I really enjoy these stories from author Pamela Clare, she’s a master at writing action/suspense, and the love scenes are pretty great too.
This is the third story in the series “Colorado High Country”. This series is set around the lives of the search and rescue team, some locals and some looking for a job that can give them that adrenaline rush of helping those who can’t help themselves.
Jessie Moretti is a ski patroller; he’s also a member of the Rocky Mountain Search and Rescue Team, an EMT, and a former Army Ranger. Also, the next door neighbor to Ellie Meeks for the past two years and they have never met until he finds her in the parking lot with a car that just won’t start. Ellie is a single mother to two 3-year-old twins Daniel and Daisy, she works part-time as an RN, with the help of her parents and sister to watch them when needed. After four years, she still mourns the death of her husband Dan, Dan was a pilot with the 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment). Neither one of them is looking for love due to some form of PTSD, but they can’t stop the attraction they have for one another. Will the attraction turn into more than they bargained for?
The author does such a wonderful job taking you to the area and bringing the town’s people to life. Jesse and Ellie both have intense jobs, hers with the ER and his with the ski patrol/rescue team keeps you wanting more. Like their fast paced jobs, they quickly develop a trusting friendship, and the steamy romance is so hot. Jessie finds himself falling in-love with Daniel and Daisy, at first he was nervous around them, he had no experience with kids but quickly found himself very capable and deep down I think he needed them as much. Can Jessie overcome his past that he has tried to bury? Can Ellie move on after the death of her husband? Will they both get a happy ending or will new information rip it all apart?

If you like a well written entertaining story about second chances, action, drama, sex and romance than this is a read for you.

***I voluntarily reviewed this ARC for an honest review via NetGalley, this is my honest opinion and has not been influenced by the author, Publishers or NetGalley in anyway.***

Another solid outing from Clare in this highly satisfying series. Looking forward to the next installment.

4 1/2 Stars! Another great book from Pamela Clare.

Ellie's husband died in Afghanistan, but she can remember him through their twins ... that were born after he died. She has a full life between looking after twins by herself and working at the hospital as a RN. Jesse is an ex-marine, working on a search and rescue team in the Colorado high country for the past 3 years. Even though Ellie and him are neighbours, they have never met as Jesse keeps to himself and Ellie is busy. Then one day when Ellie has car trouble and she and one of the twins are sick, Jesse comes to her rescue. He becomes her hero and it doesn't take long for the sparks to fly between them. But Jesse is still having nightmares from his time in Afghanistan and doesn't want to draw Ellie into his grief as she has enough of her own. He believes he's not husband material never mind being a father. I recommend you take their heart wrenching and heart warming journey.

I received a copy of this book from the author through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.

I love Pamela Clare and this book did not disappoint!!! You have Ellie Meeks a widow with twin toddlers who works at the local hospital as a nurse. She finds herself struggling to take care of a sick child while she herself is sick. Jesse Moretti finds her stranded on the side of the road and offers to help her. Their friendship quickly blossoms. Jesse is a veteran who now works as a rescuer for the local ski resort and his life is fast paced and dangerous. The scenes regarding the critical moments his team faces were very engaging and gave a solid view of that type of life and the sacrifice it requires. The relationship builds between them but not without its bumps and bruises. Read this book. You will enjoy it.

Falling Hard is great heartbreaking ex-military love story. After being two years of neighbor Ellie and Jesse path are crossed and from there on is like domino effect and before you know it they are in some kind of love relationship. But everything is not so easy. Jesse is still fighting with his PSDT and is not easy when he works in a risk job on the mountain. Ellie has lost her first husband and is hard for her with Jesse having such dangerous job. They are both very good characters, develop interesting with great personality and you cannot be to be happy for them that they find each other. Story with full emotionally scenes, heartbreaking but also powerful funny and just great.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

FALLING HARD is book three in Pamela Clare's Colorado High Country series. Even though this is the third book in a series, FALLING HARD works well as a standalone novel. Unbeknownst to Ellie Meeks, her next-door neighbor is an ex-military hottie who has book looking after her from afar. Ellie and Jesse have a military connection. Ellie's late husband was a war hero killed in battle and Jesse is a former soldier going to therapy and trying to deal with his lingering PTSD. What ends up developing between them is something beautiful and endearing.

What starts out as an inconvenient and unexpected attraction between two neighbors, turns into a supportive and sexy romance. One thing I love about FALLING HARD is that, although Jesse has a great deal of internal conflict about whether or not to be in a committed relationship with Ellie, he never jerks her around or takes his issues out on her. Pamela Clare does a great job of making the two main characters three-dimensional, and showcasing who they are outside of their burgeoning relationship. I like how there are enough similarities in their jobs - hers as a nurse, and his being part of a rescue team -- that they can empathize with the stress and joys that life brings. I also really like the way Pamela Clare makes Ellie realistic and flawed, rather than painting her as a selfless paragon. Over the course of FALLING HARD, Ellie and Jesse are both made to confront their biggest fears and insecurities, but conquer them with help from friends, family, and each other. There is enough humor and lighter moments in FALLING HARD to balance out the deeper themes.

FALLING HARD has a hot army hunk, great storytelling, and a sweet savory romance. Friends and family make for a much richer narrative, and I look forward to reading more about some of these characters in other books. Ellie's young children are integral characters in this story, but Pamela Clare never gives in to the urge to have them be saccharine set pieces. I love Jesse's interactions with the twins, and the way they draw him into the family life that he secretly and surprisingly enjoys. I look forward to reading Pamela Clare's next book.

I'M NOT CRYING, YOU'RE CRYING.

OK, dammit, I'm crying. I don't get weepy too often over books but the epilogue to this one is an absolute tearjerker.

I'm a sucker for military romances, especially for Army Rangers (see my own Ranger Heat trilogy, and I've got an upcoming book called Ranger's Rescue!) and Jesse Moretti is the ultimate hero. Suffering PTSD after a difficult childhood and a tough military career, still he can't help from being a hero; a ski and mountain ranger, he spends his spare time keeping an eye out for the widow and kids of another vet, his lovely neighbour Ellie.

The only thing is that Ellie has no idea who the mysterious benefactor is who keeps her snow shoveled in the winter and her yard tidy in the summer. It's not until her car won't start one miserably rainy night when she and the kids have strep throat that Jesse steps up to quietly take care of them.

Pamela Clare paints an incredibly vivid picture of a small town in the Colorado Rockies; I learned a lot more than I'd ever expected to know about ski field maintenance and rescue, along with finding about a sport I'd never heard of (skijoring sounds INSANE). The town of Scarlet and all the diverse characters that populate it really came to life on the page.

Jesse and Ellie's love story is slow-burn; Ellie's still dealing with the loss of her beloved husband Dan before their twins were even born, and Jesse has to cope with his own demons and get past the guilt of falling in love with a fallen war hero's widow (apparently that is Not Done if you were acquainted with said fallen hero, something I didn't know). Still, by the end of the book and the tearjerker epilogue set at Arlington National Cemetery I was absolutely convinced they belonged together.

Five stars for a wonderfully written, slow-burn military romance.

Falling Hard is a sweet, sexy and emotionally charged read that I quite enjoyed. I think the author did a great job of balancing the relationship between Ellie and Jesse and Ellie, Jesse and the twins. Although there are still issues that need to be worked on like where Jesse is mentally I found the end o be very satisfying.

If you enjoy Contemporary romance featuring children and an enjoyable storyline I recommend this book.

I have to say, for most of this book, it was a solid 3 star read to me. The last 25%, though, really bumped it into a 4 star read!

Jesse was a very believable hero, right down to his denial of his issues stemming from his various traumas. Even his deception reasons were believable! He definitely redeemed himself in the end! The descriptions of Jesse's professions were spot on and seemed very well researched, which also aided in his authenticity.

Ellie got a bit annoying with her push/pull, should I/should I routine when it came to dating Jesse, and I felt she clung to her dead husband entirely too long in the story. However, Ms. Clare had a logical reason for it as well, and it all built up into a final let go and an embrace of the new relationship.

I was mostly ambivalent for the better bulk of the book, but then Ms. Clare was able to engage me emotionally and I was able to get invested enough in the story to cry at the end of it! To evoke that much emotion from me is the mark of a master storyteller in my eyes!

All in all, this was a great installment in the series, and one I would recommend heartily to anyone not familiar with Pamela Clare's writing style!

Ellie promised her husband she would carry on with the family if anything happened to him. Jessie come to search and rescue to overcome the past haunting him from his service. These two discover a connection to passion and to love if they can heal their pasts.
This book is a page turner the reader won't want to put down. Good addition to the series.
Ebook from Netgalley and publishers with thanks. Opinions are entirely my own.

I fell hard for Jesse and Ellie in Falling Hard. Jesse is a former Army Ranger and a member of the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team. Ellie is his beautiful neighbor, an RN who is a widow of a deceased veteran, who has adorable twins, Daniel and Daisy. Jesse and Ellie have been neighbors for years before they're finally introduced one night when one of the twins is sick and Ellie has been out buying medicine for him. Jesse comes to the rescue when her car won't start.

As their relationship evolves from simply being neighbors to lovers, emotions run high and they bare more than their bodies to each other. Jesse, especially, has a lot of demons. He carries a lot of guilt from his childhood that has driven him to become a rescuer, a guardian and a savior. It's also what drives him to an adrenaline-fueled career. Yet it's a career that Ellie fears because she's already lost one husband to a dangerous career, she has no desire to lose another love to it. But, she simply cannot help herself from falling for the strong, silent man she finds in Jesse. How can she help falling for him? He's kind, and beautiful and that same guilt that drives him to adrenaline fueled activities, also drives him to rescue her precious daughter one night when she falls into a frigid reservoir. He puts his own life on the line to rescue Daisy, and yet he feels so unworthy of thanks, of a hero's well earned congratulations and praise.

I absolutely love Jesse and Ellie together. Jesse, in particular, is such a beautiful soul, that I can't remember the last time I loved a hero more. He and Ellie have such a strong bond, it's so emotionally and physically intense, and they're both such amazing people. I love them together and the cast of people who surround them. Kudos to Pamela Clare for this amazing story!

This book was graciously provided by netgalley for an honest review.

I've been wanting to try Pamela Claire for a while now, and this was a perfect introduction to her writing. She captivated me from the beginning. I'll definitely be going back and catching up in the Colorado High County series.

Ellie Meeks is a nurse and single mother of boy/girl twins, widowed by her Army Pilot husband while she was 4 months pregnant. Ellie moves back to Scarlet Springs, a small town were everybody knows everybody, from Kentucky to be near family.

Jesse Moretti is a former Army Ranger from Louisiana, who upon coming back stateside after his retirement, took solace in the mountains to escape memories from his deployment and childhood. Jesse is a member of the TEAM and a full time ski patroller at a local ski resort. Jesse purchases the cabin behind Ellie knowing she is Gold Star widow swearing to keep his distance because he doesn't believe he can handle her grief on top of his own.

Fate had other ideas in mind.
Jesse runs into Ellie as she's having car trouble. Ellie and one of the twins are sick and her car refuses to start. Jesse takes Ellie and her twins home, and despite Ellie being sick, their chemistry would not be denied.

Jesse and Ellie's story happened in a short amount of time but never felt rushed or implausible. It was very natural. Jesse was drawn to Ellie because of her heart, her compassion and her sweet nature. He absolutely found her beautiful but he wasn't over the top gaggy as many heroes are and I loved that about him. Ellie was drawn to Jesse because of his fierce protectiveness, his since of adventure and his service to others. Things she swore she would not be looking for in a partner when she ever felt ready to move on. Jesse made her feel alive and ready to move on. Jesse never wanted or asked her to forget her deceased husband, in fact he made sure to include him and made sure his memory stayed alive for Ellie and the twins. It never felt that Jesse came 2nd in Ellie's heart.

If you're looking for two people who fall hard, who's relationship is a slow burn with explosive sexual chemistry, Falling Hard is for you.

I received a copy of this from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. This was an awesome book! Ellie Meeks and her son, Daniel, have strep throat. They are at the grocery store getting medicine and some groceries when her car decides it’s not going to start. Jesse Moretti steps up to help out. Jesse has PTSD and a strong core value at wanting to protect and take care of people. This is a great book. It’s full of life, love, confusion, and hurt. Wow! It seems like it has everything you can ask for in one book. Scarlet Springs is a great town to raise a family in. The find this out when a terrible accident happens twice in a short time. You won’t be disappointed when you read this book. I promise this.

Ellie Meeks has moved back to her home town in Colorado after the death of her husband in Afghanistan, and then the birth of twins that her husband never got to meet. Now three years has gone by and she is just taking it one minute at a time. This is when her car won’t start in the parking lot of the grocery store. With it snowing, and one of twins sick she is working on not panicking when in steps Jesse Moretti a former Army Ranger and now ski patrol and volunteers with the Rocky Mountain search and rescue. He is able to drive them home safely. She wants to start dating again but with Jesse she feels that she is putting herself at risk again in the form of pain in the idea of losing someone again since with his jobs and just himself he is an adrenaline junkie. They both have issues from the past that they must deal with in order to have a future. This is a wonderful story in that she is moving forward in her life, and he is going to therapy. The end of the book was very touching for me and really tied this story together. I very good book. With excellent characters some from the other books. A very good book.

Pamela Clare wrote a book that makes you cheer for the happy ending, while wiping tears from your eyes as you read.

A war widow raising twin toddlers meets her neighbor, a former Army Ranger who works for a ski resort and performs rescues on the side. Both characters express their joys and their heartbreak in a believable manner. The children are adorable. I loved this book.

My favorite genre is romantic suspense - heavy on the suspense. But in between having the MCs deal with serial killers and dead bodies, I like a little sweet romance. In contemporary romance I like solid character development, a good plot and witty dialogue. What I try to avoid is tell with no show, pages of teenage angst and detailed sex.

I have only read one other book by Pamela Clare and this was going to be the author's second chance. I was initially intrigued with the book's synopsis. Two people who survived their own personal tragedies finding each other. Sounded very good and the first part of the book had me interested and pulled into the story. And then my interest began to wane and I kept choosing other books over this one.

I did push to finish, but I have to say that I didn't really enjoy it. There was too much tell and not enough show. At one point there was a school bus accident with young kids and all the action happened off page. We don't read about the rescue which could have provided a really good scenario to showcase the EMTs. However, it's just a set up for Jesse to babysit Ellie's kids. Which is fine, if slightly boring. Another scene occurs with an explosive accident and again, the accident happens off page and we start after the action. We get a list of Ellie taking Jesse's vitals and writing them down. Again, boring. And Ellies's breakdown at the hospital seemed OTT and not the actions of a professional and mature nurse in the emergency room. And later, Ellie has another OTT reaction to Jesse's knowing her late husband. It felt contrived to create an issue between the two lead characters. Towards the end, Jesse gets to make an heroic rescue and although I saw it coming, this was really good and the story line picked up.

There's a lot of mental processing that seemed more like horny teenagers than adults who are trying to move past tragedies. I read for the story and the characters, so I skipped all the sex scenes which looked to be graphic. Not my thing, but I know a lot of readers really want this. I also thought there was also a lot of filler that didn't seem necessary to the story line. Some people may have thought the condom scene at the grocery store funny; whereas I thought it was overplayed and it felt juvenile. So at every turn once the characters and story line were introduced, I seemed to be disappointed. But I will note that I also seem to be in the minority in this opinion.

Thanks to Net Galley for an ARC of this book.

A Gold Star wife alone…

Ellie Meeks promised her pilot husband that if he was killed in combat, she would live her life to the fullest. Three years later, she is still alone, raising the twins he never met. She has no interest in dating or meeting men—until one snowy night when a stranger helps her get her sick kids safely home. That stranger turns out to be a former Army Ranger and a member of the elite Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team. He’s also tall, rugged… and irresistibly sexy.

All it takes is one kiss…

Jesse Moretti came to Colorado to get Iraq out of his head, using the adrenaline of extreme sports and high-risk mountain rescues to keep his mind off the past. But getting involved with Ellie might be the riskiest thing he’s ever done. It’s not just their explosive chemistry. There’s something about Ellie that gets inside him, opening him to feelings he’s tried hard to ignore.

When passion ignites…

Ellie feels alive in Jesse’s arms and happier than she ever thought she’d feel again. But their relationship comes at a price for him, and soon Ellie sees that she must help Jesse fight the demons of his past to protect the love of a lifetime—and save the heart of a hero.

I never really look at book covers when picking a book because you can have the best book cover and have the worst book ever but....OMG this book just gave me all the feels. I am a sucker for veteran heroes. I love a great storyline that has a hero who was in Iraq. When he comes home and has to fight some inner turmoil (I secretly pick those novels for pure enjoyment purposes!), I looked at the cover of this book and probably flipped past it six or seven times because the dude on the cover is HOT!! I don't know who he is, but I could drool over him all day...with a bucket and some sponges! He's what I picture Jesse to be and did I mention - He's hot? Cause he is. Ellie and Jesse have some electric heat and not the kind in an electric blanket y'all! It's the kind that sets your skin to blazing and makes you realize that you want a Jesse. As a matter of fact, I'm writing this a couple of weeks after I read it and I'm thinking of reading it again...cause I want to and not because I have to.

A couple of thoughts about this book: It's why I love Pamela Clare so darn much in the first place. That girl can write!! She makes her characters loveable, and you can relate to them. Living in a military town, I can see so many of our men and women in uniform going through what these two went through in the book. They're a lot of widowed combat veterans out there that lost their spouses while they were pregnant or had children and haven't moved forward with their lives...they're still stuck where they were when the Military officials came and notified them that their spouse was killed in action. Every day I see veterans walk in and out of our office who suffer from PTSD, it's a real diagnosis, with real suffering. Sometimes, the men and women who suffer from it, do so in silence because they don't feel that they have anyone to talk to but that's why it's so great that authors are writing about it. It's a very debilitating disease and disorder and if not helped, can make the veteran who suffers from it feel even more isolated from society. The way that Pamela Clare portrays both the hero and heroine in the book just made me, as someone who works in the mental health field...proud of the way she portrayed both of them. She didn't make them weak characters, and she didn't make them so proud that they looked like they didn't have faults. She showed that they were "real" characters. If you can get so lost in a book that you "feel" the characters are real, then as an author you've done a great job. Excellent job. I'll not spoil the book because you have to pick this one up for yourself. If you or someone you know have PTSD, you owe it to them and to yourself to read this book!!

I was given a copy of this ARC from the publisher on NetGalley for an honest review. All of the above comments are my express opinions and no one else's.

RN Ellie Meeks is a widow with 2-year twins (almost 3) who were born after her husband died in Iraq. It's been almost four years now and though her mind tells her she's ready her heart isn't ready to let go of husband Dan. Enter neighbor Jesse Moretti, a former Army Ranger now a volunteer member of the Rocky Mountain Search & Rescue Team who works for the Ski Resort as a patroller. He definitely claims her head and starts chipping away at her heart.

I really liked this story primarily because of the main characters, Ellie and Jesse. There's so much to admire about both of them and together, they were even more likable. Their burgeoning relationship was honest (to a degree), mature and pretty wonderful. Jesse's propensity for rescue served the relationship well as he recognized the boundaries while he did the honorable thing. I loved how they helped each other push through their individual issues.

One of the strong points of the series is the incredible sense of community that permeates everything in each story. It was even more resounding here and added so much to my enjoyment. Ellie and Jesse had a lovely relationship and, of course, the twins added adorable relief. I really don't want this series to end.

I'm a fan of Pamela Clare after previously reading the I-Team series, so I was excited to get the opportunity to read Falling Hard. I haven't read any of the previous books in the series, but you can totally read this one as a standalone and not feel lost. This book was amazing. It just got you right in the feels the entire time. I cried, laughed, rejoiced, was saddened - you name it, I felt it - all things that make a book great.

Ellie Meeks is a widow with twin toddlers living in her hometown and working as a nurse. Her husband, Dan, was an Army pilot that was killed in action before the twins were born. She's spent the last nearly 4 years just living her life for her kids and has not been involved with another man since. That is, until Jessie Moretti comes to her rescue one evening. Ellie and her son were both sick with strep, and then her car wouldn't start at the store, so Jessie gave her a hand. He brought her home, got her and her kids in the house and resting before he left. He just so happened to be her neighbor, how convenient :-)

Jessie is an Army vet who has a penchant for rescuing people and is still coping with loss in Iraq. He's been living in the small town for 2 years now, but still doesn't feel that connected with the town. He works on ski patrol during the day and volunteers with a high-risk mountain rescue team when called. So he's definitely still living a risky life so that he can save other lives.

Jessie & Ellie grow very close, with Jessie coming over to spend time with Ellie and the kids quite often. There's no denying the attraction and chemistry these two have and eventually Ellie gets past her hesitancy to get involved with someone and takes the plunge. Both of them seem to be holding back during their time together and there's a lot of hidden emotional issues that they'll need to overcome before they can truly move on and have the relationship they both deserve.

I liked that the author didn't hold back the punches with the emotional reality of what we face in the world today. There is tragedy and heartache, it's just a part of life. Things are not always happy and we definitely see that in this book. I cried more than I really want to admit.

Jessie was such a wonderful guy who was always giving of himself to others and willing to risk his life to save someone else's, but he still suffered with PTSD. It wasn't just from his time in Iraq, although that really started his nightmares, but his job as a high-risk rescuer also caused him to suffer from PTSD when things didn't end well for the other person. This serves a reminder that our vets need us and we should support them and make sure they have all the help that they need. I loved that Jessie recognized that he had an issue though and willingly had regular counseling sessions.

Ellie was so sweet and her love and dedication to her children was inspiring. She had it tough raising twins on her own, but she still managed. She frustrated me sometimes when she held back, but it's understandable. I really wish she would have told off her boss though - that lady was not very nice.

Daisy & Daniel were so sweet, cute and funny. Daisy definitely provided some comedic relief with her newfound love of repeating curse words lol. I just wanted to squeeze them.

If you're looking for a book that has a great love story of second chances and cute kids, but packs an emotional toll on your heart, then this is the book for you.

Wow what a sweet, sexy and emotional read. Pamela Clare has just become a new favorite of mine. Jessie is the kind of book boyfriend every woman wants and Ellie is a women we would all admire for the guts it took to parent and to fall in love again. I'm wildly interested in the rest of the series now and plan to snag whatever I can get my hands on.