Review: Can’t Stop Believing by Jodi Thomas

Genre: Mystery, Romance

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: 6/4/2013

Reviewed by Lori Twichell

When Cord McDowell got out of prison (for a crime he didn’t commit), he determined to keep his head down, do his work, and just exist. He missed a great deal of life while he was in prison and had no inclination to miss any more. His return to Harmony was bittersweet. Living in his family home without his parents, fixing up the house, and trying to pull the ranch together along with a job have proven difficult to juggle. And then there’s Nevada.

Tall, gorgeous, rich, and totally stuck on herself, Nevada Britain has been married more times than some people can count and each time, she comes out of the marriage looking less than stellar. With a family that has always been wealthier than the entire community, a ranch that spans more than half the town, and an oil business on the side, Nevada has appeared to be in need of nothing. So why is she on Cord McDowell’s doorstep asking him to marry her?6

Can the two of them even get along long enough to make it through the end of this crazy bargain? What scared Nevada enough to propose marriage to a convict? And what’s that feeling creeping up between them? It’s not possible that it could be….

I never cease to be amazed at Jodi Thomas, her characters and her writing. Each time one of her books comes to my mailbox, I am utterly delighted and waste little time pulling it open. I also get swallowed up in this tiny town of Harmony, Texas. When I finally lift my head from the book, it is always with disappointment that these characters aren’t real. It’s hard to believe that they are creations of someone’s imagination!

A tight plot wraps your mind into this small town mystery while shrouding you in warm feelings of delight as you watch characters grow and learn how to deal with the hand life has dealt them. There’s very little in this book that doesn’t engage the imagination. Whether you’re laughing at the cowboy in his brand new clothes for the first time, crying at the death of a beloved character (not telling!) or gasping in horror as lives are put in horrible danger.

I loved every moment of this book. Once again, Jodi Thomas has brought a small town in Texas to magical life and woven a beautiful tale of redemption and love wrapped in a mystery.

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