I received this book for free from a friend in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Source: a friend
Loving the Country Boy
by
Mia Ross
inspirational romance in a paperback edition that was published by Love Inspired on July 21, 2015 and has 224 pages.
Explore it on Goodreads or Amazon
Fourth in the Barrett’s Mill inspirational romance series and revolving around the Barrett family legacy and their historic sawmill in Barrett’s Mill, Virginia. The couple focus is on Tess Barrett and Heath Weatherby.
My Take
A very sweet tale of real (and warm) people who take real care for those in their lives without any expectations. It’s a care we know, as Ross uses third person dual point-of-view from Tess’ and Heath’s perspectives to grow their attraction to each other and so we can hear their thoughts.
And let me tell you, it’s a radical feeling, being valued for what you can do rather than what you look like or how much money you have, for being accepted as a person, for who she is. But that girl just can’t shed her family’s obsession with success, and Tess makes a major error in judgment.
There’s a rolling series of tense moments with Chelsea’s uneasy pregnancy, Tess’ insecurity in coming home to a place she’s never been, seeing the contrast between what her immediate family valued and what her extended family and the people of Barrett’s Mill value, Tess’ mistake, her mother…
It’s a story you want to read for those times when you want the warm and cozy feel-good. When you want respect. When you can acknowledge truth.
The Story
Another job gone, and Tess Barrett sees this chance to work in her cousin’s sawmill as a chance for a fresh start. To be someone who can rely on herself, to take charge of her life
It’s an eye-opening experience getting to know the family she’s never met. To feel valued for herself, and not just by family but by Heath Weatherby too.
It’s a chance of a lifetime to find out where Tess Barrett really belongs.
The Characters
Tess Barrett is coming back to help at the family sawmill. Her mother has drunken tantrums; her father, George Barrett, was around less and less after hightailing it out of Barrett’s Mill years ago. Will is the grandfather Tess never met, but whose funeral she attended with Gram, Olivia Barrett. Auntie Diane knows her coffee, and Uncle Tom has been raking leaves.
Chelsea is on maternity leave with two months to go. Her husband, Paul Barrett, owns the mill (Blue Ridge Reunion, 1). Daisy is Chelsea’s assistant, her kitty assistant. Boyd is a wolfhound Paul found in a lumber camp in Oregon.
Heath Weatherby is a mechanic who used to work an oil rig in Alaska. He’s also a friend of Scott’s. “Honey” Weatherby is his mom. Wait’ll you read how she got her nickname *laughing*.
Barrett’s Sawmill in Barrett’s Mill, Virginia, has…
…only recently been restored by Paul to fulfill Will’s dying wish. They recut reclaimed wood and build custom furniture for Barrett’s Mill Furniture. Jason Barrett is married to Amy Morgan, Fred’s niece and a dance instructor (Sugar Plum Season, 2). Scott Barrett is married to Jenna, an artist (Finding His Way Home, 3). Both are Paul’s younger brothers. Hank and Joe are employees. Ike Donaldson is the foreman. Jedediah Barrett built the sawmill after the Civil War.
Fred Morgan runs Morgan’s Garage where Heath works. Helen is Fred’s wife. Edie takes down orders over the phone for the parts warehouse. Paige Donaldson works at Mill Office Supply; Lila is her grandmother, and Ike used to be her grandpa. Tyler Green, a freelance ad executive and graphic designer, is one of Paige’s cousins. Bruce Harkness is the mayor and has an old Packard Heath restored. Molly Harkness. Rachel McCarron has a toddler, Eva. Pastor Griggs has a commonsense approach to preaching. Nancy is a nurse at the hospital. Dr. Weber is the ob-gyn.
Jimmy Grigs had been a quick-thinking grade school classmate. Avery was the wealthy fiancé.
The Cover and Title
The cover is bright-hearted pastels on a warm day with the summery blue sky and a faint sense of a sunset in those oranges, pinks, and yellows, a yellow reflected in the dried grasses of the field where Heath (wearing cream canvas shorts and a short-sleeved navy polo shirt) is kneeling, kissing Tess’ hand. (She’s wearing a lighthearted floral above-the-knee dress with a tall paisley border at the bottom. Her long brown hair is tied back into a ponytail with a brown leather belt tied low on her waist and brown cowboy boots). A deep yellow band crosses the top with the info blurb in white against the softening of a leafy tree branch. The pastel yellow in the publisher’s name is below that with a deeper dusty red for the title, below which is the author’s name, and below that the background of the shaped sign announcing the series information (which is in white). A much lighter dusty red is in the old-fashioned sawmill in the background on the other side of Sterling Creek.
The title is what Tess ends up doing, Loving the Country Boy.
