letty, and she loved him dearly but wanted to pursue a career in LA...so she headed out and left him heartbroken. Well, life in LA ended up leaving her with a 3 year old whose father split as soon as he found out his DNA had been reproduced and a hole in her heart, literally, that was discovered during her pregnancy. She now needed surgery and had no choice but to head back home to her brother and have the surgery back home where she could get help with the bills and have someone to watch her daughter.

No one knows the real reason she comes home, they just assume that she finally decided to head back to her roots and raise her daughter. Chase wants nothing to do with her at first and even gives her daughter the cold shoulder but Cricket (her daughter) has become fascinated with Chase and won't leave him alone, which at the beginning annoys him and causes a few awkward situations for Letty.

Over time everyone finds out about her condition and the surgery and things get smoothed over...but while all that drama is unfolding, Lonny has his eyes on someone himself, but he doesn't realize it yet. He has fallen hard for the local school teacher, Joy Fuller, but despite Letty's constant prodding he insists that he loathes her and Joy similarly can't stand him. They have a few encounters, 2 of which are car accidents, or incidents, that they end up in together.

The second book, The Wyoming Kid is about Lonny finally realizing that despite all those years of yelling at Joy and thinking that she was just impossible he loves her and that he doesn't want to imagine his life without her in it. So, he sets out to "woo" her with the help of his now married sister who is friends with Joy. The only problem is that Joy's old boyfriend from the city is coming back to try and rekindle what was lost for them a few years back in college. Now Lonny has to try and convince Joy that she should stay there in Wyoming with him and that she in fact loves him too...but she wants to see what happens with Josh her old flame and she insists that she doesn't love Lonny, that he is just crazy for saying things like that. After a few incidents where they find themselves in each other's arms mostly by accident she finally realizes that small town life really is what she wants and that small-town life would just be boring without Lonny in it.

This is kind of a quick review, and honestly, this book needs to be read to fully appreciate it. if you are looking for an easy read and something that will make you smile, then this is the book for you!! I loved it and would definitely read it again!!