[Contemporary Book] ↠ Once Upon a Winter Wedding (Holly, Idaho #2) PDF by Jeannie Watt ✓ eBook or Kindle ePUB free

This is the second book in the Holly, Idaho series and it can be read as a standalone easily but why do that when you can read the first book, A Home for the Holidays, and get a much better feel for this amazing author as well as the town. Let's just right into Holly, Idaho, and Brant Gilroy. He has been working hard at the family tree farm to make it into something everyone can be proud of and when his sister wants to get married Brant knows it is the perfect time and place to put into action what he has wanted to add to the tree farm... destination weddings. The only problem is his sister is in the military and she nor her fiance will be around to help and they need to get married within a 4 week time period. So the answer is for him to work with her best friend Stevie Evans. Now, Stevie is the opposite of Brant is the night to the day. Strick and schedule follower to fly by the seat of your pants. This is not exactly what one would call a perfect matchup to make this wedding work but they will have to do. AND DO this what they ending up doing. This for me is one of those books that teaches you to look deeper than one is on the outside for you never know what you might find inside waiting for you.
Romance, Contemporary Stevie has been besties with Kara forever. Years ago Kara's brother Brant ripped into her for leading his sister astray. Now years later they are thrown together to plan the perfect wedding, on short notice, for Kara and her hubby to be who are both stationed overseas. They are both dreading joining forces but the agreed to make Kara happy. Brant regrets being so harsh with Stevie and she wants to spend as little time as possible with him since he does not like her. As they spend time together truths of the past come out and they begin to see each other in a new light. It is a story about forgiveness, understanding the past and moving on with the future. Good read. Once Upon a Winter Wedding (Holly, Idaho #2) I loved Once Upon A Christmas Wedding, book two in Jeannie Watt’s Holly, Idaho series. This story is set mostly on a tree farm where heroine Stevie Evans and Brant Gilroy, her best friend Kara’s big brother, have four weeks to organise Kara’s wedding for her while she and her fiancé Theo are overseas. There’s lots of appeal in the tree farm setting including the rustic barn and machinery shed that Stevie and Brant transform into a winter wonderland complete with twinkle lights and boughs of greenery bedecked with ribbon. I loved the way the relationship between Stevie and Brant evolved from barely tolerating each other to an easy friendship and then to love. Everything about this story felt good. It’s beautifully written, engaging and left me with a smile on my face. Jeannie Watt We’re back in Holly, Idaho in “Once Upon a Winter Wedding” and this time it’s Stevie’s turn to fall in love (sister Tess found her HEA in “A Home for the Holidays”).

Stevie Evans avoids commitment, hiding her fears with a live-in-the-moment attitude. But then she finds herself attracted to Brant Gilroy, her best friend’s brother, and the guy who crushed her as a teen so much that she would cross the street to avoid him.
Brant is all about stability and, after his parents died when he was young and he took over caring for his sister, he needed security, too. Now, having to work with Stevie to plan his sister’s wedding, he’s looking to her to help him loosen up and have fun.
And fun these two have while planning a wedding and turning a Christmas tree farm into a wedding venue.

Jeannie Watt writes the best characters. Not only do we have the main characters, Stevie and Brant, but you’ll also fall for Milt and Harp.
“Once Upon a Winter Wedding” is definitely a story that will give you a wrapped-in-a-cozy-blanket kind of feeling.
English A heartfelt reunion

It’s been ten years since Stevie had a falling out with her best friend Kara’s brother, Brant. Now Kara wants Stevie and Brandt to work together to plan her wedding. After they put their disagreements from the past behind them, they find friendship again and soon find themselves falling in love.

This was a fun book to read. Stevie and Brant were great together once they were able to put the past behind them. I laughed when the people in town though they were the ones getting married as they were going to food tastings and ordering flowers. There were some emotional parts in the story as well, like when Stevie has to overcome her fears and Brandt is there to help her. Brant is at a crossroads with what he wants to do with his life and with Stevie’s help, he is able to make a decision. All around, it is a good book. Romance, Contemporary

Can opposites attract and plan the perfect winter wedding?

Free-wheeling Stevie Evans is thrilled when her best friend announces she’s getting married and promises to help, never imagining she’d play wedding planner with her bestie’s uptight brother, Brant. She and Brant clashed several years ago and she’s avoided him ever since. But this time she can’t run or hide, and the buzz of attraction is stronger than ever.

Brant Gilroy’s meticulous life plan takes an unexpected turn when he hits a career bump on the same day as his sister’s wedding announcement. She wants to get married at the family tree farm, which he’s been restoring. Brant’s determined to make her day special despite his uncertain future, although he dreads working with her best friendâ€"a woman who’s his complete opposite. So why can’t he get her out of his head?

As Brant and Stevie work together, Brant begins to wonder if they have more in common than they suspected. But how can he convince her that opposites can sometimes make the perfect team? Once Upon a Winter Wedding (Holly, Idaho #2)

I received this arc from Tule Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This is the second book in the Holly, Idaho series about the 3 Evans sisters. Book 2 is about Stevie. Her best friend Kara has asked Stevie to plan her wedding to take place in a month. Kara is in the military and won’t be home until right before. She also asked her brother Brant to work together with Stevie and have it at the family tree farm. Brant and Stevie had a falling out in high school and she made it her mission to avoid him at all costs. The two both love Kara and agree on a truce in order to plan and execute the perfect wedding.

Both Stevie and Brant have great ideas and they work together during all their free time. Brant took vacation from his job in the larger city nearby. He is not spontaneous and realized he may be missing out by not putting himself out there to have fun sometimes. Stevie on the other hand is the opposite. She is about living in the moment, not really planning ahead. Her mother died when she was young and since then she has acted out of fear of losing those she cares about. She won’t commit to more than a couple of dates, she is a substitute teacher and has a couple other part time jobs rather than a full time position. The two talk some about their issues and fears and Stevie offers to help Brant have more fun. She doesn’t agree with how his company treats him by having him work while he’s on vacation.

Jeannie Watt has created very likable characters, both the main ones and the minor characters. I enjoyed seeing Stevie and Brant start to get close and enjoy each other’s company. We don’t see a lot of the brother sister relationship between Brant and Kara but we are given stories from the past to show their affection for each other. We also see interactions between the 3 Evans sisters and their dad to let us see their close relationship. In addition, we see the relationship with Brant’s farm helper Milt and neighbor Harp throughout the book.

There is some angst between Stevie and Brant. Initially, they have to get over the past disagreement and be able to work together. Then they start to enjoy being together and start to develop feelings. We wonder at various times what will happen with the new relationship between Stevie and Brant. There is some suspense over what life choices each will make. This is another 5 star book I highly recommend. I am looking forward to the final book. Jeannie Watt Stevie and Brant’s story in Once Upon a Winter Wedding by Jeannie Watts, book two in her Holly, Idaho series, was a wonderful, sizzling, enjoyable tale of two people who appear to be opposites, but maybe not as much as they think. Laid back Stevie Evans is ecstatic when her best friend tells her she’s getting married and is happy to help with the planning. She never imagined she’d be playing wedding planner with her best friend’s uptight brother, Brant. Stevie had a huge blow-up with Brant several years ago and has avoided him since; only this time she can’t run or hide. It doesn’t help that the sizzle of attraction is stronger than ever. Since the death of his parents, Brant Gilroy has led a meticulous life, moving through life carefully and not detouring from his plans. He is excited that his sister is getting married and wants the event to occur at the family tree farm, which Brant has been restoring and thinking about expanding its offerings. Brant dreads the idea of having to work with Stevie, a woman he believes is free-wheeling through life without a plan, the complete opposite of him. As they spend time together planning the ceremony and reception, Brant finds that he can’t stop thinking about Stevie, and that they have more in common than either one suspected. The attraction between these two is magnetic as is the chemistry; such that others recognize their feelings before they admit to them. Stevie has found a way to bring fun and laughter back into Brant’s life. When a work problem arises, Brant needs to determine if a job away from the tree farm, from Idaho, from Stevie, is worth the risk.

Ms. Watts wrote a wonderful story reminding us not to judge a book by its cover that is definitely not to be missed. She provided a tale rich with sizzling chemistry, family support, antics that make you laugh, and charming characters giving Stevie and Brant a chance to overcome past impressions, realize that they are perfect for each, and deserve to be together. I highly recommend Once Upon a Winter Wedding to other readers and look forward to the next book in this series.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Received an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for a fair review
Troubled characters with admirable steadiness, strength and integrity rekindle their peculiar relationship in “Once Upon a Winter Wedding”, by Jeannie Watt (Tule Publishing), an interesting enemies turned lovers story where the falling in love process happens while both leads are involved in a wedding preparation.
This story is a lot about seeing people and things, past events and attitudes in a new light, and I loved how Brant and Stevie find new things about each other and reacquaint themselves with their old, familiar selves and discover hidden sides to their personalities and background.
Serious Brant is more attractive than relaxed Brant, considering the reasons the hero is so fond of routine, no change, even boringness, and the pain that attitude towards life reveals. I loved how Stevie challenges him in such a genuine and spontaneous way.
Stevie is a great heroine, both strong and vulnerable, with a solid and confident personality.
They’re both down-to-earth and caring people, sensible, mature and responsible, yet still so young and open to intimacy and love.
The build-up of the romantic relationship is steady and slow.
I also liked the web of friends, relatives and co-workers.
In a bizarre plot twist Kara Gilroy and her fiancé want to get married in a hurry but are posted overseas so they rope in Kara's big brother Brant and her best friend Stevie to arrange everything. As a sidebar, if you can't even spare the time to plan your own wedding then are you actually invested in the marriage?

Anyhoo, Stevie and Brant are polar opposites. Years ago Brant ripped Stevie a new one for leading Kara astray, something that hurt Stevie very badly because she was only trying to distract Kara from the pain of her parents' deaths. Forced to grow up too fast, Brant is a driven career man, even working on his annual leave. By contrast, Stevie doesn't have a full-time job, preferring to volunteer here and there.

Can these enemies stop fighting long enough to plan Kara's dream wedding?

I loved the premise, aside from the idea that neither one of a couple can be bothered to take any interest in planning their own wedding, but this just didn't have any heat or tension to pique my interest. It was pleasant enough but the steamiest it got was a brief kiss and handhold. Sadly there seemed to be more interest in setting up other books for Stevie's sisters than creating any dramatic tension.

I received a free copy of this book by the publisher Tule in return for an honest review.

Bumped for release. Jeannie Watt Reviewed at Keeper Bookshelf

Once Upon A Winter Wedding, the second story in the Holly, Idaho series brings us a couple who will delight and confound us often in the same breath. I enjoyed Brant and Stevie’s sort of enemies to lovers romance and the chance to visit Holly once again as well.

Back in their high school days, Stevie was trying to help her friend, Kara (Brant’s sister). Her help was well-intended yet Brant blamed Stevie for things that truly were not her fault… but brothers will be brothers and those bad feelings held between them for years.

Now Kara is asking both Stevie and Brant to plan out her wedding since she is stationed overseas and cannot personally do this because she wants it held at the family tree farm. A place that Brant is desperately trying to save. Two people have to set aside their own personal feelings in order to help a friend and sister, but can they do that and not let a different set of emotions get in the way as the past fades and the present looks very good on each of them.

Brant and Stevie are such opposites and for good reasons that make sense, yet watching them slowly change their mindsets was an enjoyable experience. Once Upon A Winter Wedding is full of chuckles, a bit of angst, lively secondary characters, hints of what is to come in the series, and two people who given their history should never have worked as a couple… but love often sees with different eyes. I had fun with this couple and will be keeping an eye out for the next story in the Holly, Idaho series.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher, Tule Publishing. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.* Once Upon a Winter Wedding (Holly, Idaho #2)