Series: Montana Mavericks: The Lonelyhearts Ranch (Book 1)Montana Mavericks
Whose wedding is it, anyway?
Rust Creek Ramblings
Why is Cole Dalton planning a wedding? No one even knew the ex-Marine and rugged rancher was dating, and suddenly he has hired wedding planner Vivienne Shuster to coordinate his nuptials. Why has no one met his mystery bride? We here at the Gazette believe this engagement is fake. The sparks between Cole and his “wedding planner,” however, are strictly legit. Hang on to your invites, dear readers -- someone may still be walking down the aisle!
Terrific book. Viv is a wedding planner working for the boss from hell. The book opens as she has a meeting with Lydia and Zach (The Maverick's Bride-to-Order) to work on their wedding plans. She's just beginning to hear about a problem with choosing a best man when one of the candidates interrupts the meeting. Cole is the middle of the five brothers and is somewhat overprotective of his brothers. In this case, he had driven all the way from their ranch to where the meeting was, just because he had noticed that Zach's tire pressure was low and hadn't been able to reach him by phone.
I liked both Cole and Viv. Cole is a good guy who has always had a large protective streak, even as a kid. There were any number of stories about how he can't keep from stepping in when he thinks someone needs help. He is also carrying a pretty big load of guilty feelings because he blames himself for his mother's death. Viv is a woman who sometimes wonders about her work as a wedding planner. Her parents have always had a rocky relationship (married and divorced three times - to each other) which sometimes affects the way she looks at her couples. I really liked her attitude when she worked with the couples, as she did her best to provide what they wanted without forcing other things on them. This puts her at odds with her boss on a regular basis.
Cole and Viv struck sparks off each other from the moment they met. It was fun to see how distracted they'd get when they were near each other. As the plans went forward for Zach and Lydia's wedding, I loved watching Cole go from suspicious of Viv and her suggestions to respecting what she was able to do. I had to laugh at his amazement every time she was able to get people to cooperate with her vision or keep them from going overboard on something. When Cole witnessed the abuse that Viv had to take from Estelle, he just had to find a way to help. Hiring Viv to plan a wedding for him was his way of getting Estelle off her back. I couldn't help but laugh, because he had no idea what he was getting into. Between his brother's wedding and his fake one, Cole and Viv found themselves spending a lot of time together. With that time, the attraction between them continued to grow. Beyond the attraction, there was also a deeper connection. I liked the way that Viv came to understand what made Cole the way he was. Cole also understood the effect that her parents' relationship had on her ability to believe in happily-ever-after.
With as close as they were growing, it was only a matter of time before their deception blew up in their faces. I ached for Viv when it happened and really wanted her to sic Cole on Estelle. But she wasn't sure of his feelings for her, and her fears wouldn't let her be another of his rescues. Meanwhile, Cole thought that she was giving him the brush-off as he tried to figure out what his feelings for her were. I loved the discussion he had with his dad, giving him lots to think about when it came to his feelings for Viv. The ending was sweet and romantic, and I loved the way things worked out for them. There was a satisfying little twist in the epilogue that I really liked.
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