Blog Tour and Giveaway: Finders Keepers: Nicole Williams

by Reviews by Tammy and Kim - Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Finders Keepers(Lost and Found #3)
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Release date: September 16, 2013

There’s tortured. And there’s Garth Black.

His life has been a constant carousel of tragedy and disappointment, including his love life. Of course, applying the term “love” to Garth’s conquests is a gross misuse of the word. Some people were made to give and accept love, and others weren’t. Garth Black redefines the “others” category. He’s made a vow that the day he meets a woman who could sucker him into falling in love will be the day he runs away.

Garth’s plan has one flaw. What happens when he’s already fallen hard for a girl before the warning signs and red flags go up? What happens when the love he’s avoided his entire life brings him to his knees? What happens when Garth Black lets the dirtiest four letter word he’s ever known into his dark, lonely life?

This cowboy’s about to find out he can control some things, and he can’t control others. Number one on the what he can’t control list?

Love.

Other books in this series:

Lost and Found(Book #1):

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See Kim's 4.5 star review

There’s complicated. And there’s Rowen Sterling.

After numbing pain for the past five years with boys, alcohol, and all-around apathy, she finds herself on a Greyhound bus to nowhere Montana the summer after she graduates high school. Her mom agreed to front the bill to Rowen’s dream art school only if Rowen proves she can work hard and stay out of trouble at Willow Springs Ranch. Cooking breakfast at the crack of dawn for a couple dozen ranch hands and mucking out horse stalls are the last things in the world Rowen wants to spend her summer doing.

Until Jesse Walker saunters into her life wearing a pair of painted-on jeans, a cowboy hat, and a grin that makes something in her chest she’d thought was frozen go boom-boom. Jesse’s like no one else, and certainly nothing like her. He’s the bright and shiny to her dark and jaded.

Rowen knows there’s no happily-ever-after for the golden boy and the rebel girl—happily-right-now is a stretch—so she tries to forget and ignore the boy who makes her feel things she’s not sure she’s ready to feel. But the more she pushes him away, the closer he seems to get. The more she convinces herself she doesn’t care, the harder she falls.

When her dark secrets refuse to stay locked behind the walls she’s kept up for years, Rowen realizes it’s not just everyone else she needs to be honest with. It’s herself.

Near & Far(book #2)

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Kim's 5 star review

There’s optimistic. And there’s Jesse Walker.

If he wasn’t so charming, his sunny disposition and incessant grin would get old. Fast.

Falling in love with the girl who had at first seemed immune to it, was the best thing to happen to Jesse since the Walkers adopted him into their family when he was five. But loving the girl who has her fair share of secrets is about as easy as that same girl loving the boy who seems to have none.

As Jesse’s life continues at the ranch, and Rowen begins making her mark in the Seattle art community, they begin to wonder where the middle ground is. Or if there even is one.

As push comes to shove and choices aren’t only needing to be made, but forced to be made, Jesse and Rowen have to face what their lives might look like without the other.

Can two people with such tragic pasts and different presents, go on to expect a promising future? Whatever the answer, they’ll need a lot more than love to make it.

"Opening up's never been my thing. It really gets in the way of that whole mysterious vibe I like to let off. It drives the women wild."

Garth Black...I was intrigued by this dark cowboy in Lost and Found and I begged Nicole to continue the series and write his story. I just knew we needed to know more about the mysterious and obnoxious Garth Black. By book two, Near and Far, I developed such an attachment to him. I I loved seeing his more soft, vulnerable and loyal side. And I knew in my heart that it was time for him to find someone of his own to love. And in this book, I have totally fallen for this broken man. He's been trained all his life that he is nothing, trash, and worthless. He's egotistical, foul mouthed, sarcastic, unfiltered, and brooding. He hides behind humor and sarcasm, and copes with alcohol, women, ranch work, and bull riding. He is possessive and loyal to those he cares about. But he feels unworthy of their return affection.

I'd accepted that fortune favored the few, and I wasn't in that tight circle. I'd accepted life was a chore some days a damn obstacle course other days, and out to get me most days.

He has had two lifelong friends. Two boys and one girl together...it was bound to lead to trouble. As they grew up things changed, jealousy appeared, and mistakes were made. Their friendships were convoluted with love and lust, and for a period of time they lost it all. But through this series, we have seen the rekindling of their friendships. And the addition of Jesse's fiance Rowen into their fold.

Garth's life was built on pain, humiliation, hate and heartbreak. When tragedy strikes and brings him to his lowest, he needs his friends to convince him that he deserves more than he lets himself hope for. It is such a struggle for him. He has years of pain and self worth issues to overcome. His reputation as a tough, hard drinking, womanizing loser does not help and his family tree just makes it worse. And he does not feel like he can do anything right. My heart hurt for him every time he cut himself down, felt beat down(emotionally or physically), and hid his inner turmoil. He was broken soul, but with a beautiful heart under his tough armor. If he could just get one thing right, it could mean all the difference.

One part of me knew staying away from (her) was priority number one. The other part of me, the one I wished I could locate so I could radiate it the hell out, wanted to be as close to (her) as she'd let me get. Those two agendas didn't align.

The friends have stood by each other and up to each other since they were five years old. This woman accepts Garth and sees the good man lurking underneath. She is spunky, spirited, caring, and loyal. She knows Garth has issues and can deal with them. She is not afraid to tell him when he messes up. She only wants the best for Garth even when he does not think he deserves it. She has always been the girl for him, but he felt she was too good for him. It was easy to convince himself that she belonged with someone good like Jesse and not someone dark like him. And now there is more competition for her affection and he does not have the bad rep that Garth does. And can I just say that I hated...hated Colt Mason? He was such a rich, arrogant, nasty jerk.

"Let's face it, the only things I have left to lose are my boots and whatever scrap of dignity I have left. You have the world at your fingertips, and I have the weight of it on my shoulders. I know the man I am, and I know that I'm nowhere close to deserving of you...But if you feel anything for me like I feel for you, I am asking you to give us a chance. I'm begging you to give me a chance..."

I adored them together. They were funny, sarcastic, confrontational and passionate. You could feel their connection and how deep their true feelings ran even though they had trouble admitting them. They were protective of each other. He encouraged her to be herself and stand up for what she wants. I loved getting deep down into the layers of Garth Black and seeing a glimmer of hope and his attempts at becoming a better man. His willingness to change, go slow, and attempt romance was endearing and melted my heart. He could be so sweet and tender. I loved how she stood beside him and encouraged him to be the man she knew he could be. And the flashbacks of them over the years just made me love them more.

But past demons do not always stay in the past and for someone who has never been shown love, it is hard to accept that it is a real possibility. And when it seems like the world is against you, it makes it even worse. I felt such compassion for him. I felt his emotional and physical pain, his inner turmoil, his feelings of loss and inferiority, and his hopelessness. And all along, this bad boy really was trying to do the right thing by her. But sometimes right and wrong gets convoluted.

"Because you deserve better than my best. You deserve the man I can and should be. Not the one everyone else knows."

Can she break Garth down and make him see the good in himself in order to give them a fighting chance? And if so, will it be the best thing or worst thing that ever happened to them?

I enjoyed getting to see more of Jesse and Rowen and how they supported Garth just like he did for them during their courtship. They are not afraid to tell it to him like it is without sugar coating it or making excuses for him. They have all come a long way since the first book. This series is sweet, emotional, funny, and heart felt. The characters are complex, well developed, and their relationships are meaningful and deep. I feel like the characters have shown such growth since the beginning and I am completely attached to all of them. I love the Walker family and would be happy to see more books in this series featuring the younger Walker girls. Garth's book was everything I hoped it would be and I am so glad that Nicole continued the series and let us get down and dirty with Mr. Garth Black.

Thanks to Nicole Williams for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Quotes are based on ARC copy and are subject to change in final draft.

Nicole Williams Website/Facebook/Twitter

I'm the New York Times and USATODAY bestselling author of the CRASH series (HarperTeen, S&S UK), LOST & FOUND series, UP IN FLAMES (S&S UK), The EDEN TRILOGY, and a handful of others. I write stories about everyday kinds of people who find themselves in extraordinary kinds of situations. I tell love stories with happy endings because I believe in making the world a better place, and that's one tiny way I can make it so. I'm one of those people who still believe in true love and soul mates, and would rather keep my head in the clouds any day over having my feet firmly on the ground.