Series: One and Only Texas (Book 1)
Welcome to Dulcet, Texas, home of the legendary Briscoe Ranch Resort, where one woman will discover that even love is bigger in the Lone Star State.
Celebrity wedding planner Remedy Lane is Hollywood royalty―until a scandal sends her packing to the wilds of Texas. She has a knack for leaving disaster in her wake, but she’s determined to reboot her career at Briscoe Ranch, a luxury resort known for extravagant weddings. Little does she know that weddings don’t happen at the resort without the approval of the town’s cowboy-swaggering, too-hot-for-his-own-good fire chief, Micah Garrity.
ONE HOT SUMMER
Micah knows trouble when he sees it, and all it takes is one glimpse of Remedy’s princess airs for him to know he’s met his match. Too bad he can’t stop thinking about her―even when she brings about one disaster after another at the resort. He and Remedy clash at every turn, but they can’t stop the sparks flying between them. They come from such different worlds―does love stand a chance or will this fire burn too hot for either of them to handle?
This was a very fun book that had me hooked from the first few pages. It's an opposites attract, city girl/country boy story full of fun, chemistry, and emotion. Remedy is a California girl, daughter of two famous Hollywood personalities, who had a terrific job as an event planner until a high-profile wedding went disastrously wrong. Now she's working at a Texas resort as their event coordinator, just until she can repair her reputation and go back home. The only fly in the ointment is fire chief/marshal Micah Garrity.
Micah is a born and bred Texan who has lived in Dulcet all his life. He takes his job very seriously. He is a stickler for the rules, and his no fraternization policy between the fire department and resort staff is designed to keep anyone from blurring the lines. Protecting his family, friends, and town is a big part of who he is.
I liked the development of the relationship between Remedy and Micah. Though they butt heads from the start, with each of them having preconceived ideas that need to be overcome. Remedy sees Micah as a small-town redneck, drunk on his power to make things difficult for the resort. Micah sees Remedy as a Hollywood princess, with a sense of entitlement and no idea what real life is like. But underneath the antagonism is an attraction that neither wants to admit and makes it impossible for them to stay away from each other. I loved seeing Remedy stand up to Micah calling him out on his attitude toward her when he doesn't know the real her. At the same time, Micah gets her to really look at the town and people of Dulcet. I loved seeing Remedy get involved in that "townie" wedding and what an eye-opening experience it was for her. The more time that Micah and Remedy spent together, the closer they grew. Through her relationship with Micah, Remedy began to feel at home in Dulcet and think about what it would be like to stay. Micah was a little freaked out by the frequency with which he hoped that Remedy wouldn't leave.
There were problems to overcome. Remedy's unfortunate ability to be a magnet for disaster put her at the center of several conflicts between Micah and the resort. With Micah's overworked feelings of responsibility, these incidents added more bricks to the load of guilt that he already carries. Remedy's boss is a manipulative man who threatens Micah's job and wants to use Remedy's family connections to boost the resort. Things take a real downward spiral when Hollywood friends of Remedy's want her to plan their wedding, and their attitudes are over-the-top obnoxious. Add in the surprise appearance of Remedy's parents, and she's faced with the realization that she has changed. I ached for Remedy with the way that her parents treated her. I liked the way that Micah was so supportive of Remedy through most of the conflict, but then he blew it with a really boneheaded move. His insecurities and fears bubbled up and caused him to be needlessly cruel to Remedy. After getting chewed out by his friend Xavier, Micah redeemed himself with an excellent and romantic groveling scene. The ending was fantastic and an excellent way to bring the story full circle.
I loved the humor in this book. I was hooked from the start by the rampaging elephant with a thing for golf. There were homing pigeons pretending to be doves, who also appeared to stalk Remedy. I loved Granny June and her matchmaking attempts, and her feisty spirit. I laughed out loud at Micah's family's Power Wheels race and Remedy's part in it. Even the disasters that stalked Remedy had their laugh-out-loud moments.
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