Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Happy Trail by Daisy Prescott - Blog Tour and Review!

DP-HT-FBbannerBT

"Happy Trail was a feel good, funny and heartwarming adventure with the usual Daisy Prescott charm.."-- T. Gephart, USA Today bestselling author

Happy Trail, an all-new opposites attract standalone romance from USA Today bestselling author Daisy Prescott, is available now!

20190718_GVPR01_Happy Trail_Prescott_KDP_FINAL
A man of few words, Ranger Jay Daniels values the calm, quiet solitude of the Great Smoky Mountains. Never quite fitting in with either side of his family, he prefers the company of birds and trees to people.
Yeah, he’d most definitely prefer a bird—any bird, any bird at all, take a vulture for instance—to the human-tornado hybrid that just blew onto his peaceful stretch of the Appalachian Trail.
The path of true love never has run smooth for Olive Perry. After getting dumped and promptly abandoned in the middle of her multi-month hike, Olive swears off men. Determined to finish the long trek by herself, she doesn’t need a prince—or broody and taciturn ranger—to save her.
Yet, when an early snowstorm threatens the mountains, and Ranger Daniels is charged with getting hikers to safety, that includes hot-tempered Olive Perry. Snowed in and forced to share an abandoned cabin, can Olive’s heated intensity melt Jay’s cool reserve?
And if so, will this happy trail lead to true love? Or will their time together be just another bump in the road?
'Happy Trail' is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book#1 in the Park Ranger series.
DP-HT-available1

My Review: 
This one had a ton of potential, but just seems to have missed the mark of character sparks, and glossed  over a few heavy topics that could have been made more central to the story.
It starts fine. Olive is hiking the Appalachian Trail with her boyfriend, who just happens to be a social medial influencer/star. While on their adventure, he pops the question during a life-stream, and she doesn’t accept! He storms off, leaving her alone only to find that she’s really alone – as in, he bailed and had his assistant pick him up! She decides that she’s going to continue on her own knowing that her social image has taken a big hit.

Enter Jay – the park ranger with a mixed ethnic background, who has been sent to make sure that hikers are not caught in an unexpected storm. He encounters Olive and the two don’t have time to make it back to safety. They have to shelter in an abandoned moonshiner’s shack.

All that? Potential!
SPOILER ALERT!! 

Only click to reveal...
Then, it fell flat. Their attraction to each other wasn’t as evident to the other (and to me), and the night in the cabin lead to a big fat nothing. I could handle a slow-burn with tons of tension and lead up. This one didn’t have that, or at least I couldn’t connect with it. I would have preferred more insight into the multiple broken engagements, the role of Olive’s parents, Jays family story (that you don’t really get until the end), the mixed-ethnicity (half-Japanese and half-Caucasian) cultural references, and a bit more connection between the two characters. It feels like it missed a “spark” that the other novels have had.

I’m probably in the minority here, and I’m after reading the other stories in the SmartyPants universe, I have to say I’m a bit let down, but not enough to be fully disappointed in this book. It was good, I just have high expectations based on the others. 

Download today!
Amazon Worldwide: http://mybook.to/HappyTrail
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2jXnfPc
Add to GoodReads: http://bit.ly/2kwOTmm


Excerpt

“Can we drop the pretense of not being trapped on the wrong side of the fence with whatever bloodthirsty beast is making such a sound?” I squint into the distance, hoping narrowing my eyes will give me super strength vision.
It doesn’t. I step behind Ranger Daniels for protection.
“What are you doing?” He twists his neck to look down at me.
“Hiding. I believe you took an oath to protect and serve.”
“Pfft. You’re confusing me with a police officer. I’m here to engage, educate, and empower.” He moves so he’s beside me.
“You carry a gun, don’t you?”
“Sometimes. Do you see a holster now?”
I scan his hips and shake my head, allowing my eyes to linger on the tight fit of his uniform pants over his strong thighs and the thick belt at his narrow waist. Ranger Daniels is packing heat, but not of the pistol variety.
Is it hot in here, or is it just me?
A distinct braying reaches my ears.
“Is that a donkey?” I tip my head.
“What would a donkey be doing up here? Makes no sense.”
“Ask him. Or her.” I point at the gray beast moving toward us. “I’m a city girl, but I’m pretty sure that’s an ass.”
“Well, I’ll be damned.” Jay removes his hat.
Maybe he plans to shoo away our attacker with it?
The gray form ambles toward us, letting out a loud bray and revealing large teeth.
“Should we be worried?” I’m standing behind Jay again.
“About a donkey? They’re mostly docile. He’s probably just curious.” Shifting his attention forward, he addresses our new friend. “Hey there. Where’d you come from?”
The donkey halts.
“See? He’s fine. Probably thinks we’re bringing treats.”
“And what will he do when he realizes we’re showing up to his house empty-handed?” I’m half mocking. In my world, not bringing a hostess gift is an unthinkable breach of etiquette. I have no idea about the social decorum for equines.
“Let’s go.” Jay encourages me forward with a sweep of his hat.
We take several steps and the donkey does the same without breaking eye contact, like we’re about to duel. There’s definitely a challenge, a mild threat in the eyes of our new foe.
“Should we slowly retreat to the fence?” I whisper at Jay’s back.
“Nah, we’re fine.”
“Maybe he’s a guard donkey.” I slide a glance over my shoulder toward safety. We’re a dozen or so yards away, but it isn’t too late to make a quick escape.
Jay’s eyes meet mine. “You know guard donkeys aren’t a thing.”
“I’m a stranger in a strange land—anything’s possible.” I wait until he faces forward to stick my tongue out at him.
He’s shaking his head and clearly not paying attention to me anymore as he stomps across the squishy field.
Left with no choice, I follow after him.
My boot slips in the mud, or donkey poop—it’s impossible to tell the difference. I squawk and flail my arms as I tumble forward in an awkward motion resembling the mating dance of an emu.
The donkey’s ears prick up before flattening against his head.
“Uh oh,” I murmur as I straighten up.
“It’s fine,” Jay says for the dozenth time.
Only he’s wrong.
About Daisy Prescott
Born and raised in San Diego, Daisy currently lives in a real life Stars Hollow in the Boston suburbs with her husband, their rescue dog, Mulder, and an imaginary house goat. When not writing about herself in the third person, Daisy can be found traveling, gardening, baking, or lost in a good book.
Connect with Daisy
Connect with Smartypants Romance
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)