Bold Fortune

Loved it!!!!

ARC provided by Berkley Books, NetGalley and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for the privilege of reading and reviewing your book.

Rating 4.5

LOVED the hero. Heroine was sassy, sweet and cute.

This is set in the Alaska wilds. It's a small community of characters that bring life to the "Little" town. M.M. Crane does a fabulous job of bringing to life the Alaska scenery and wild life. I swear I felt like I was right there. I absolutely love the ground work she's done to establish this community and individual characters. I cannot wait for each and everyone of their stories. Okay getting ahead of myself.

Our heroine is part of a think tank/conservation group that does research for mineral rights and land. She had done a summary/paper on an area of Alaska and what the conservation of land. But she finds out her ex-boyfriend has taken all her work and claimed it for himself, she had confided and shared all her findings with him. In the process he's also not saying very nice things about her. Which of course infuriates her.

Violet is determined to clear her name and make up for the mess that has issued she heads to Lost Lake in the hopes of meeting with Quinn Fortune. Mayor of the small town. She's been emailing him with no luck in responses, it's pretty clear he's ignoring her, but is determined to meet with him. She will clear her name and with his help.

Wow, loved Quinn. What a wonderful well rounded hero and Violet is perfect for him. He's educated (lawyer) but always was drawn back to his home town, where his heart, family and friends all live. When Violet shows up all in her pink snow outfit it throws Quinn for a loop. I loved the opening scene of their first meeting, what a perfect first meeting for them. Also the scene really sets the foundation for the story, town and community. So well done!!!! The meeting was so cute, quirky and Quinn was to die for in his responses.

Quinn has some issues due to his past girlfriend and it's pretty much skewed his outlook on woman/relationships. Poor Violet was just what he needed to set him straight and boy did she. You see Quinn was determined she was not going to stick around his little community, in fact he knew she didn't have the tenacity for Alaska's wilderness. He does some underhanded things to make her stay pretty uncomfortable, like say live in a cabin with no electricity, bathroom, etc... you get the picture. Well she proves him wrong and thrives in the situation. He tires to throw a few more curve balls her way but she doges each one and in the end comes out shining like a star. Quinn finds in Violet a strong, sweet, quirky and determined young woman. One he was instantly attracted to, one he tired to resist and not yield to the attraction. Nope, he couldn't resist her. She won him over, his family and the community.

Violet came to realize that she found her "home". Alaska called to her and brought a peace and acceptance to who she really was deep down. Alaska and it's wilderness brought a completeness to her and Quinn was the icing on the cake. She has some secrets she hasn't shared with him and that has her scared and nervous in what will happen to them when all is revealed.

The development of their relationship was so much fun. And it was sexy, full of heart and their was a lot of emotion and angst involved as well. There was communication and sharing as well as some confrontations as well. But very adult like and well developed as well. I loved the world of "Lost Lake" that the author created and am so invested now. Cannot wait for future books.

I highly recommend this book. The romance was beautiful, the secondary characters wonderful and the town came to life in this story. Loved the ending.