Take My Hand

A Pine Cone Romance #1

by Missouri Vaun

A Pine Cone Romance
Artist Clay Cahill retreats to her hometown of Pine Cone, Georgia, when she’s betrayed by a woman she thought cared and the pressure of the New York City art world becomes too much. Setting paints aside, she takes a job at her grandfather’s garage seeking the restorative comfort of small town life where women are sweet and life flows as slow as molasses.
Manhattan art gallery owner River Hemsworth is preparing for a show when she’s informed her aunt has bequeathed her a local gallery in Pine Cone, a place where the idea of fashion is anything with a Carhartt label. En route to review inventory and unload the property quickly, River wrecks her car and Clay comes to her rescue.
If River can convince Clay to start painting again, she may be able to pull off the show that will make her career and quench the desires she never expected to feel again.

Cover Artist: Evelyn Braddock and Missouri Vaun
Genres: Contemporary / Romance

Genres: Romance, LGBT, Lesbian Romance, Lesbian, Audiobook, Queer, Butch Femme

242 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2018

About the author

Missouri Vaun is a two-time Golden Crown Literary Society award-winning lesbian romance writer published by Bold Strokes Books. FOREVER'S PROMISE is Vaun's latest, a historical romance. Wes dresses as a man for property rights. Will she risk it all for love?

Vaun spent a large part of her childhood in southern Mississippi, before attending high school in North Carolina and college in Tennessee. Strong connections to her roots in the rural South have been a grounding force throughout her life. Vaun spent twelve years finding her voice working as a journalist in places as disparate as Chicago, Atlanta and Jackson, Miss., all along filing away characters and their stories. Her novels are heartfelt, earthy; speak of loyalty and our responsibility to others.

She and her wife live in Northern California.

Reviews

[Lex Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 Stars. I’m a Missouri Vaun fan so I was excited to get this book. I’m used to mostly reading her fantasy of futuristic books, but I learned she can write good traditional romances too. This is book 1 in the Pine Cone Romance series. What is different about this series is it sounds like a new author will write each book. It looks like D. Jackson Leigh and VK Powell will be writing the other two books.

This story is about three best friends who live in a small southern town called Pine Cone. This first book is about Clay, a budding artist and tow truck driver. The other two friends include Trip, a veterinarian (I’m guessing Leigh will write her story) and Grace, a police sergeant (it would make sense that Powell would author her story). I really like this idea about three quality authors each writing characters who are all friends.

It is not like this book is anything we haven’t read before. A woman from the city goes to a small town to take care of property a relative left her; only to find herself falling in love with the setting and its people. Even though this premise has been done many times before, I still enjoyed this read. I liked the community of Pine Cone and found myself quickly liking many secondary characters, not just the two mains. When it came to the mains Clay was the brooding but sensitive butch character. And River is the fiery city girl. I found myself wanting to shake Clay a few times, but I still really liked both mains.

When it came to the romance I would say it was pretty good. There was definitely some chemistry and sexual tension between River and Clay. There were also some sweet romantic moments that warmed my heart a bit. While there may have been an insta connection or insta lust, the romance moved at a good pace which made it believable for me. It went full speed at the end, but I’m okay with Vaun wanting to give us a good HEA.

Since I found myself already warming to the secondary characters, I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series. It will be really interesting to see how either Leigh or Powell writes their characters compared to how they were in this book. I think this is going to be a fun series.

An ARC was given to me by BSB, for a honest review.

[vacatedboat · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not particularly excited about writing or pushing ‘save’ on this review, but here we go...

I don’t consider myself a die-hard Vaun fan, but I am a fan. I’ve really enjoyed her historical romances and the one contemporary romance of hers that I’ve read. I was swept up in her settings and her characters and just really enjoyed her writing style. I carried those expectations into this, I suppose, but ‘Take My Hand,’ I really hate to say, fell short of her previous work. This is true for me, at least. Others have had a different experience, so take this review for what it is: merely one person’s opinion.

I’ve read this book before, quite a few times, actually; I think most anyone who’s been reading lesfic for a good while has. The MC, River, inherits property from a long lost relative and must venture to the last place she wants to be (generally, a city girl has to go to the ‘middle-of-nowhere,’ as it is here) to settle the deceased’s affairs. City girl is left a letter that is overly sentimental, considering she had no emotional relationship with the deceased. The letter also drives home a point that we’re supposed to believe at this stage of the story anyway that Clay is amazing and talented and blah, blah, blah .

I won’t get further into the storyline because if you’ve read one book with this set up, you’ve read ‘Take My Hand,’ too.

There was no spark between River and Clay and I think we’re supposed to believe it exists simply because we’re told that it does. This is another instance of when an author relies on telling us from the character's perspective that they’re attracted to one another, but doesn’t prove it in the storytelling. MCs and background characters telling me something doesn’t make me feel it…and I really want to feel it if I’m supposed to believe it. Maybe more dialogue between the characters would have helped, but most of the conversations they have didn’t really feel intimate. Sure, they were getting to know one another, but it was all so surface level that it didn’t really get to a depth where I could believe they were falling in love.

I’m really wondering why the drama was added to the last bit of this book. Was it to fill pages? There is a character that Clay doesn’t get along with that does something really stupid and I can’t puzzle together how it fits into this storyline or what its purpose was. To add drama? Perhaps to force the ‘I love you’ that we all so desperately want at the end of a romance? I don’t know, but no matter how the ‘I love you’ came about in this, I wouldn’t have really believed it unless the story started showing me the love rather than telling me about it.

2.5* and that hurts just to write, so I'm rounding up. I really respect Vaun as an author and will definitely keep reading her work. This one just didn’t do it for me.

[Joc · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first story in a collaborative series called A Pine Cone Romance about three women, Clay, Grace and Trip, who have been best friends since school living in Pine Cone, Georgia. Vaun takes on Clay while D Jackson Leigh will write about Trip, the vet, and VK Powell gets Grace, the cop. (I’m going to have to read some Powell before her instalment is released. Any recommendations?) Powell’s and Leigh’s characters are part of Take My Hand so it will be interesting to see if their individual voices are retained in spite of different authors.

River Hemsworth, New York gallery owner, finds herself the heir to aunt Eve’s home, car and gallery in the rural town of Pine Cone. On arriving in Pine Cone she crashes her car and needs to be towed by the only tow-truck in town owned by the androgynously attractive, Clay Cahill. They’re drawn to each other but River is only there to offload her inheritance and Clay has no interest in anyone from New York.

The alienated-relative-leaving-everything-to-the-lesbian is a common theme so while the story line doesn’t set it apart from other romances it still has a lot going for it. Vaun has an amazing ability to describe the environment without going into long, descriptive passages. I can see the streets, feel the weather and know what the houses look like and that give me a greater sense of immersion in the story. Vaun’s characters have a tendency to talk it out which appeals to me because I love effective dialogue.

I enjoyed reading this. It was a light, easy and quick read with a little bit of angst and a moment of life-threatening drama.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

[Lexxi Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books in exchange for an honest review.

This book, the 20th work I’ve read by this author (9 using the Vaun name and 11 using the Braddock), is about Clay Cahill and River Hemsworth. Both of whom have a point of view in this book. Based off of a vague off-hand comment about a third party, there is a good chance both of the characters are near at or over 30 years of age (there was a comment about another character being ‘near us in age, thirties’ (hopefully I didn’t misread that)).

The book opens with River doing what you aren’t supposed to do – be on the phone and drive at the same time. And you know why you aren’t supposed to do that? Well River found out first hand, when she nearly rear-ended some horses (in a horse trailer), swerved to avoid the truck, and slammed into a hair-saloon. And that’s the introduction of the reader to River. That phone played a lot of key pivotal plot points in this book (seriously, first the accident, later a pivotal moment when the phone was left, unlocked, near another person as if they wanted that other person to read the phone (WTF was that about?)).

The second major character appeared when she wandered up to check on River. To provide help, and stuff. River, dazed as she was, still seemed to vaguely respond to the rather obvious (to those who knew her) flirtatious advances of . . . Dr. Trip. Dr. Trip was a major character but not the other main character.

Trip’s advances were intercepted/stopped/redirected when another major character appeared on the scene. The quite attractive woman began asking River questions about the accident. I do not recall, now, if she also flirted, but it was obvious she was also a lesbian. This would also be a major but not main character. Grace the police officer.

By the time another lesbian was introduced (after several other women bounced around asking if River needed help), I was beginning to think two things: this small town in Georgia was filled entirely with women, and there was a good possibility that all of them were lesbians. I was wrong on both counts, but that’s the impression the beginning gave me.

That ‘another lesbian’? That’d be the tow-truck driver. Who River drooled over. Considering that River was kind of out of it, dazed, had literally slammed her head into her steering wheel, and had been given a drink that had more sugar in it than liquid, it’s possible River did in fact literally drool. The tow-truck driver was Clay – the same Clay I already mentioned in the first paragraph as being the other main and point of view character.

Clay helps River – both with her car and to get her to her B’n’B (how is that worded again? I know its Bed and Breakfast, but I forget the little BnB short-cut). They seem to hit it off. Until River mentions she’s from New York, and owns a gallery there. It’s hot. It’s the deep south. A distinct chilly sensation developed, though, noticeable to River after she revealed this information.

Right, so – those are the characters. Main and major (minor would include the new vet that works at Trip’s place, Dani something; and the new police deputy who works for Grace, Jamie something; and Bo – the never-do-well who works at the place Clay works; and ‘Grandpa’ who gave Clay a job; and . . . others). But what’s going on? Why is the New Yorker in Pine Cone Georgia, and why the cold shoulder from Clay?

Well the book description, if you recalled to read it (which I hadn’t – what it’s a Vaun book, of course I was going to read it sight unseen without an idea what it was about, but I’ve read the description now that I’ve read the book) tells you the answer to both questions I ended the last paragraph with.

Clay is an artist who had a bad experience in New York. River is in Pine Cone because the aunt she never really had anything to do with (family issues) died and gave River her car, house, and art gallery. That’s why River is in Pine Cone – temporarily; and why Clay’s there (she lives there).

I had a few issues with enjoying the book: there was no separation for the point of view changes, one paragraph could follow Clay, one could follow River, and there was neither rhyme nor reason for when the change would occur – though it was always obvious a change had occurred. Problem two: occasionally I lost track of who said what, though that was probably more my fault than anything (lost track as in they would talk, and I’d miss out on which person said what when and how). Problem three: wined was used once when whined was intended (yes, I noticed that one specific mistake, heh).

The last problem is more major, but I got around it well enough. And that’s how the book ended, or near enough the end part. When the book suddenly turned into a crime drama for no explainable reason. When that crime drama started . . . well, I kind of groaned loudly and figured that I’d end up giving the book a much worse rating than I had been thinking up to that point. I liked how everything unfolded, though, so . . . it probably has some negative impact on the rating but not as severe as I’d been thinking.

The characterization was good, the romance was . . . solid enough, the plot was interesting. I was intrigued and entertained. Good quick easy read . . . that I found to be slightly lessor than the most recent books that I’ve read by this author. Part of that is because of the issues I had, and mentioned, part of that was the part where a few things seemed a little heavy handed (I knew instantly that trouble was going to happen when one person left their phone with the other – it’s like a blinking red light when that happens, blinking arrow, blinking obviousness – and then trouble did in fact occur).

Rating: 4.31

June 5 2018

[Arn · Rating 2 out of 5]

ARC received from Netgalley for a fair review.

2.4 stars. I didn't connect with the characters. Their connection is purely on a physical level at first and I didn't feel that it went past it as much as I wanted to. They're together because they are both hot but that's pretty much it. Furthermore, a lot of things are too convenient in this book, the gallery owner thing, the small town background, New York, etc. They were made for each other quite literally because the author made them so and it's glaringly obvious.

The book is also extremely predictable and uses a lot of common plot devices that I lost interest in the story because I could predict 90% of it. The main conflict, the redneck, everything was so standard that I just couldn't enjoy this read.

It's technically well written though but that's pretty much the only thing that is going for this book. Can't recommend.

[Gaby LezReviewBooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is part of the 'Pine Cone romance' series by three different authors: 'Take my hand' by Missouri Vaun, 'Take a chance' by D. Jackson Leigh and 'Take your time' by V.K. Powell. This series follows the lives of three friends: Clay, Trip and Grace in the small town of Pine Cone, Georgia.

There are series written by an author that usually need to be read in chronological order, series of standalone novels by different authors under a common theme, and the 'Pine Cone romance' series which is a bit peculiar. In this series the three different authors decided to create three romances (one in each book) but with the three stories overlapping. For example, if the three friends share a scene, it will appear in all three books but with a different point of view. D. Jackson Leigh says in her acknowledgements that it was arduous to write. Well, sometimes it's also arduous to read. I personally found some issues, one is that after reading the first book (whichever the order) the reader has sometimes a sense of deja vu, a feeling of having read that before because... they read it in the previous book. It works fine in some scenes as it gives other characters' perspectives but in other cases it is tedious. Also, some events that overlap in the books give information that act as spoilers for the other books' stories which is a bit annoying. Finally, I found that there are a number of unresolved secondary plots which are main plots in the other books, so in order to grasp the full story, you need to read all the series. So I guess readers can rate each book separately but also the series as a whole. Due to these problems appear throughout the series, you'll see some of my comments repeated in the other reviews.

'Take my hand' is the story of Clay Cahill, a gifted painter who escaped success and a cheating girlfriend in New York. She goes back to her hometown of Pine Cone, Georgia working as a tow truck driver for her grandfather. River Hemsworth is a gallery owner in New York who inherited a local gallery and a house in Pine Cone. Her plan is to sell the property fast and go back to NY but when she meets Clay after a minor car accident she cannot deny her attraction. But Clay holds too many secrets and River is settled in NY. Will they have their happily ever after?

This is a rather formulaic romance between stoic butch Clay and damsel in distress femme River. There's no doubt where the plot takes us with exception of a small twist near the end. Ms. Vaun knows how to build the main characters' chemistry and the intimate scenes are hot. The secondary characters are a bit flat but the clash of cultures between North and South USA is well written. However, the resolution of the conflict seems rushed and the story could have done with a few more chapters to wrap it up better.

Overall, an ok butch-femme romance read set in a small town in Georgia. 3.5 stars.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.wordpress.com

[Kexx · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book - very atmospheric with right amount of angst to turn the wheel. Believed in both main Characters - hope a series could follow with 2 other friends.
PS: Downloaded music: Sigur Ros Valtari which Clay plays. Brilliant!!

[Loek Krancher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This is the first book in The Pine Cone trilogy. A trilogy written by three different authors. The plot of this first one flowed beautifully and I loved how the whole story progressed. A great tale of love and close friendship between 3 women. It has witty banter, quirky characters and it’s set in a charming small town. This first book has me hooked immediately and I am curious to the other 2 books. Well done!

[MJSam · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t think I’ve read anything by Vaun before, but I was intrigued by the idea of a trilogy that’s written by different authors. As my introduction to Vaun this wasn’t bad, but it had some issues. First is the setting, it’s a lovely small rural town, that is somehow also a gay Mecca. I’m not usually fond of books where everyone is gay, and obviously in a trilogy you know you’ll end up with six lesbians/bi women, but there were also other gay/lesbians in town and it seemed unrealistic. I put that aside though, since I knew it was a trilogy.

The plot has been done a million times before (relative dies and leaves house/business to relative that barely knows them and they go to sell the place). No points for guessing how it ends.

The main characters do spend a bit of time together and they actually talk to each other, which was refreshing. But their romance was very insta-love. The friendship between Clay, Trip, and Grace was nice, but needed more backstory. Maybe it was light on in this one because there are two more to come, we’ll see.

There’s a few miscommunications, which are thankfully short-lived, but there’s also a ridiculous, I want to say sub-plot, but it didn’t take up enough time to warrant the term. It’s just a few vague references and then blows up into some ‘drama’ that I assume was inserted just so that there could be some. I don’t know. I do know the book didn’t need it.

Based on this I’m curious to read the other two stories, and I’d also try Vaun again, but I wasn’t blown away.

[Les Rêveur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the A Pine Cone Romance series and it got us off to a great start with a bang!
Artist, Clay has returned home after a disastrous relationship in New York that had threatened her passion for her painting. She isn’t interested in relationships or playing fast and loose with her heart, especially for someone like River who embodies everything that Clay could really fall for. River is visiting Pine Cone to get her aunts affairs in order after her death. She wants to get in and out of Pine Cone fast and back to her art studio in New York. That is until she meets Clay, who personifies a sexy female James Dean, that has her wanting Clay in the worst way but she is also extremely attracted to Clay’s artistic side and dynamite personality. If only Clay would show some interest in her because she’s starting to want things with Clay she has never wanted before.
Well hell, I think I have found my new lesfic heart throb… Clay Cahill is a protagonist that every butch character should be built upon. The moment I read her profile on the page I was hooked and the moody, withdrawn from the world attitude also really got me. What was extremely exciting about this book was the fact that she just couldn’t help being drawn to River. And as much as she tried to resist her feelings, you could feel the chemistry emanate of the page every time they were together.  River was the opposite, she wears her heart on her sleeve and shows her attraction to Clay openly, this gave the perfect balance and really made their falling in love much more exciting. The chemistry between both River and Clay is off the charts and their sex scenes were just plain hot!
What I love about a new series is getting to know the characters that are carried through in each book. As with Take My Hand, you get to know Clays best friends, Trip and Grace, who are the main protagonists for the next two book in the series. Trip is next off the bat to fall in love in book two, Take A Chance followed by Grace in Take Your Time. Best part of this new series is its unusual twist, each book in the series is written by a different author and all the authors have worked together to get each backstory seamless. This includes interactions that take place in each book but from different protagonists point of view. It's rather genius and I have read the next book and can confirm the characters interactions are seamless...
If you would like some more information on this series please click the link below:
Pine Cone Romance Series 
I think Missouri Vauns romance novels are quite brilliant, her butch/femme formula works perfectly and she writes such complex yet endearing characters that make her books real page turners.
Can’t wait to see what comes next from this series. 5 stars

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid 3 star rating....I liked it. Perhaps, if I hadn't read several of Vaun's other works, it might be a little higher. It's hard going into a book expecting a certain something...then not quite getting there.
My biggest complaint was the "catalyst episode" that brings our two MCs together. It just felt inserted. Not really part of the rest of the story. She tried to make it seem so...but fell short. This to me, tainted the rest of the book. There were moments of raw emotion where you saw exactly where you wanted the story to go...but did not.

So, nice read, I liked it.

I received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Det. Nidhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Take My Hand is the first book in the Pine Cone series which is a collaboration between three authors.
This particular book is written by Missouri Vaun. I've read her sci fi books and they were great. So obviously I hoped for a lot from this book. While it did meet most of my expectations I found that lacking in some areas.

* Give me a moment while I childishly laugh at the names of the protagonists *

Clay Cahill is an artist who's just out of a bad relationship and she left New York to come to Pinecone, Georgia to repair her broken heart. River Hemsworth is an art enthusiast who owns a Gallery who has to come to pinecone in order to deal with her Aunt's property which has been willed to her. So yeah this is the setting. I have read a lot of books with a similar story line, as recently as 3 months ago. So I don't expect much in terms of plot development. It almost always ends with the city girl falling in love with the small town and staying back. What I do expect is a decent read which is worth spending time on. That was provided by this book. Sorta. But the problem is, since this is the first book in the series, the author has to set up storylines for the subsequent books and so 40% of the book was just descriptions of characters and introduction to most of the people living in the town. This is sad really, it happened with the the series Arrow where so many other shows of DC universe were introduced and the show had to compromise in terms of plot development.

Now lemme harp about the characters. Meet River, the generic nice girl. God she was so nice to people around her and I found that both endearing and annoying. While she wasn't exactly a pushover, she wasn't a dominant personality either. Again I don't know much about her other than the fact that she had a conservative upbringing which might explain a lot but not really.

Then there's clay, the tall dark and handsome artist extraordinaire, who is kinda annoying at the beginning but I liked her a lot by the time the book ends. Yeah she jumps into conclusions, but she has her own reasons. I still don't know where exactly she started liking River. I mean she pretends to not acknowledge her in the beginning,and avoids her like the plague for a while and suddenly she's running around watching sunsets with her? I don't buy it.

So this would have been a 3 star read for me, if not for the last 15%. The events escalated so quickly! And I was surprised. I kinda knew there was going to be something but when it actually happened it was fun. That was some good stuff. And also, I kinda loved the other two women, Grace and Trip and I can't wait to read their respective books.

This is a good book. Not too angsty, not too cheesy, just perfect in the middle.

My rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

[Agirlcandream · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet small town romance, the first of a series featuring three best friends from Pine Cone, Georgia. I have a weakness for butch/femme couples so the Clay/River pairing worked for me, even if their names made me laugh. I like the way Missouri Vaun writes and felt like I got to know the folks in Pine Cone in just a few short scenes. River’s comment about slipping into some twilight zone lesbian version of Steel Magnolias following her close encounter at the Clip and Curl made me laugh and helped me look past the plethora of lesbians filling the streets of Pine Cone.

This is a quick read and a simple enough romance with the expected attraction followed by misunderstandings (quickly resolved) followed by some fairly steamy make-up sex. There is drama which pulls our two mains together and our hoped for HEA. The southern charm is front and center in Take My Hand and as River Hemsworth discovers, the locals are warm and welcoming.

ARC received with thanks from publisher via NetGalley for review.

3.5 stars

[Laure · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5⭐️

This book just didn’t do it for me. IMO, the story cruelly lacks of depth and character development … And there are a lot of things which are too convenient in this novel. So many that it make the contents totally unbelievable…
I think there was no spark between River and Clay but we’re supposed to believe their out-of-the-chart chemistry exists simply because we’re told that it does… there were not enough shared moments between the MCs to prove this & the dialogues between them didn’t help to convince me since most of the conversations they have in this pretty short novel were the surface level kind (meaning they didn’t really feel intimate) … In such case, yeah they were getting to know one another but that made it hard to believe they were falling in love...

I’m still trying to figure out if it was to fill pages that the “drama” was added to the last bit of the book… I really don’t know. Maybe it was to force the expected ‘I love you’ but the way it came about in this, I’m not believing it. I would haven if the story had started showing me the love rather than telling me about it….

Oh and before I forget … ⚠️ Damn !!! What about the poor level of edition work?? This I believe, a better edition work, hopefully, would have allowed anyone doing it to catch some surprising (and very annoying) typos.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Take My Hand (Pine Cone Romance #1)” is the first of a very intriguing lesfic trilogy featuring the romantic interests and interactions between three long-time friends in a small community. What makes the trilogy intriguing is that while the same narrator is used for all three books, (1) each book is written by a different author, and (2) each book covers the same timeframe in the lives of the women…but from the perspective of one of the MCs.

Book #1 introduces us to MC butch Clay Cahill and MC Manhattan art gallery owner River Hemsworth, along with Clay’s local BFFs Trip Beaumont and Grace Booker. All four of these characters meet when River runs off the road to avoid Trip’s truck and crashes into the plastic deer at the Clip’N Curl beauty salon. Such an event provides fuel for small town talk for many days.

River is immediately taken in by the view of 6’ tall androgynous tow truck driver Clay, and Clay can’t take her eyes of the beautiful and fit River. Unfortunately, River is only in town for a short time to wrap of the estate of her aunt, who has left her art gallery to River. Clay, for her part, is still feeling the pain of her last trusting relationship, and wants to avoid River and her attraction to her.

Fortunately, Clay’s friends have other ideas, and Trip and Grace find ways to bring Clay and River together, often in hilarious ways.

Many of the small town side characters are wonderful, from the creepy Bo to Horny Linnette, to Lucille and the many other quirky neighbors. There’s definitely electricity between the MCs, the story has nicely done alternating POVs, and the narration is fantastic! Naturally, this being BSB, we get a massive misunderstanding, a makeup and finally a nice ending.

During the story, we also see interactions between Trip and Grace’s new officer Jamie Grant, and between Grace and Trip’s new veterinary assistant Dr. Dani Wingate. These interactions are from the POVs of River and Clay, and in books 2 and 3 those characters become the focus and we see more details for them as well as the relationship between River and Clay from their viewpoints.

This is a very enjoyable book, and I rate “Take My Hand” 4.5*. I’m rounding up to 5* because of the uniqueness of the trilogy, and I encourage you to listen to the stories of these women of Pine Cove.

[Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clay Cahill needs a break from the life she thought she wanted in New York and takes refuge in Pine Cone, Georgia. She has settled into life with her hometown high school buddies who are quite interesting in their own ways. Even though she is in the company of friends, she knows it is not enough. River Hemsworth has found her passion and just wants to settle her deceased aunt's estate and return to her "real life". To her surprise, the quick trip to Pine Cone does not go according to plan. After a car wreck, the unexpected happens and additional decisions need to be made that involve more than settling her aunt's estate. This is a fun and entertaining read. The scenes about shoes and driving was funny and sexy.

ARC provided by Bold Strokes Books, Inc. via NetGalley

[Jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in a trilogy by three different authors, about three best friends from Pine Cone, Georgia. Clay (an artist/tow truck driver), Trip (a veterinarian) and Grace (a police officer). This is Clay's story. She meets River when River runs off the road and wrecks her car in the middle of town. River owns a gallery in New York City, but comes to Georgia to sell her Aunt's gallery that has been left to her. She didn't expect to fall in love with a town from the south, and certainly didn't expect to fall for the sexy Clay who comes to her rescue more times than she can count. Clay never expected to fall for another girl from the big city when she's barely recovered from getting her heart broken the last time. Are their worlds too different for the two women to have a real chance?

This was a light and sweet romance, set in a perfect little town. This story really only lacked a little bit of substance/depth to sink your teeth into - but how can I give a book anything less than five stars when it was a breeze and absolute joy to read. Such a feel good story. Missouri Vaun is an incredibly talented writer - I love everything she writes. She writes flawlessly, its so easy to get lost in beautifully described settings and a wonderful cast of gorgeous and brilliant women, each of them unique.

It's an interesting situation where a trilogy is written by three different authors - I feel like there was a little too much time setting up and diving into the stories for the other ladies but I'm interested to see how the rest of the trilogy winds up. I love all the ladies, and I'm excited to see them meet the women of their dreams!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[H M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but it felt weak in some way, it's well written and the story is quite enjoyable. Yet I thought its in the easy forget side. I didn't feel the love nor the sad story, I wanted to know more about clay I thought there's so much more to this character and I wanted to see her go thro the recovery. Her way back was like a snap of a finger. I missed the development of that side.
I was given a free copy in return of honest review

[Jeimy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book even if the romance itself wasn't as well developed as I would have liked and even though the climax and resolution were too rushed.

[JWG1973UK · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC copy of this book by the Publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I loved the book. I was hooked from the first page. I liked the main characters of Clay & River, great storyline and loveable characters. I will certainly be looking to read more by this author.

5 STARS

[Dr E · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely romance that oozes Southern charm. You can taste the fried green tomatoes and feel the heat in the air. It’s the ensemble that creates the atmosphere so keep those secondary characters coming. Excellent to know this is the first of the Pine Cone books so I have the promise of romances for Grace and Trip to look forward to in the next instalments.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars
A very good romance with an interesting plot and likeable characters. Recommended to all romance fans especially for those who love small town romances. I'm looking forward to the other two books in the Pine Cone Romance series by D. Jackson Leigh and VK Powell.
eARC via NetGalley

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet romance and a nice way to kick off the series. I'm looking forward to seeing how the other two go, especially Grace's story.

[JulesGP · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the 2nd book in the Pine Cone series before I read this first one. Both books are perfectly fine as stand-alone stories and I expect the third will be as well.

In this book, Clay, artist/tow truck driver, meets River, a NY gallery owner when River comes into town to settle her late aunt’s affairs. Humor definitely takes centerstage in this book and the series. Dialogue and the way the town’s residents were drawn had me laughing and grinning long after I stopped reading. I did find it puzzling that the author wrote more in depth about River than about Clay and I would have preferred that the focus had stayed mostly on Clay. She really took my attention and I think she deserved more than the “James Dean” brooding artist portrayal which was fine but I wanted to know much more. The love story between Clay and River was a little rushed but sweet but less angst filled than book two’s romance. I liked Take My Hand but not as much as Take a Chance which I absolutely loved. I think this was a rare case of wishing the author had added much more to the book to fill in the blanks of Clay’s backstory.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I liked River from the beginning. She simply felt real to me. I did struggled to like Clay initially due to the way she treated River. I just felt like she acted like a petulant teenager at the start. However as time went Clay did grow on me. It was interesting though in that River seemed to always have a level head whilst Clay was very emotional throughout. I found the story sweet and liked the two together throughout the story which made it a nice fun light read.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review.

[Cab · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok. A very typical lesbian romance but I liked the characters and was willing to overlook the things that annoy me in typical romances. Like the main characters declaring their undying love for each other a week into their relationship. LOL

[Mirtha Siblesz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

I know this the first of three stories but the fact is Clay and River have enough chemistry between then that if harnessed, we would not need automobile fuel. Clay has severe trust issues since getting her heart broken while in New York pursuing her career as an artist. She came back to her hometown with the safety of her grandfather, and her two best friends Trip and Grace (protagonists of their own subsequent sequels). Since her return to Pine Cone, Clay has lost the inspiration to paint anymore enhancing her already wounded spirit.

River came to Pine Cone to settle the estate of her aunt Eve who left her the gallery and home in town. Because of a flukes River first meets Clay after almost rear ending Trip’s trailer. Clay was driving her grandfather’s tow truck to pick up River’s banged up car.

Theirs was a lovely love story with a lot of humor going on in this very endearing small town. I liked the main characters and the supporting characters as well. The storyline was very well developed. Well done.

['Nathan Burgoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two things you should know going into the Pine Cone Romance series: One, they're Southern with a capital S, in that way stories can have that make you lean back away from the pages sometimes and say, wait, surely something like that wouldn't happen? But the book just smiles right back at you and says, ah, darlin', 'round here, these things happen all the time. More sweet tea?

Second, it's not a series. I mean, it is, in that there are three stories set in the same town with three childhood friends each finding love, but they happen concurrently, not sequentially. And there is a huge amount of charm in the what this does. You could, I believe, read them in any order (I did read them in the order they were released) but they don't really spoil each other—I mean, obviously the women end up with their love interests, but this is romance, so of course that happens—but what the characters in Take My Hand see is just enough to tantalizingly make you want to know what happens in Take a Chance and Take Your Time. Each book makes you want to know what's happening in the other two. It's really clever, and one of the real joys is watching the shared scenes play out from the POVs of the other characters in the other books. It's always illuminating, and I found myself grinning all three times through the car-accident-that-hits-the-local-Clip-n-Curl, for example.

Oh, yeah, that happens. That would go back to that first thing—how the small-town Southern charm of Pine Cone plays into everything. The diner, the everyone-knows-everyone, the Clip-n-Curl (which gets hit by one of the heroines in this first book and sets off the events of Take My Hand).

The ladies in Take My Hand are Clay (a former artist who fled New York when things went south in her love life, even as her career was taking off), a butch and kind woman who works at the local family-run garage and drives the tow-truck; and River, an art gallery owner who has inherited property in Pine Cone from a relative she barely knew, and is only coming to town for the short term to close down and sell the gallery she now owns. That she's an art gallery owner in New York puts an instant itch between the two characters—Clay has nothing but sour memories of New York in general, and the art scene in specific—but River is just the kind of woman Clay used to fall for, and it's possible River is finding Clay just as entrancing. But with only a few weeks on the clock, is it even worth trying?

I liked the journey, loved the camaraderie between Clay and her childhood friends, and the cast of characters of Pine Cone—skunks and Clip-n-Curl and all—were so over-the-top and yet believable, it was a blast to visit. I'm diving right into Take a Chance.

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first book of a romantic trilogy about three childhood friends who grew up in Pine Cone, Georgia. Three authors are writing this series. Missouri Vaun wrote this first one about Clay Cahill, an artist and part-time garage worker. From what I have read about this series, D. Jackson Leigh will write the second book about Trip, the veterinarian in Pine Cone. The third friend is Sandy, who is a member of the town’s police force and she will be the focus of book three written by VK Powell.

Clay is an artist who travels to New York to pursue her art career. Unfortunately, she gets into a relationship with a woman who betrays her. She also does not feel comfortable in the face-pace art scene in the big city. Clay returns home and begins to work in her grandfather’s garage as a tow-truck driver. She has no desire to paint.

When River Hemsworth, a New York City art gallery owner, comes to Pine Cone to settle the estate of her aunt, she meets Clay. The meeting with Clay is unconventional. River is driving down the street, gets distracted and crashes into the local beauty salon. Clay is called to the scene to take the wrecked car to the garage. Although there is instant attraction, Clay’s past builds up emotional walls in hopes to guard her injured heart. River hears that Clay is an artist and initially hopes to engage her as a client.

Pine Cone, Georgia, is a town filled with gay people. Having lived in South Georgia for twenty years, I found this portrayal of a small town in Georgia a little too much like “Shangri-La”. However, it is a wonderful fantasy.

The plot is not complex. It is one that readers can almost predict, but it is a sweet romance and provides light reading. The characters are approachable and interesting. I certainly want to read the next two books to learn more about Trip and Sandy.

I recommend this book and give it 4 out of 5 stars. Bring on book 2!

I was given this ARC in return for a fair and honest review.

[Heidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Got as an audiobook. I liked the characters and the story but did find it dragged in places. I give it 3.5 stars. I do have a lot of distractions in my life right now so that could be why it lost interest here and there.