The Chef, the Holidays and the Husband (Country Brides and Cowboy Boots, #1)

by Erica Penrod

[phyllish]

Somehow, without any effort on my part, I find that as I go from one book to another, there is almost always some element from the first that carries over into the next.  It could be something as innocuous as the main character's name, or something more like a thematic element.  And this is despite the fact that I don't generally pick the next book I'll read with any special planning.  Most of the time I don't even remember what the book is supposed to be about - it is more likely that as I'm scrolling through my unread book pile the title catches my eye so I choose it to read next.  The Chef, the Holiday's & the Husband starts out with Lexi's car shutting down and refusing to start again as she is headed to her new place of employment.  Courting Calla started out almost exactly the same way.

As Lexi began to try to figure out how she was going to get to the Boy's Home that was out in the middle of nowhere and realized that she might have to defend herself against wild animals, she had this cheerful thought:

I can defend myself against a herd of squirrels, she thought as she unsheathed the six-inch serrated blade. If the herd consisted of two sleeping squirrels and a groggy sibling.

Descriptions in this story were beautiful, using similes and metaphors well.  They were not overdone or ridiculous (yeah, I've seen some in other stories that just don't make sense).  Here are a couple of examples of the imagery:

Snow gently wrapped around the log beams like a grandmother’s shawl, while a golden hue spilled from the many windows of the three-story home like a Thomas Kinkade painting.

 

The silver spurs on his boots caught the light streaming in through the windows ... and drew her attention, reminding her of the way they made music when he walked in the house, playing his version of a cowboy melody.

The story was well told.  I knew that Lexi had a secret hurt, but it was only fully revealed at the end of the book, leaving the suspense as to what it might be.  The pacing of the book was good and the relationship progressed in a believable manner.

I loved the way both Lexi and Lucas cared so deeply for the troubled boys living in the house.  Their characters were developed in such a way that I liked them both and wanted things to go well for them.

There were a few things in the book that I didn't care for.

There was some mild swearing in the book, primarily one word that many find innocent.

There were also a number of missing words, misspellings and mis-uses of words in the story that I wish had been caught in the proof-reading of this book.  They did detract a little from the story.

Told in the third-person, the viewpoint alternated between Lexi and Lucas, but there were a couple of places that the story was being told by the perspective of one of the characters, yet the thoughts of the other one were slipped in, as if the author couldn't restrain herself from sharing that one thought.

Lucas first appeared in the author's story The Horse Trainier, the Buyer & the Bride.  I have not read that book yet, but didn't feel like it affected my ability to follow or enjoy this book.

 This review was originally posted on Among the Reads