Campfires and Kisses

Harvest Ranch Romance #14

by M.K. Dymock

A fake engagement, two sworn enemies—what could go wrong?

Rielle rarely saw her parents, but she found a surrogate father in John, the owner of a nearby children’s camp. Now he’s left half of it to her. A dream come true—except she has to share her inheritance with John’s neglectful son who abandoned his father years ago.



Sutton wants nothing more than to sell the rundown camp and its bitter memories—his dad was the perfect dad to every kid except his own son. 



The camp has fallen on hard times, and Rielle doesn’t have the money to buy out Sutton. With their last dollar, they plan a singles camp—promising adventure and love. Someone starts the rumor the old enemies are engaged, and suddenly the camp sells out.



All Sutton and Rielle need to do is fake the engagement for a week. Then they can finally disappear from each other’s lives . . . if that’s what they still want.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Small Town Romance

160 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 19, 2021

About the author

Also Known as Lee Dawson.

Melissa is an analyst by day, writer by night, and ski instructor/triathlete by weekend. All of that makes her sound way more awesome than she is, but that's the point. Many of her stories include outdoor adventure since that's where her best ideas come from. Follow her own adventures at weekendwomanwarrior.com.

Reviews

[Erralee Hendrian · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this instance saving the best for last. All of the stories in this set are strong and well written; this one is no exception. There is a summer camp, a plan hatched, and two owners trying to hold into their dreams; one wants to stay to run the camp and one wants to be done with the camp. Sweet characters and love the way they meet characters from the other stories as they go through the week of single adult camp. They put together a great experience for all and now the decision that will keep the camp going or change its course. The writing style of this story flowed and told the story without too much rush to reach the end. The back and forth between the two main characters well with this story adding a little extra to the story.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sutton and Rielle both had difficult childhoods but their perceptions of one another made them misread one another. It took being forced together in a pretend relationship for them to truly see and understand one another. This book started a little slow for me but I am glad that I continued to read as it got really good further along. There were many unpredictable twists and turns toward the end that left me guessing what would finally become of Sutton, Rielle, and the camp. I enjoyed it! I was entrusted with a complimentary copy of this book and this voluntary review contains my honest opinions.

[Debbie Eyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fun sweet read of two enemies and how they become so much more! An exciting story full of adventure , romance and a little hurt! I liked the sound of Sutton and Rielle our mc’s and how they have to come together to make the camp work despite having very different feelings and memories about the place and I enjoyed their ending!

[Arceli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really sweet romance that takes place in the woods. I loved the forced promity romance. The characters were really fun. The book was a good read. Loved it.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Shanna Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rielle and Sutton have known each other for years thanks to a camp his father owned. They plan a singles retreat together and before they know it rumors spread that they are engaged.

My favorite trope is fake romances, there is just something so cute about them, especially when it's also an enemies one. M.K. Dymock did such a beautiful job with this story and really captured the beautiful feel of the outdoors. While I read this story I was sitting by an open window listening to the rain, and I can't imagine any better way to enjoy this beautiful story.

I loved that this story did have some very expected moments, but had so many moments I couldn't have guessed and truly surprised me, in the best ways. I was beyond happy with how Dymock wrote the story and got me hooked quickly. I just couldn't put it down and had the sappiest grin on my face. It also had me laughing so many times at the back and forths between Rielle and Sutton.

I highly reccomend reading this book. Harvest Ranch has been an amazing series to read and I look forward to anymore that come in the future. I promise it you take the time for this series, you will be blown away and in the most romantic of moods.

[Sonya Wasden · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rielle and Sutton are enemies. Sutton's absent father ran the Harvest Ranch camp for years and Sutton attended every year but he never felt like the beloved son he wanted to be treated like by his father. He always felt that his father always treated Rielle as his beloved child and Sutton resented that.

Rielle had never felt the love of her parents and she longed for a place to call home; a place to sink roots and she found that with John, Sutton's father. When he passed, Rielle and Sutton were each left with 1/2 of the camp property. Sutton was determined to sell it and take the money and run and Rielle wanted to keep the camp and run it as the camp director/owner. They had to spend one week together with a camp full of singles before Sutton's shares were to be sold. The problem was that there were assumptions that each of them had made about each other that they were beginning to learn weren't truths. Oh, and by the way, they had to spend the week as an engaged couple.

When you through in a hidden clause in the contract and some other fun "stuff", they might just get a happy ever after, after all.

I love this sweet romance where both of the main characters got what they wanted in the end and there is a happy ending. It was a clean romance with lots of sweet moments.

I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rielle and Sutton were frenemies when they were young teenagers at Sutton's father's camp for young people near Harvest Ranch. Sutton's father took Rielle under his wing and Sutton was jealous. Suttons father left both of them half of the campground in his will. There were a lot of misunderstandings while they were growing up and some were going to have to be worked out. The old campground needs work and Sutton wants to sell his half. They come up with the idea of a singles camping week with different outdoor activities. It really takes off when someone leaks that they are engaged. In order to keep the singles there and the publicity good, they decide to go along with the fake engagement. As the week goes on, Sutton and Rielle find out a lot about each other. They get an offer to sell the camp for a lot of money but is it the right thing to do? Will they be able to get past old hurt feelings and build on their new friendship? I liked this story and it was hard to put down. I received an ARC with no expectations of anything in return. I'm leaving my honest review.

[Judy Gittleson Hendrickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sutton and Rielle inherit his fathers camp, but Sutton has nothing but bad memories of the camp and his father, where Rielle was needing a father figure in her life and found his dad. Before they can sell, they need money to fix the camp up and decide on a singles week. When rumors of the two being engaged surface, a fake engagement is undertaken for just the week. In that time, all their misconceptions of each other fall apart and real understanding and a romance begins to fire up. The characters have great banter and the storyline is delightful. Loved the locale and the backstories of those involved.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Michelle Ferrari-Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hidden Clause

Sutton is in Harvest Ranch to sell his inheritance. Only problem, his father left it to Rielle too. He is furious that she wormed her way into his father's life and can't wait to get rid of it.

Rielle loves the children's camp. It saved her in so many ways and John was like a father to her. The son who abandoned his father, the man she has had a crush on for years.

When someone starts a rumor of the two being engaged they put away their boxing gloves and work together for a full week. When they begin to realize they are made for each other, they must do everything necessary to make sure Sutton' s business partner doesn't steal it away ~

[Bonnie Theel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is written from a totally different perspective than the other ones, but just as good. This is about Sutton, who had lived in Harvest Ranch several years ago. When his father died, he left his campground to Sutton and Reille equally. His father had taken Reille under his wing when she came to Harvest Ranch at the age of 12. Sutton and Reille had not gotten along as they were growing up. Now, he had to come back to Harvest Ranch to figure out what he wanted to do with his share of the campground.

I received an ARC, and this is my honest opinion.

[Connie Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet

So very sweet and nicely done! I loved that the flawed characters in Rielli and Sutton were both able to find the joy in their lives. Nice to know that some are able to fight for right against a corrupt lawyer legalise contracts. Excellent job on this story and the whole series!

[Sunshinemeg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! I was totally in love with the mountain camp and the new idea to have a singles week. I loved seeing the adventures, stresses and clarifying moments for Sutton and Rielle. Their different life stories are similar enough to click, even when they didn't want to. I love their support in in the frustrating moments. I love it!

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wonderful read! Rielle and Sutton's story has just enough conflict and romance to keep you turning the pages. It's a fun read and you will laugh out loud in spots. This is a new to me author and I look forward to reading more of her books.

[Laramee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first M.K. Dymock book and I loved it! This is a fantastic clean enemies to lovers trope! A fun escape from reality!

I received an ARC from the author and all opinions are my own.

[Marie Bourgery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sutton resented Rielle for having his father's love and admiration and inheriting half of his camp. Rielle thought he didn't care about his father, her mentor and was angry she had to share the camp with him. Sutton comes up with the idea to sell the camp to single adults, offering a free wedding to a pair who matches up, but a misprint in the article lists him as engaged to Rielle. They have to act like a couple to make the camp a success so Sutton call sell his shares to an investor and walk away. The fake relationship between Sutton and Rielle starts to become something more pretty quickly, but will they tell each other how they feel before it's too late? I liked the activities they planned and that even though it was a singles week they didn't force them to find matches. Breakfast most mornings sounded yummy but decadent, so I don't know how they had the energy for much afterwards.

[Cath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is book thirteen of The Harvest Ranch Romance series and the main characters are Rielle and Sutton Risberg. The pair inherited equal shares of the summer camp and the large lands it was based upon, after the death of his father John, which made Sutton react rather badly. He had been made to go to the summer camp every summer for three months, by his mother who was determined for him to keep in touch with his father, but unfortunately his father made him stay with the rich kids in a bunkhouse and paid him no special attention at all. He took more time with Rielle, who he had discovered lost in the woods one summer and invited her to the summer camp the next year and every year since. She took on all tasks she could and followed his father everywhere, learning all she could. She worked as a camp counsellor once she was in her late teens, whilst Sutton refused to go when he was fifteen, but went back as a counsellor himself when he was eighteen. Rielle made a move for him on one of the last nights of camp and he rudely pushed her away, presuming she was doing it to please his father!

Sutton has opened a marketing company with his college best friend Thomas Brodie and they have arranged a big marketing programme for a singles week at the camp for adults, with the prize of a free wedding for the first couple to actually get engaged to marry, from the people who attend. Sutton wants the event to raise the profile of the camp and hopefully pull in an investor or two, for Sutton to sell his half share to and then have funds to build his business with his best friend Thomas. Rielle needs the investor to help pay for much needed upkeep on the camp which has fallen on hard times, so has no funds to buy Sutton out of his shares. She can’t see herself doing anything else and loves every day of her time in the mountains. They are working together to plan the singles camp, with Rielle having Nia and her other friends and contacts in town helping with all the camp activities, schedules and catering. Sutton and Thomas are doing the marketing, but it is mainly Sutton and his ideas. Unfortunately, when the article comes out in the Southern Life magazine, through a contact of Thomas, the article isn’t exactly what Sutton expected!

According to the article, Sutton and Rielle are supposedly engaged, having met again at the camp and reconnected, so to carry out the singles week, they are going to have to fake the engagement for the whole week, and hope Rielle’s boyfriend doesn’t mind too much! All they need to do is pretend for a week, surely they can do that around loads of other singles? After the week ends, they can just break up and no one will be the wiser, if that’s what they still want. The week is to promise adventure mixed with mingling and hopefully some love connections. Although some of the participants seem to make quite a regular thing, doing the rounds at various singles weeks all around the country, and even some already know each other. One even turns out to be a bit of a stalker! Sutton and Rielle get to spend a lot of time together, helping with activities and corralling stray participants, giving them the time to rehash some of the past between them and his father .An investor comes to visit as the week draws to a close, but will this be good or bad news? That could depend on who you are! An interesting and easy read, with lots going on and touches of romance in the wilderness. I received an ARC copy of this book from BookSprout and I have freely given my own opinion of this book above.

[Amanda Caswell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fake engagement to the enemy

Rielle and Sutton each own half of a failing summer camp, but they throw the dice on a singles' romantic week in the hope it will generate enough interest for Sutton to sell his share of the camp. The only problem is, everyone thinks they're engaged, when they can't even stand each other.
Enemies to lovers has never been my favorite trope because of the drama, but this story surprised me. After putting it off for months, I read it in a day. I enjoyed the back and forth, with gradually opening up about the past with discussions and flashbacks. It was a pleasant progression and the end was incredibly satisfying.

[Tamera Westhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet Romance

I absolutely love this series! In this book, Sutton and Rielle are half owners of a camp and don’t get along at all. So many wounds and misunderstandings get between them, until they finally talk it out and realize they were both wrong. Then the crap hits the fan and Sutton (well, really it was Liam) saves the day! I loved the ending!

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Rielle and Sutton have a deep hatred for one another, yet they are bound together in a risky business attempt to cut ties once and for all. An entrancing enemies-to-love with characters thrust into a fake engagement was just the thing for a weekend of reading.

Rielle and Sutton each have thick layers of hurt to unravel and I loved how these coverings were slowly peeled away through the course of the story. Honestly, Sutton wasn't very likable at first. He came across as cold and unfeeling, while Rielle was a bucket full of sunshine--until it came to dealing with him and his exasperating ways.

The premise of a week-long love-finding adventure in the hills around the glorious small town of Harvest Ranch was an exciting escapade, especially when trouble arises, bringing these opponents together. This is my first Dymock book and it won't be my last. I really enjoyed the way this author blended growth and entertainment. My only wish was for a few more sparks earlier on.

Content: mild romance; mild scene of danger/peril

*I received a complimentary copy. All opinions expressed are my own and were voluntarily given.*

[Jennifer Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Sutton and Rielle have a layered backstory that has set them up to be enemies for years already. They have to come together, fake engagement and all, to make the camp work, so that Sutton can sell his half and they don’t have to deal with each other. Watching them go from enemies to decent partners to falling in love with each other was fun. Without giving away the ending to the camp plot, I loved the twists that it took.

I’ve read a few enemies to lovers stories that just didn’t connect with me, and this one is an example of how the trope should be done. I also have yet to read a fake engagement story that really clicks with me, and this succeeded there as well. I read it in Kindle unlimited, and I may actually buy a copy!

The only thing missing for me is that there weren’t enough swoony moments, so I guess I’ll give it 4 1/2 stars instead of the full five.

[Kaytlen Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Campfire and Kisses is a fun, sweet romance as two enemies find out their preconceptions of each other are all wrong. Rielle is trying to be the best camp director she can be while overcoming her past and Sutton wants nothing to do with his half of the inheritance- or anything that comes from his father. These two are both prejudice and think of themselves in the best possible light while looking at the other in the worst. Dymock has created such animosity that as they work together to make the camp worth investment it is fun to see the characters feelings slowly change and become more than what it was.

Little by little, this romance creates a love story. While there is definitely some dunderheadedness from Sutton and some jerks thrown in the mix that want to ruin everything they had worked towards. It makes it for quite the conflict it in the end.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story! Rielle did not have a good family life growing up, when she came upon a camp John took her in and helped her. He was her family. However John had a son Sutton and he felt very left out of his life and unloved. After John's death the camp he ran was given to both Rielle and Sutton. They were not friends to say the least. They had to come together to plan a camp for singles. Through deception and confusion they had to act as if they were engaged. As they worked together and learned a bit more about each other as well as the many hurt feelings misunderstandings had caused they grew closer. However people were out to deceive and take advantage of them. They were able to endure because of love, respect and kindness towards each other.
I was given an ARC of this book. I voluntarily left this review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Jen Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sutton and Rielle have a layered backstory that has set them up to be enemies for years already. They have to come together, fake engagement and all, to make the camp work, so that Sutton can sell his half and they don’t have to deal with each other. Watching them go from enemies to decent partners to falling in love with each other was fun. Without giving away the ending to the camp plot, I loved the twists that it took.

I’ve read a few enemies to lovers stories that just didn’t connect with me, and Campfires and Kisses is an example of how the trope *should* be done. I also have yet to read a fake engagement story that really clicks with me, and this succeeded there as well. I read it in Kindle unlimited, and I may actually buy a copy!

The only thing missing for me is that there weren’t enough swoony moments, so I guess I’ll give it 4 1/2 stars instead of the full five.

[Heather Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

enemies to fake engaged?

This is book 13 in the Harvest Ranch series. Each book could technically be read as a stand alone, but the characters and small town overlap in each book so I would read them in order if you can. Rielle and Sutton had a long, not pleasant, past. When Sutton’s dad passed away he leaves them 50/50 partners in the camp. A camp that has happy memories for Rielle, but quite the opposite for Sutton. Sutton’s only goal is to sell his shares as quickly as possible and leave the camp and Rielle behind. This story will pull you in. Past hurts, misconceptions and misunderstandings can really change a person’s perspective about things. As Rielle and Sutton are forced into a fake engagement to sell a single’s week, all of those things come into play. You won’t want to stop turning the pages.

[Kristen Lewendon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was and it wasn’t the story I was expecting. It follows the genre conventions for enemies-to-lovers and fake relationships, but then it throws a couple fascinating little twists into the end that caught me entirely off guard - and made the story even better. I loved Rielle as a supporting cast member of the earlier books, but there were large parts of this one where it was tough for me to really like her. It was so easy to see the pain that Sutton carried and I was immediately entranced by him. I enjoyed watching this “couple” lower their walls and really get to know one another. The ending was perfect and everything I was hoping it would be.

[Ellen Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rielle and Sutton were left equal shares of his father’s
campground. They were looking for investor to buy him out, since the camp had no happy memories for him. While they are waiting, they are hosting a week of singles looking for love. Cute story with a fake engagement. This is the first book I have read by this particular author and I can say it won’t be the last.

I was given this advanced copy for free, and am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Nati · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rielle and Sutton has inherited half of his father’s campground and they need to work together to succeed. But Sutton is set to sell his part and forget about Harvest Ranch a father who never took care of him. For Rielle, his was the father she never had. Can they really work together to save their inheritance and find love and happiness?

[Tandy Oschadleus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy to review: the thin line between love and hate was showcased in this sweet n clean romance. Sutton and Rielle's journey to love via a fake engagement, co-running a singles' camp, and enduring an unexpected night in a cramped tent in the wilderness was an unusual but gripping tale that was an enjoyable read.

[Alison Ramsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful

This was so good. So much hatred and distrust between Sutton and Rielle which really was founded only on misunderstanding. Forced to work together, they find a new acceptance and when faced with ultimate disaster they pull together to acheive their dream goal.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reille and Sutton have a rocky past basically built on misconceptions. Really enjoyed getting to know them separately and as a fake couple. Past hurts, feelings, thoughts and beliefs come to light that change the future. My heart hurt for them both but in different ways. Sutton's dad John missed out on a great son - sad. Absolutely loved the ending.