Once Upon a Groom by Karen Rose Smith - Review

I am very excited to be picking up a genre that I haven't been able to read in a while and it really has been too long! Romance novels are such quick and easy reads and welcome among some of the heavy reading I have been doing lately.

About the Author:

Karen Rose Smith was born in Pennsylvania in the Susquehanna Valley. In college, she began writing poetry and also met her husband to be. They both started married life as teachers, but when their son was born, Karen decided to try her hand at a home decorating business. She returned to teaching for a while but changes in her life led her to writing romance fiction. Now she writes full time. Her first romance was published in 1992; her 74th novel will be published in 2011 with Harlequin Special Edition. A winner of New Jersey’s Golden Leaf Award in Short Contemporary Romance, Colorado Romance Writers Award Of Excellence for short contemporary, as well as the Phoenix Desert Rose Chapter’s Golden Quill for Traditional Romance, she has also been honored with Cataromance.com’s award for Best Special Edition. Her romances have made both the USA TODAY list and the Waldenbooks Bestseller list for Series Romance.

Married to her college sweetheart, believing in the power of love and commitment, she envisions herself writing relationship novels for a long time to come!

Readers can visit Karen for info and excerpts at: www.karenrosesmith.com.

Book Summary:

"WILL YOU MARRY ME?"
Those were the words Jenny Farber had always longed to hear Zack Decker say. But marrying him would have meant leaving the only home she'd ever really known. So instead of following her high school sweetheart to L.A., she stayed on at his family's ranch, training the horses she adored. Zack never knew about the secret she carried…or how much she still loved him. Until a near-tragedy brought him home again….

Fifteen years ago, Jenny broke Zack's heart. Seeing her again rekindles all the sweet passion they once shared. But Zack came home to Miners Bluff only to deal with a family crisis—then he's pulling up stakes again. So why is Jenny making him dream of settling down in the one place he'd vowed to leave forever?

My Thoughts:

Let me tell you, there is NOTHING like a Harlequin Romance novel...and those who have read them know EXACTLY what I am talking about. I need one every now and then to break up the heavy reading I find myself doing more and more of!

Once Upon a Groom is a cute take on lovers being reunited many years after they were torn apart by their desires for different lives. It is a charming story and I found myself rooting for them to get back together throughout the entire novel.. While somewhat predictable of an ending, this did not detract from the story and I was still surprised at some points along the way.

I LOVED both of the main characters and it became easy to identify with them and their trials and tribulations. I liked how Zach was able to get Jenny out of her comfort zone and head to California and she was able to show him how much family and roots means. They both came around, which was the entire point!

The author really does a great job with this one, I thoroughly enjoyed it and it has jump-started a renewed interest for me in romance novels.