Good Together by C.J. Carmichael is a very worth while read, I felt as if the main couple lived next door and I was watching this all unfold! Watching Wes and Mattie go through one of the most painful things in life is never easy, but I found myself thinking this is for the best and wishing nothing but happiness for each of them! ~ Autry, Guilty Pleasures
Descriptions:
Some love stories have to begin with a falling-out-of-love story. Mattie Carrigan’s been helping her rodeo cowboy husband Wes Bishop run his family’s Tennessee Walking Horse operation since they were married nineteen years ago. Blessed with twin daughters who’ve recently left for college, Mattie is looking forward to this new stage in her and Wes’s life. But when she finds a strange key in her husband’s jacket, she’s forced to admit that Wes has been quiet and distant lately. Turns out he has been keeping secrets. And he’s not the only one. Even the rancher next door, Nat Diamond–a friend Mattie could always count on in the past–seems to be holding something back from her.
Good Together is for anyone who has ever pondered what it means to be married. Or had to reinvent her life when one breaks down. It’s about having your heart broken but being strong enough to survive and love again.
Review copy provided for an honest review
Wes is broken down cowboy who is realizing that he’s too old for the rodeo circuit. With his girls leaving for college, and his career heading down the pipes, Wes abruptly decides to end some things that have been a constant in his life for years.
Mattie is a very hard-working, mother of twin girls, and wife to a rodeo cowboy. She is used to feeling a body entering the house at all hours and curling up to her, but lately he hasn’t, and she’s beginning to wonder what’s wrong. Her twins have left for college and it seems like her life is about to change again.
Mattie is worried about her husband, Wes and the way their marriage is headed. At first she is concerned about how Wes’ rides went and when he will be home? Will he be in one piece? Is he considering retiring from rodeo? Why is he taking long and longer to return home after his rides?
As Mattie is cleaning up and go about her household chores she finds something odd in her husbands’ belongings, she leaves the item in sight and decides to ask him about it later. A nagging feeling has settled over her as she heads back to the house, her husband is awake and is dropping a bomb shell on her, unsure of what she will do, she simply decides to stay inside until her neighbor won’t take no for an answer. Mattie is back among the living and is accepting her life is changing whether she likes it or not.
Fed up with the lies and avoidance Mattie along with her neighbor, Nat go in search of Wes. No only do the find some answers to questions but have raised some questions about the two of them in the process. Returning “home” she gets hit again with more heartbreak, the thing that she enjoys most in life, and holds fond memories of her and the girls together are no longer hers. They belong to someone else. Nat is trying his best at helping Mattie through her situation, but struggles to keep a lid on his attraction to Mattie. Their attraction reaches a boiling point and then suddenly becomes like ice. Unfortunately, Mattie’s’ gut feeling is telling her that Nat is hiding something besides his feelings from her and she is determined to find out what. Their growing attraction is becoming harder and harder to resist, until Mattie finds the secret and confronts Nat about it. Facing the truth was much easier than Nat had planned so now he’s wondering can they be good together?
I had the pleasure of reading C.J. Carmichaels work before and really liked it, Good Together makes me want to read everything on her backlist. I felt as if I were watching my friend go through this struggle, yet she wrote it with such depth and compassion for her characters I wished nothing but happiness for everyone involved. At points I was disappointed with each character but that was what made them so believable and so realistic, it could have happened to anyone! This book held my attention all the way through, start to finish took me about five hours to read. I would recommend this book as a sweet, yet heartbreaking romance that makes a person believe in the power of starting over.
3.75 Stars
Thanks for the review Autry