I don't typically seek out holiday stories, but I really enjoyed this one. I'm used to Clare's romantic suspense, so I was pleasantly charmed by how fun this book was. Rain and Joe are wonderfully developed characters, with equitable strengths and weaknesses -- a fact I find compelling in the real world, and like to see mirrored in fiction. The pace was great, character development spot on ... just a great story all around.

Rain Minear was left at 17 by a man that was 27 with a newborn daughter, jobless, homeless, and unsure what to do. Rain is helped by Joe Moffatt who gave her a job and helped her raise her daughter Lark. Rain and Joe have had feelings for each other for years but didn't do anything about it.

Everything changes the night when Rain's roof collapses during the snowstorm and rushes to her aid when Hawke tells him what happened. Rain is devastated by the loss of her home. Joe lets her stay with him, even though they are both attracted to one another but he is too ethical to sleep with her since she is his employee at Knockers.

Joe Moffatt moved to Scarlet Springs to repay the a debt, a debt created by his great-great-great-grandfather. Rain is someone that you meet once in a lifetime, she has a big heart and is willing to do whatever is necessary for the citizens of Scarlet Springs. When the blizzard leaves the snowbound, the two can no longer deny their feelings and it becomes the most important Christmas of their lives with a surprise that makes it all the more special.

Close to Heaven is another book of the Colorado High Country series, it was nice to see one of the main characters of Scarlet Springs fall in love. The only thing I missed in this book was seeing the teams go out and do rescues. The story of Joe's family's past was sad, especially since he feels obligated to make it up to the decedents of those that Silas wronged. I really loved the wedding scene at the end of the book, it was something memorable, unconventional, and sweet. I could not believe she spend THAT much on a dress, I'm not going to spoil the price. I was happy with the ending, the progression of the story, and watching these two finally find their happy ending.

Received ARC from NetGalley in exchange for honest voluntary review

Didn’t love it, didn’t hate it. This is one of those could have been better, could have been worse type of books. Nothing remarkable about the writing or storyline but, wasn’t boring or interesting either. If you’re looking for your A-typical romance this will do.

4.5 stars

Joe is a sweet, kind, generous, down to earth man who loves his community and the residents. His great-great-grandfathers past is haunting him everyday, driving Joes’ plans to stay single. For years he has avoided his feelings for Rain and now mother nature is forcing their hand.

Rain is a hard working, levelheaded, business manager and mother. Pushing her wants and needs aside to raise her daughter, Lark. Now Lark is grown and off to college, Rain is deciding to risk it all. She’s going to prove they’re better together.

Joe and Rain are so perfectly designed and crafted for one another; the reader cannot help but fall in love with them both. Ms. Clare has pulls the reader through an immense amount of emotions: anger, sadness, hope, love, happiness and joy. Every time the love outshines the anger. The secondary characters were superb, full of great advice and laughter. The plot was smooth, easy to follow along with, and full of details. I could easily recommend this Close to Heaven to any romance reader. Close to Heaven sucks the reader in within sentences and keeps them reading until the final page, wishing for more.

Joe Moffat is the owner of Knockers, Scarlet Springs’ town bar (the name relates to a mine mythology about Tommyknockers). He’s a really good guy but no one really knows much about him. Rain Minear has worked for him for 20 years as his general manager and hostess. He’s loved her for about as many years but has a strong code of ethics about workplace relationships, especially since he’s the boss. Little does he know that his feelings are reciprocated until a snowstorm breaks the ice, sort of.

Until this story, my image of Joe was that of a counterculture sort based on his look (long hair, easygoing manner). He’s anything but! Joe’s history was rather incredible, as was Rain’s who has the sweetest soul. I loved everything about these two, both having a kind of nobility that was inspiring. Their relationship developed beautifully in a way that was true to their natures, even if Joe was a bit stubborn. It was wonderful.

The spirit of community resounded in this story, so fitting for the Christmas season. I knew I was going to love this book but it even surpassed my high expectations. It warmed my soul. 4.5 stars

This is one of my favorite kind of books. Stranded by weather, boss/employee, tempting fate. It is a cozy read on a cold day, very heart warming. I enjoy this author’s writing and this book was definitely no different.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book provided by NetGalley.

20 years is a long time to love someone from arms length. I admit, it bothered me at first that it took Rain and Joe 20 years before something finally shook these two enough to take a chance. However, once things started to change for them, it really was a beautiful story.

Rain came into Joe's life when she was just 17 and with a two week old baby. She was desperate for a job and Joe couldn't refuse her. We learn that he was drawn to hear from the start but he's 10 years older than her and he didn't want to take advantage of her situation. As the story moves along, we learn why he never made a move.

I'm not usually one who likes this scenario. I like for the Hero to see what he wants and go after it and yet, I can concede that in a case like this, the author did the right thing with Joe. The journey of learning what shaped him and his discovery that he wasn't what he feared through the love of Rain, his employees and the town folk makes for a very heartwarming tale.

I'm looking forward to what the author will bring us next in the series. Arc provided by NetGalley.

I absolutely loved this novel. It had a little of everything, town and family history, microbrewing, romance, snow- it's the perfect read for this time of year. I haven't read the other novels in this series, so I can't comment on this novel in relation to those, but on it's own this is a great novel. The history sections were really interesting and the story of Rain and Joe kept me smiling (and frowning) along with Rain. And though the ending is really cheesy, by that point it was exactly what I wanted. So all round a fantastic read!

Rain and Joe are finally brought together by fate intervening by way of a blizzard. Enjoyed these characters and storyline.

Ebook from netgalley and publishers with thanks. Opinions are entirely my own.

Close to Heaven was a cute little read. I love Pamela Clare and I love The Colorado High Country Series. There is such a sense of community and friendship in these books. The whole town feels real and as a reader I have grown to love them all like I live in that town. So I was super excited to get a book on Joe and Rain. Joe and Rain who give so much to the community in every single book. Joe owns the bar and grill where everyone meets after a long day to eat and hang with friends, and Rain is his manager. They are always helping people who are down and out by raising money . In every book you could feel the lust between them. They kinda remind me of Sam and Diane from the show Cheers. Anyways I was always asking myself why are they not together already and today I got my answer and I got their HEA.
I will say that as much as I enjoyed this book I couldn't give it 5 stars, because it bugged me so much that Joe waited so long to be with Rain. I know the book gives reasons but I felt they weren't good enough reasons..... at least not for a 20 year wait. It drove me crazy that they wasted 20 years that they could have been together. That's like a whole lifetime. All that said it was still a solid 4 star read for me. I did love Joe. I felt at times he was a bit clueless. I got that he felt bad because of the past but he let it rule him to the point that I wanted to reach into my kindle and shake some sense into him. Joe does have a big heart and I could feel his love and respect for Rain. Rain I loved. She was so sweet, and caring. I loved what a good mother she was to her daughter. How hard she worked to give Lark a good life. Pamela Clare did a great job working a lifetime of happiness into one book. She gave me everything I crave in a cute Christmas time love story. It was a happy, sweet read. I also really enjoyed the little side story given as Rain reads Joe's great, great, great, grand asshole's I mean Grandfather's journal. The bit of town history was interesting. I was glad that Pamela Clare didn't paint a happy brush over the past. Didn't give the past a happy ending but instead showed that sometimes bad guys don't pay. I truly hated Joe's great, great........many more greats grandpa he was a worthless pos and reading about the disgusting things he did and never paid for added a layer of emotion to a read that would have been too happy go lucky if it didn't have sadness/anger to balance it out. I am glad Joe and Rain finally got their HEA and all I can say is it's about time lol.

I am a huge Pamela Clare fan. I love this series and was really looking forward to Joe and Rain's story. It was so much more than I thought, expected and hoped. The story starts off strong, there are so many twists, turns, magic, love, chemistry, funny LOL situations ( the whole in the spotlight story was a hoot) I so enjoyed the conversations Joe was having with himself, I thought they were really insightful and the entire history of the town described in the journals was so captivating. Rain, was such a strong woman, raising an equally strong daughter and I hope one day we read Lark's journey. The chemistry between Rain and Joe is amazing, their story so heartwarming and gut-wrenching at the same time (to read about loving someone for so long) . Always love it when the author incorporates characters from previous books and when Bear did what he did at the ceremony, I was crying. One of the best in the series.

Joe and Rain's story was amazing. While I Ioved them in the other books in this series learning Joe and Rain's histories, hurts and loves was intriguing and heartbreaking. Rain came home after being abandoned by her baby daddy and Joe was the main person to give Rain a job and mainly a chance to raise her daughter. Rain has harbored a secret love for Joe for so many years and Pamela Clare's writing makes you crave for these two to get together. Rain is an empty nester and out of sorts with her new life alone. Thinking maybe it's time to let Joe know her feelings Rain let's Joe know how she feels. WAIT- Joe has strict hands off policy with his employees and tells Rain no can do. Has she really wasted so many years for nothing?
Contemplating a change in her life outside of Scarlett, Rain heads home for the evening and ponders her options. Feeling such hurt, loneliness, Rain feels like her world is caving in on her. WAIT- it did! Her roof has collapsed and she is pinned under her bed waiting to be rescued.
Joe is frantic. Here he only hours ago told Rain he couldn't have any type of relationship with her as she was his employee and now he stands helpless waiting for her to be rescued. Knowing that he has strong feelings for Rain he knows he has to be there for her for no other reason than to ensure she is okay for his own peace of mind. After a trip to the ER, Joe moves Rain in to his home temporarily while she is homeless. He tries so hard to be honorable when deep down he craves Rain and always has. Once you get a birds-eye view into Joe's ancestors and their shenanigans you see where he is coming from but then again he is a little extreme in trying to right a wrong that is not his.
Joe and Rain are perfect for one another. They have a strong friendship, affection and love for one another and amazing chemistry. Joe soon realizes that once he takes care of what is right in front of him and quits looking at the past things are just about close to heaven when it comes to making a life and family with Rain.

After secretly lusting and dreaming about each other it takes Rain and Joe 20 years that something happens. The story is ok but a bit of frustrating like even snow blizzard destroying Rains house and changing their living arrangements is not enough reason for Joe to grab the opportunity for true love. For me story about Silas was just feeling the pages of the book, I get it what author wanted but I could easily be gone without it. The story was also predictable and from 60% of the book, there is not happening something particularly interesting we just read about the happy couple.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

A sweet Christmas romance. Joe and Raine were a cute couple. Another win for Pamela Clare.

I received an arc from netgalley and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Not only is Close to Heaven the first novel in the Colorado High Country series I've read, as well as the first novel I've read by this author, and I'm now wondering how I managed not to have read any Ms. Clare's novels before now. This novel gets 4 stars from me.

What does 27-year-old brewpub owner Joe Moffat do when 17-year-old Rain Minear shows up at his pub with her 2-week-old baby (Lark) in her arms and desperation in her eyes? When he learns that Lark's father abandoned Rain when she turned up pregnant, he didn't want his child and Rain had to give birth alone and unaided in the back of a van. She's underage and looking for a job and what does handsome and big hearted Joe do--he hires her of course, and starts falling for her almost immediately, but will he do anything about it, considering the age difference, his desire never to never marry and never to be a father--no.

It's now 20 years later, Rain is his most trusted employee, she's been in love with the gorgeous Joe almost from the moment she met him, he's in love with her, and although it's obvious to all of his staff and nearly everyone else in town, Joe's hard and fast policy of never dating an employee has been standing in their way. There's another issue too, which I'll get to shortly.

After a monstrous snowstorm hits town dumping almost 8 feet of snow over the town, the roof over Rain's house collapses and she barely escapes being crushed by diving under her iron bedstead. When all the rescuers finally reach her she's hypothermic and Joe races her to the ER. Since her home is utterly destroyed, Joe brings her home with him, and until the storm passes and until Rain can find another place to live, the attraction between the two really ratchets up, but as he's done for the past 20 years, he won't break his own rules.

Rain stays at Joe's house while Joe is out helping to prevent another roof collapse to any of the older homes in town, and using his snowplow to help clear the roads, Rain gets bored and heads for the bookcase where she discovers and begins reading a journal written by one of Joe's ancestors and we get to learn about his nefarious great, great, great grandfather at the same time Rain does, and we begin to understand why Joe has never wanted a family or children.

Although it seemed highly unlikely to this reader that two people in love would wait 20 years to do something about it (ten years would have been long enough), I did love the fact that in this novel we're dealing with actual adults--Rain is 37 and Joe is 47, and since I'm older than both of them, it was refreshing to read a romance novel where the hero and heroine are mature adults. Lark is now an adult living elsewhere and Rain is an empty-nester and she's tired of waiting for Joe to notice her, so she begins to consider moving on in hopes of finding someone else to spend her life with. Although the mutual attraction between Rain and Joe heats up while she's living under his roof, Joe always pulls back because of his employee dating prohibition, and finally Rain has heard it enough, and she quits her job. What will Joe do now? You'll have to read this sweet and sexy novel to find out.

Things all seem to come to a head as Christmas approaches, and the holiday background and small town sense of community all add additional warmth to this story, and quite frankly, I found it hard to put down--Ms. Clare did something I find irresistible, she made me cry, and you can be assured that I plan on backtracking to read the earlier novels in this charming series.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions expressed are my own.

Once again I'm kicking myself. I've had this entire series on my kindle's gigantic TBR pile, and somehow, somehow, I'd forgotten about it until this gem (and that cover) popped up on Netgalley. So my dilemma...do I start with this book and read them all out of order, or do the responsible thing--go back and start with book #1: Barely Breathing?

I must confess--last year(?) I started to read Barely Breathing, and I just wasn't feeling it, for whatever reason. I think maybe it was just too much of an info dump for me to handle at the time (names, places, series set-up, etc.) so I put it on the back-burner (and then forgot about it:(

Now before I started Close To Heaven, I realized that I had read a book in this series--Falling Hard--and according to my notes--I loved it (even though I couldn't remember all the deets now)!

Anyhow, I took a chance on this one, figuring PC would get me up to speed on all that I missed (and she did, without any confusion). Were there spoilers I encountered while reading this way? Of course there were a few, but it didn't bother me at all. This was Rain and Joe's story, and it was steamy, eye opening, and very, very lovely.

Rain is a 37 year old single mother of a college age daughter and general manager of Knockers, a popular brew pub in Scarlet Springs, Colorado. She's worked there for 20 years, ever since the owner, 10-years-older than her Joe Moffat, took her under his wing and gave her a job when her family and baby-daddy turned their backs on her. For 20 long years Joe and Rain have carried a torch for each other, but Joe wouldn't act upon his growing feelings, because of his family history. This family history is a key part of this book. There are many passages where PC takes us back in time to the history of Scarlet Springs, and to the ancestors of this series' current characters. I found this history very enjoyable reading, even though one current character's relative's fate just about broke my heart. Anyway, the reader finds out why Joe acts the way he does, and why he feels an incredible amount of guilt/shame/responsibility that has nothing to do with the kind of person he truly is, although it certainly has an influence on the man that he has vowed to become.

So it's been 20 years for Joe and Rain, with a deep friendship-only relationship, until a blizzard hits Scarlet Springs, and fate puts Joe and Rain together, and they're forced to confront their feelings. And all I wanted to say was "let it snow"!

So, no more details. This book was an awesome read, in every respect (plot, characters, steam factor) and as soon as I finished it I went on a Colorado High Country binge, reading every last one of them--including Barely Breathing--which I ended up loving! Would I recommend reading this way--of course not. But some times it works out best this way.

As always, Pamela Clare not only gives you scorching hot, emotional romance, but she always, always teaches you something too. The lady obviously does her research, and each book in this series manages to give you either a little history lesson or teaches you something about a different culture. To me, I think that is why I enjoy her books so much.

Every book in this series is a winner (my favorite couple being Hawke and Victoria from Slow Burn) so you can't go wrong with any of them. Try to read in order if you can--but it's ok to do what I did--just read them and enjoy!

I was graciously provided an arc of this novel by the publisher through netgalley for my honest review.

When I got my notification of receiving this arc I literally squealed because I have come to expect nothing but gold when it comes to Pamela Clare, and she did not disappoint in Close to Heaven. Her Colorado High Country Series has quickly become one of my favorites.

While Joe and Rain's story is part of this fantastic series, and many of our favorite characters make an appearance, it can be read as a stand-alone.

This story hits you with ALL the feels. I found it very difficult to put it down. Joe and Rain's relationship, is, can we say, complicated? Joe had been Rain's employer for 20 years; both harboring feeling for one another all this time. They find themselves in a situation where they have to face their attraction head on. While Joe makes it a habit to pull away and run at every confrontation, he doesn't stay gone lone. After taking time to think, he always comes right back to Rain and talks it through like, GASP, adults! SO refreshing.

Anxiously looking forward to the next installment of this series.

What a perfect story for the holiday season! This book takes a bit of a turn away from the search and rescue team that we have met in the previous books. This one focuses on Rain and Joe--both very active secondary characters in the previous books.

Great friends to lovers and more story! What happens when you get snowed in with the only man you could ever see yourself with? You try to fight that attraction as long as you can--right?? We all know that doesn't work in the best of worlds.

Perfect love story. Magical setting and holiday vibes. Loved it!

Close to Heaven is the fifth volume in the small town series by Pamela Clare, Colorado High Country. It’s a short story the author published for Christmas.
The story features Joe Moffat and Rain Minear. I bought the previous volumes but unfortunately I haven’t had the time to read them yet, for lack of time. But I’m sure of one thing: Joe and Rain are recurrent characters in this series. What is appreciable is that we can read this story without having read the previous volumes, so we’re not lost. The author mentions the previous heroes but without slowing down the tale.

Joe manages the brewpub, named Knockers, where Rain is working. They met 20 years before the beginning of this story and for all this time they’ve been attracted to each other without succumbing to their desire, mainly because of Joe. He has an excellent reason for that, and the readers and the heroine discover it in the novel through a diary Raine discovers, about Joe’s ancestor.

By the by, in this diary, we meet one of the most horrible characters I read in a story, and it’s what sullied a little my enthusiasm for this Christmas story. I thought that was a too dark part for this theme, in spite of the contemporary end offered, and it’s too bad.

The second drawback is the time the heroes spent hovering around the other before their HEA: 20 years are definitively too much.

These two elements aside, we find all the classical elements of a good Christmas romance: friendship, love, family, warmth, joy, gifts. All in all the genre’s fans won’t be disappointed.
We’ll just want to shake the hero a little, who’s so stubborn in spite of the diverse and decided opinions of the people surrounding him, we’ll love the heroine and her determination to try and attract Joe in her net, the mushy but heartwarming ending.

We close this story with no doubt about the love uniting our characters. A story I recommend.

Rian minear has been working at Joe’s Moffat place since she was seventeen. She has also has had a crush on him for years. Now at 37 and alone with her daughter gone to college she is wondering why she is staying in town. Joe feels he must give back to the town of Scarlet Springs for the past deeds of great, great, grandfather. He works and then keeps himself holed up in his house. Now Rain is pinned under her roof when it collapses during a snow storm. She stays with him for a few days and makes her feelings for him known but he does not act upon them. She moves out to a place in town and then begins to talk about moving to Californian. Well now the fire is lit under ole Joe’s ass and he realizes that he will lose her all together if he does not act on his feelings for her. The story takes off from there and you find out so much about Joe and the history of the town. This turns into a very good story and Joe surprises me in many ways. A very good story.