The Trouble with Lacy Brown & And Baby Makes Five by Debra Clopton

Title: The Trouble with Lacy Brown

Author: Debra Clopton

Publisher: Harlequin

Line: Love Inspired

ISBN: 9780373651443

More Information: http://www.eharlequin.com

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Mule Hollow is in need of women.  In order to revitalize the town, some of the older women folk banded together and posted an ad to advertise all the available eligible bachelor cowboys in their dying town.  In a pink Cadillac, Lacy Brown drives into town.  With her friend Sheri, Lacy plans to open a salon to help bring in more women into the town.  But before she even started, she ran into – literally – into Clint Matlock’s jeep.  This leads into more confrontations.  Despite both of their denials to the contrary, they couldn’t help but find something special about each other.

With the first comical interactions of the hero and heroine in the first chapter, it definitely set up the tone of the rest of the story.  I knew this book would be a fun, good read and fortunately, it remained so.  The author kept up with the cute misadventures of Clint and Lacy.  This book was carefully written with the right amount of humor, angst and romance, to keep the reader engaged.  I generally like all the characters in the story.  Each person had their unique personalities that never overshadow each other.  My only gripe would be the matchmaking mavens in the story.  I hate it when matchmakers keep pushing them together and giving their secret knowing looks.  So annoying in my book.  Clint is a great hero.  He keeps saying he found Lacy annoying, but he can’t be help being drawn to her.  And always, he was there to rescue her from her own impulsiveness.  Lacy is equally great in her own way.  The word ‘can’t’ is not in her vocabulary.  Her eagerness to help others have put her in some sticky situations but she never regrets it.  Though both have issues with the opposite sex due to their pasts, it’s not too overbearing.  It crops up occasionally when the situation gets too hot and needed a reminder of why they needed to step back.  There wasn’t much to the plot which was okay in this instance.  The book seems to revolve around the interactions of the hero and heroine.  But the finale will end with a bang.  A fitting way for this couple.

Why didn’t I give it 5 stars?  It was a good read, but it wasn’t anything that makes me what to rush back and read it again.  However, I have read other Mule Hollow stories before actually picking this one up and I can clearly say, this is a great start to the series and definitely, one of the best.  So, if you like a "sweet, humorous with a pinch of drama" romance, this book is definitely for you.  Looking for passion or engaging plot line?  Pass this one up. 

Title: And Baby Makes Five

Author: Debra Clopton

Publisher: Harlequin

Line: Love Inspired

ISBN: 9780373651443

More Information: http://www.eharlequin.com

My Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

The next story is the second in the series of Mule Hollow.  It focuses now on Lilly Tipps, who had a small part in the end of the first book.

All the women in her family had the worst luck when it came to men.  Lilly, hoping to change her luck, married who she thought was her dream man.  In the end, Lilly Tipps was pregnant, with no husband.  Declaring off men, she takes care of her small ranch and her donkey, Samantha, by herself.  Unfortunately, Samantha likes to play Houdini and visits her new, taciturn neighbor’s ranch and create unmitigated havoc.  Cort Wells, with his own personal demons, felt protective of his pregnant neighbor.  Even though he tried not to be.  Soon, events and a donkey transpire for them to overcome their pasts and bring forth a new future for the five of them.

I was a smidgen disappointed with this one.  Great start but after the birth of the baby, the story went down to mediocre.  At the beginning, the tone was similar to Clopton’s previous book.  Lilly and Colt got themselves into some funny/absurd situations and forced them to interact with each other.  Very reminiscent of Clint and Lacy's courtship.  Then the birth.  It was the most intense moment in this book.  Even though I knew I had to go to sleep because I had work the next day, I kept reading until the birth was officially over.  I was that riveted.  Clopton wrote the scene in an interesting way in comparison to other romances.  After that, the story seem to fizzle off a bit.  It became more centered on both of them dealing their feelings.  This is where I wanted to shake Cort around a bit.  Cort just couldn’t get past his past.  He didn’t even want to try and never talk things out with Lilly.  He just assumes what was best for her and didn’t explain his behavior to her.  But despite that, he was a great guy to go to when things were in a pinch.  While on the other hand, Lilly’s character development was very inspirational.  From her experiences, she took what she learn and grew as person to be a better person and mother.  And she was always willing to try.  Considering where she first started, I found her willingness to try love one more time inspiring.  Then there is Samantha, the donkey.  She really upstaged her human counterparts.  Her scenes were hilarious and show great insightfulness.

If this book was by itself, I would hesitate to recommend this.  I couldn't give it a full 4 stars because of the lackluster ending and I couldn't give it a 3 because I did enjoy most of it.  I would suggest borrowing it from the library first before committing yourself.  But if you are collecting the Mule Hollow series, definitely get it.  It's a sweet read and you won't regret getting this book.  As for me, one read was good enough.

All together, I give this anthology a 4 stars.  Since the original prints are no longer available except from ebay and amazon' resellers, this reprint is a great addition to those who was never introduce the Mule Hollow series.  Or someone like me who came into the series late and now would love to catch up.  Get this if you haven't the originals all ready.