Joe’s character was a sweetheart all throughout the read, without a doubt. Rain did have many nice moments also. The emotional outpouring in the read was attention grabbing, and the hilarity with some of the secondary characters was entertaining which carried the story further. It was a good addition to the series overall.
Review copy received from the Author via Netgalley

Wow, I can't believe it. I've read 5 books in this series. I still want more. I love it when an author can do that.
I've loved the little bit that I've read about Rain and Joe in the previous books.
Rain is much softer than I realized- and a little insecure. She's also sweet, loving and giving. Rain's practically the heart and soul of Scarlet Springs.
Rain is 37 y/o and Joe is 10 years older. Rain has worked at Joe's pub for the last 20 years.
Rain's daughter Lark is away at college in Boulder. Rain is really missing her terribly. .
She feels lost and has given up on Joe ever noticing her.
This is 3rd person POV, so I got to read about Joe's frustration too. He adores Rain. He is determined to never let her or anyone know. At first I thought it was due to the boss/employee thing. There's some timely discussion about men being (in)appropriate around coworkers.

I enjoyed the constant tease that Joe and Rain experienced. I experienced it too!
Rain was much more up front about expressing her attraction. Joe fought hard to keep his love/lust to himself.
For 20 years Rain has struggled to raise Lark and work to support herself and have a home. When the book begins, she experiences a terrible set back.
This puts her directly in Joe's path. He still tries to resist. He also jumps in to help Rain without thinking twice.
The person gym scene was smokin' hot. There are several scenes that just build onto a big show down.
Joe's a lug head. A lovable lug head. His reasons for living his life alone comes out gradually.
Rain finds a journal that provides some painful truths about the past.
The journals are peeks into the past without flashbacks (thank the Lord).
I love that Winter in the Rockies was featured. It played the catalyst to bringing Joe and Rain together.
The previous books had a lot more action. This book had a huge focus on RELATIONSHIPS. Or lack of.
The supporting characters played very minor roles. Joe.Rain. The relentless snow storm. No where to go.. Joe and Rain are forced to deal with their attraction.

Just about everyone was family. Hawke, Taylor, Chaska, Old Man (I love him! I love love his scene! I want him as my grandpa)
Rose, the elderly gossipy neighbor-she had some funny scenes.
Lark, Rain's daughter is very sweet, just like her mom.
The guys/gals on the Rescue Team had brief but helpful scenes (always prepared to save the day).

Bob and Kendra:
Chapter 9:
Bob to Kendra: "Are you going to sit around talking all night, or are you going to make dinner?" Kendra glared at him. "How about you get off your hairy butt and make dinner?" Bob chuckled. " I love you too much to force my cooking on you, darlin'." [location 1546]

See, there are some sweet and some tender moments too. Ha!
The look into the past (1800s Scarlet Springs) was upsetting. I realized that it couldn't be changed. Back then, not everyone was old fashioned and moral. It was a little haunting to me. Could those traits be passed down?
What's stronger nature or nurture? That's Joe's dilemma.
The romance kept up and up.
The Ending was fantastic. I loved the epilogue (wasn't rushed at all)- thanks for the look into the near future.
AND................ I want more! (please)
Thanks to the author and Netgalley for the ARC. (belated Bday give & early Christmas gift)
5 stars! (again)

**I received a copy of Close to Heaven from Net Galley in exchange for a voluntary and honest review**

Close to Heaven by Pamela Clare is the fifth book in her Colorado High Country series. I have read 2 of the 5 out of order and had no problems reading this one as a stand alone. I loved this book and would give it more than 5 stars if I could. I loved how Silas's journals tied into the story as it gave it some extra background on Joe's ancestor.

Joe Moffat has one rule: No dating the staff in his brew pub and even though he's loved Rain for 20 years he doesn't want her to know it. But when she was a young teen when no one would give her a job because she had an infant, Joe did. So when a big snowstorm hits Scarlett Springs he drives to her house to check on her. But he ends up rescuing her and bringing her to his home in the hills.

Rain Minear has loved Joe forever and now that she has a empty net she decides it high time that Joe knows it. But first she has to survive a roof collapse and having Joe in the same close but once these two finally give into each other the snow will melt just from their heat.

I loved the true meaning to why Sex in the spotlight became a drink, plus the whole town letting Joe know that he took way too long letting Rain know he loved her.

Rain and Joe have known each other for more than 20 years. And they have worked together since the day they met. Rain was a 17-year-old teenager, with a month-old daughter and completely alone and abandoned by her family. Joe gave her a job and helped her to move foward.

At first, the reasons that kept this couple apart seemed reasonable, but I think that the stretch of time (20 years) has played against them, it has lessened the story´s realism.
The trigger which makes the MC´s <i>open their eyes</i> has been less than subtle, they needed a life-or-death situation (more or less) to get together, although the situation only wasn´t enough, they also needed the <i>help</i> of their friends.

And in parallel to the romance, we get to know the story of the town's founders through a diary written by Joe's grand-grand[...]grandfather. This story has been very interesting. Brutal and, I think, realistic. But the narrative has not been the best. The diary was full of dialogues between quotation marks and that has shocked me a bit. Nobody quotes full conversations in their diaries, or do they?

But what has really diminished my interest in the story is that it becomes exponentially sugary to the point of being shallow.
The fact that the hero is a <b>billionaire</b> (he defines himself as such), that Rain's adult daughter calls him dad in the blink of an eye and that the author tells us that Rain's wedding dress (bought in 20 min) cost $ 250,000.00 has not helped to make the story interesting. The Christmas spirit has been drowned in materialism, in too much perfection (<b>all</b> the characters are perfect as well as their relationships) and unfortunately, in a ridiculous amount of cloying.

This story has lacked deep in both its storyline and the MC´s relationship. It has lacked Christmas spirit. And it had had secondary characters and chapters devoted to the hero´s purchasing power in excess.

***

Rain y Joe se conocen desde hace más de 20 años. Y trabajan juntos desde el día que se conocieron. Rain era una adolescente de 17 años, con un bebé de meses y completamente sola y abandonada. Joe le dio un empleo y la ayudó a salir adelante.

En un primer momento las razones que mantenían separada a esta pareja parecían razonables, pero creo que el tramo de tiempo (20 años) ha jugado en su contra, le ha restado realismo a la historia.
El detonante para el acercamiento ha sido poco sutil, una situación de vida o muerte (más o menos) que los hace abrir los ojos, aunque eso no es suficiente, también necesitan de la ayuda de sus amigos para dar el paso final.

Y en paralelo al romance vamos conociendo la historia de los fundadores del pueblo a través de un diario escrito por el tatatatata[…]tatarabuelo de Joe. Esta historia ha sido muy interesante. Brutal y creo que realista. Pero la narrativa no ha sido la mejor. El diario estaba lleno de diálogos citados y eso me ha chocado bastante. Nadie escribe en su diario conversaciones entrecomilladas, ¿o sí?

Pero lo que de verdad le ha restado interés a la historia es que se vuelve, de manera exponencial, empalagosa hasta el punto de ser superficial.
El hecho de que el héroe sea billionario y que él mismo se defina como tal, que la hija adulta de Rain lo llame papá al instante y que la autora nos cuente que el vestido de novia de Rain (comprado en 20 min) costó 250.000$ no ha ayudado a darle sentido a la historia. El espíritu navideño ha quedado sumergido en tanto materialismo, tanta perfección (los personajes son todos perfectos al igual que sus relaciones) y por desgracia, en un nivel de empalagamiento que ha sido ridículo.

Le ha faltado trama y profundizar en la relación entre los protagonistas. Le ha faltado espíritu navideño. Y le han sobrado secundarios y los últimos capítulos dedicados al poder adquisitivo del protagonista.

Close to Heaven is a fabulous friends-to-lovers Christmas story! Rain and Joe were great characters with substance and depth allowing me to read and immerse myself in the story. Do yourself a favour and pick this one up, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did

This was an enjoyable story about love held close to the heart for 20 years, and how frequently the past , not only ours but that of our ancestors , can affect individuals. Some fear that they have inherited the callousness and meanness of these ancestors, and forget to live their lives. That is the case of Joe Moffet. A wealth man who moved to Scarlet Springs 20 years ago. He feels he needs to pay back a debt owed by these ancestors. He opens a pub and hires a young single 17 year old Mom. Rain has managed the pub for most of the 20 years she has worked for Joe. Everyone knows the attraction is there, but both , more so Joe, have been ignoring it. Interesting turn of events to see how these two come together.
The author spends quite of bit of time giving us a glimpse of Joe’s ancestor who was definitely an abusive employer, husband and man in general.
I feel the author spent too much time with Rain reading the old journals and should have condensed the pages spent on them. I felt my attention drifting away. Yes, it was important to get a glimpse of the past, but frequently , less is better.
The story was more of a 3.5 for me ,because of these long ended entries, but I respect the author’s talent , and for that, will give it a 4 star.
I was gifted this book by Netgalley and the publisher. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

I always enjoy these books from Pamela Clare, and her portrayal of the people of Scarlett. We finally have Joe Moffat and Rain. I could not believe that it had taken Joe 20 years to finally act on his attraction to her, but he finally got there. I enjoyed their romance story and loved reading about the history of the town from the journals that he had kept, I thought that I would skim that part but found myself really into it, The only part that bugged me was the spending that Lark made, I understand that he was rich but that was just greedy. I always love reading about the rest of the previous characters from the series, and so happy for Eric and Victoria, I was waiting for that.

I adored this book! I loved Joe and a Rain soooo much! Normally this is where I’d say how much I loved watching these two fall in love but they’ve been in love forever, this book was about finding the courage to admit you’re in love and being willing to take the risk. I also loved learning more about the history of Scarlett Springs, though much of it is unhappy. I was fascinating to learn more about Joe and what motivates him to do what he does, I’m looking forward to going back and re-reading the previous books through my new lens. Rain and Joe are so perfect together, they really are the heart and soul of the town. I loved that they had a very grown up relationship, they’re not young 20 somethings and they don’t act like they are, they face challenges but they don’t have stupid fights or temporarily break up to create angst, they really, truly love each other and it was wonderful to read. I loved this book and I highly recommend both it and the entire series it is a part of. I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

Three and a half stars - because its an OTT Christmas extravaganza, right?

Rain Minear has worked in Knockers, the brewpub in Scarlet Springs Colorado since she was a scared 17 year old with a two week old baby girl and nowhere else to go. Joe Moffat owns the brewpub and has been in love with Rain for nearly 20 years, ever since he first met her probably. But he's 10 years older than her and her boss - to him that means hands off in a big way, especially since his great, great, great (you get the picture) granddaddy was someone who didn't hesitate to take advantage.

When a snow storm flattens Rain's home her boss is practically the first on the scene and impulsively offers to let her stay at his place - but can he keep his distance when she does everything in her power to entice him?

(view spoiler)

All the previous characters from the series make an appearance one way or another and we learn some of the history of how the town first began.

Overall, a lovely if crazy holiday story for readers of the series, could be read as a stand alone but I doubt the characters would mean much.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I really wish the book had worked for me, but I ended up DNFing at 32%. The hero did nothing for me. His decision not to have kids because he was ashamed of something an ancestor did just didn't make any sense to me. I tried to get past it, but as the book went on his personality just got more offputting to me until I finally gave up.

It is finally sweater weather so I was really excited about curling up with a Christmas friends to lovers story last night. Unfortunately this one did not satisfy my craving. There was way too much about old journals and the history of the town, the hero was waaaaay too good to be true, the heroine seemed pretty underdeveloped and the romance left me cold. I felt like we were dropped in the middle of their story and it could be my fault for reading book five in a series when I have never read anything else by the author. This may be more for readers who are already fans of the series.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review.

While I liked this one I was frustrated with the couple, Joe and Rain. What frustrated me was that they both were attracted to each other for 20 years, but did nothing about it. I think about all that wasted time, time they could have spent with each other, time that Joe could have been a real dad to Lark, time that Rain wouldn't have had to struggle so much, so much time wasted. Even as Rain made her move Joe was stupid and didn't do anything until a close friend clued him in. I thought Rain standing naked in front of Joe was brave, thought it would do the trick, not so much. Instead Rain had to play her last card, a desperate hail mary, good thing it worked!

Even as I complained about being frustrated I loved how this one ended up, loved that Joe loved Rain, loved their surprise and loved that Joe let Lark know how important she was to him too.

ARC - I voluntarily offered to review this book with no obligations and my opinions are honest!
Finally, we get Joe + Rain's book.
Rain has loved Joe for a very long time, and she was tired of waiting.
Joe has loved Rain for a very long time, but was afraid to act on it.
Now, it is time for Joe to make a decision.
Will he give love a chance or lose Rain forever ?
This was such a heartwarming story.
Best of all, it was set during Christmas times.
It seems that almost everyone knew that Rain + Joe were in love w/ each other.
They just don't know what is the hold up.
Loved the storytelling + the characters.

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

Pamela Clare is one of the very best romance, romantic-suspense authors ever. In "Close to Heaven" we have a sweet Christmas romance between two adults, Rain and Joe, with more than a little life under their belts. It's wonderful to see what their backstories are and how their romance ignites. The history woven throughout is sad, but really interesting as a foundation for who Joe is and how that came to be.

Rain Minear is feeling empty nest syndrome and the lack of direction in her life as her daughter is soon to graduate from college. More than half her life has been spent caring for Lark and now what? Add to that. the man she had loved for 20 years just doesn't show any sign of being at all interested. Talk about depressing and it's 27 days to Christmas and the forecast is for 4 feet of snow. Total Bah-Humbug. When Rain goes to bed she is thinking maybe it is time to change some things in her life.

Joe Moffat is one of those guys who would give you the shirt off his back and help you when you are down. He treats his employees at his bar/grill/brewery Knockers as family and he can't give back enough to his community of Scarlet Springs. But Joe has secrets and only one of them has to do with Rain. She showed up at Knockers 20 years ago as a 17 year old with a 2 week baby looking for a job. Joe was literally knocked over with insta-lust and firmly decided that was just not ever going to happen, ever. Rain was his employee and strictly off limits.

When Rain left homeless by a roof collapse, Joe has to reconsider how his hands-off policy has affected both their lives. With Joe and Rain snowbound in his house you would think something would finally happen. Yeah, lots happened, but not what you expect. Rain has nothing to lose and lays it all out. Joe, stupid, stupid man, has his reasons but Rain just thinks he really doesn't want her. Joe has to reconsider everything and make some hard decisions or he could lose Rain for good.

Some of my favorite tropes are here: older couple, forced proximity, long-simmering lust. To be honest, as much as I've enjoyed the Colorado High Country series, I never paid much attention to Joe, the owner of local brewpub Knockers. That was a huge mistake because it turns out Joe is full of sexy secrets. Like how he's secretly panted for years for bar employee and single mom Rain. Joe and Rain's story was the perfect way to celebrate Christmas in Scarlet Spring, Colorado, as it seems everyone in town knew that they belonged together, except for the very clueless and stubborn Joe.

As a fan of the series, it was really wonderful to get glimpses of the other Colorado High Country couples and familiar townsfolk. The town itself is practically a character in the book: the way Joe learned about the meaning behind the locals' favorite cocktail Sex in the Spotlight was hilarious.

I do have to admit I missed the flair of suspense and drama Pamela Clare usually brings to this series. No thriller rescues or chases, just the cozy story of two lonely people finding the heat and heart they always craved from each other.

Note: I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Close to Heaven, is a feel good Christmas romance. I admit to sighing several times while reading it.

5 "Santa came early..." Stars!

We return to Scarlet Springs and the Colorado High Country series, with Joe and Rain’s story; Close to Heaven.

IMAGE.

I was so excited for this couple’s book, partly because the hints as to their feelings towards each other in the previous books have been plentiful, what with Joe owning the Brew Pub & Bar; Knockers and Rain being it’s manager a lot of time has been spent in their company already, but only as secondary characters, and also because Pamela Clare gave them their HEA around my favorite season, Christmas!

She’d loved him for so long…

And boy what a book, I took Close to Heaven to bed with me, saying the famous last words 'Just one Chapter…' and I hit the 25% mark before I had even noticed it. I pretty much didn’t move from the sofa the following day until it was finished. Another huge plus is that this is a couple who have some life experience, Rain in her late 30’s Joe in his late 40’s there was none of your usual angst and drama that I would generally associate with a younger couple coming together under extreme circumstances. And extreme they were what with Rain pretty much losing her house in the early stages of the book, something which facilitates their coming together in that Joe offers her a place to stay.

Just love me…

Joe is a man of principle, and having worked together for twenty odd years, struggles to mask his deep feelings for Rain, with her in such close proximity, especially without the bar, the staff, and its patrons between them. Doesn’t help that Rain has decided enough is enough, and is making it pretty clear she feels the same way too.

I loved the secondary story the author told through Joe’s ancestor; Silas Moffat. The guy was an absolute monster, and it gave gravitas to Joe’s motivation and actions in the book (as well as the previous ones) and also gave you an understanding as to why he is extremely reluctant to take their relationship to the next level.

Our First Christmas Together.

Loved it, love this series, and I cannot wait to see who the author decides to give their HEA to next. Perfect Christmas reading, and although book five of the series, can absolutely be read as a standalone, but take my advice and read them all, you will not be disappointed.

Full review to be published online in mid November.

Oh, this was such a sweet little friends-to-lovers Christmas story...and bonus, Rain and Joe were real adults with some life under their belts, and not immature twenty-somethings. Really enjoyed the storyline of the boundaries of a longtime friendship being pushed into love.