I was given a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I realized after starting this book that it is No. 14 in a series. I was worried I'd be lost but I wasn't. This book really hit home with some things that I could relate to. It's a sweet love story. I fell completely in love with Josh and Caitlin. I will add more to the review at a later time.

I had no idea until just a few minutes ago that The First Kiss of Spring by Emily March was #14 in the Eternity Springs series. While I now wish I had read the 13 books before it, it did not make a difference in my enjoyment of the story of Caitlin and Josh. This book can be a standalone read, no problem. The small town romance storyline of this book was sweet, yet the characters had their problems that they had to overcome before they had a chance of being happy together. There were a couple of times having a tissue handy was a good idea, but overall the tone of this story is hopeful and I think will leave a smile on the face of the reader, especially the last chapter. Now I am off to read more books by Emily March!

In desperate need of a change, Caitlin Timberlake embraces the chance to return to her Colorado roots. As a bridesmaid in the upcoming wedding of an old friend, the petite blonde is sure that this respite from her crazy New York life as a textile specialist will be just the medicine the doctor ordered. She’s in search of a reset, and she is intent upon settling into those other two important “R” words – Rest and Relaxation.

What she expected when she landed in the quaint little mountainside town of Telluride, was weather as crispy sweet as a freshly fallen Washington apple. What she didn’t expect was the impromptu smack of a “R” word she’d previously given up on – Romance .

Getting stuck on a rising gondola with his wheelchair-bound dachshund Penny was a rather unexpected inconvenience. But Josh Tarkington is no stranger to bad luck or ill-conceived situations, and he couldn’t say he was surprised to find himself dangling hundreds of feet in the air by just a few strategically hung cables. A man with a thundercloud past and a presumed stormy future, Josh wasn’t looking for commitments of any kind. He had his dog and his established business as a mechanic in a nice, unassuming town, and that was all he really needed. Finding himself trapped with the pretty little blonde had him thinking otherwise – if only for a few moments. She had spirit and sass, and her eyes were hard to look away from, not to mention the palpable beat of electricity humming between them. Unfortunately for both Caitlin and Josh, the chemistry they were both feeling couldn’t go anywhere permanent – Josh just couldn’t take any chances.

After her encounter with the ruggedly mysterious Josh, Caitlin can’t seem to stop thinking about him. The trip back home to Eternity Springs helped solidify a move she’d been thinking of making for years, and the prospect of something more happening between herself and the stoic mechanic is only icing on the cake. Throwing caution to the wind and keeping the opinions of her parents firmly ensconced in the background of her determined mind, Caitlin packs up her life in New York and moves back home, intent upon putting her dreams of opening up a daycare and becoming a childcare provider into action. And if romance is in the cards, so be it.

When Josh hears that Caitlin is back in town, he nearly panics. He had a hard enough time keeping away from her the few days she was in Eternity Springs the last time. He is definitely not on the market for love, and no matter how many times he’s made that abundantly clear, she has stars dancing in her eyes every time she looks his way. Not to mention she’s a Timberlake – one of the most affluent families in the community – and he isn’t exactly what one would call “upstanding.” He’s respected and taken seriously enough as a mechanic and business owner, but that’s where the novelty of Josh Tarkington ends . . . and he likes it that way. He’s worked hard to carve out a slice of peaceful living for himself in the quiet Colorado town, and he’s not keen to make any long-standing attachments. Friendships lead to questions and questions lead to a past he’d rather soon forget. Unfortunately for Josh, Caitlin decides to set up shop right down the street from his own business, and he finds it impossible to ignore her gravitational pull.

Unable to help himself from giving in, Josh strike a bargain with the headstrong Caitlin Timberlake. He’ll give her what she wants – in the physical sense only. Any emotional or relationship ties are strictly off the table, and they have to keep their romance under wraps. Discretion is key in a small town like Eternity Springs, a place where everyone knows everyone else’s business and no one is afraid to butt-in where they may or may not belong. Josh has enough problems of his own and he doesn’t need the drama that could come with publicly dating the Timberlake girl, so he is clear on the fact that she must keep things hidden. But when he sees her father pressing her into dating an out-of-towner with all the right boyfriend characteristics (on paper at least) Josh feels something primal and instinctual come bubbling to the surface. Caitlin belongs to him, even if he doesn’t want to admit it to himself.

Caitlin knows what Josh won’t admit – that they are good together. She’s content to keep things on the down low for now, but she knows it won’t be long before her heart is in too deep. After a freak accident lands Josh in the hospital and down with broken ribs on top of other injuries that leave him practically bedridden, Caitlin moves herself into his spare bedroom amidst his grumbles and growls. She knows if she can just show him what it could be like, he’d cave and give her everything she’s asking for. But pushing the issue gives Caitlin much more than she ever bargained for, and when Josh’s demons push themselves into the forefront of his life and threaten to demolish everything he’s worked so hard for, both parties will have to make some hard choices and put it all on the line.

The First Kiss of Spring is the 14th installment in the popular Eternity Springs series by romance writer Emily March. While all are considered stand-alone books, each novel is set in the same charming Colorado town and feature sprinklings of familiar faces and celebrated families.

This was the first Eternity Springs novel I’d picked up, and I received an ARC copy for an honest review. It wasn’t quite what I expected. I’ve read a lot of romance novels. I went through a particular romance phase about ten years ago when I was new to a small Oklahoma town and had no friends . . . I frequented the library and ran through books like they were going out of style. Lori Foster, Patti Berg – I think I read every book they wrote in a two month period. Quick plots, steamy sexual encounters, love-at-first-sight nuances being the dominant factor in all – that was what a romance novel was to me.

The First Kiss of Spring had a lot of the qualities I remember from those romance novels. But it also came with an underlying theme of something else – truth. The realistic storyline of Josh’s fall from grace into the dingy world of substance abuse and his perpetual clawing crawl out of it hit close to home for me. My husband is a survivor of substance abuse and I saw with my own two eyes what it can do to a person. Being clean and sober essentially means living with yourself in an authentic state and facing demons. It’s something that can be overwhelmingly harsh and oftentimes difficult for others to understand. Josh’s point of view was infinitely the more intriguing and interesting of the two perspectives, and I really wished March had took the opportunity to dig a bit deeper. Things wrapped up too quickly and too prettily.

If you’re looking for a steamy romance, this isn’t the one for you. There are a couple of sexual scenes but they don’t really have much detail or what you’d expect from a typical romance novel. This was more story-based instead of romance to me. It was an evolution of two characters who made their way to one another, but not necessarily about their progression as a couple. There were some aspects that had me rolling my eyes, but I think it may have been the author’s attempt to keep her series feeling steady and cohesive. I could have done without the parents’ storyline, but maybe if you’d read the other Eternity Springs books you would be more interested.

At the end of the day I give The First Kiss of Spring 3.5 out of 5 stars. I recommend it to those who enjoy lighter fare romance novels, but I do want to give a disclaimer that it may contain some triggering subject matter for those two have dealt with substance abuse and child abuse.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing a copy for an unbiased review.

This book was a bit of a one-off for me for a couple of reasons. (1) I rarely like to jump into the middle of a series - I do love a good series, but I like to start at the beginning and read through in order. (2) I tend to shy away a bit from books that I think may get to be a bit too sweet or uplifting. “Eternity Springs” - it just sounded a bit too inspirational for my taste, especially when there’s a whole series. I figured it’s probably just not for me. But I’d heard a lot about this series from some of my bookish friends, so requested the ARC as a way to give it a try. And much to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Not overly sweet, not overly uplifting, just a nice love story, with a bit of mystery about the background of the male lead, and most of the predictable miscommunications etc that go with romances. And a lot of fun, interesting recurring characters that I’ll be seeing again (and again) as I go back and start the Eternity Springs series from the beginning. Yep, I’m hooked. I guess that’ll teach me to judge a series by its name!

Darker than I was expecting, but a lovely well written story that I enjoyed very much.
*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher*

This book really pulled me into the story. The characters are so real that you feel their emotions, from an overprotected father, to both parents being worried about Caitlin's career choice.I also enjoyed how Caitlin Timberlake met Josh Tarkington and his dog on a gondola, not realising they were both going to be living in Eternity Spring. There are loads of secrets,complex characters, health issues, and romance in the story so you will not be able to put the book down. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write and honest review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing it.

What a powerfully compiling and emotional romance. To have such a tortured male protagonist, is truly remarkable. I totally fell in love with Josh. He tried to be so strong in the shadow of his troubles. But the love for a good woman helped him to turn another corner and make it through. Such a story that I really hated for it to end. I really hope that there are more of this couple in future Eternity Springs books.

Ms. March is a new author for me and one that I look forward to reading more of. I will definitely be going back and reading prior novel by this wonderfully and truly inspiring woman. I so highly recommend this story to anyone. It is NOT your typical romance.

I got to 40%, and I’m tapping out on this one.

I’ve been trying for three days to get into this story and I just can’t do it. If I wasn’t so behind on my list of ARCs that I need to read, I might make myself stay with this one - because the premise sounds good, and I’m a big fan of small town stories. But I think Emily March may just be an author that isn’t my cup of tea…

My issues with the book were the following:

- Lots of fluffy, extraneous descriptions - about hawks fly from the treetops and stuff. I’ve never liked landscape descriptions, I just want plot, please!
- Realistic dialogue is very important to me. No one uses the word tenterhooks, beeline, or tells someone they sing a siren’s song during a conversation - at least not anyone in their 30s, and those were all things said by our hero.
- And speaking of our hero...I liked him, but had a hard time with his characterization. In his head he very much wants to be left alone. But with all of the residents of Eternity Springs? He’s the friendliest fellow. Very charming. I found it hard to know which is the real Joshua Tarkington.
- I’m not a fan of using flashbacks as a way of building suspense about one of the characters, as is the case with the “journal entries” that appear every third or fourth chapter. I’m not even exactly certain who the journal entries were written by. I’m assuming Josh, but at this point in the book it hasn’t been confirmed.

I really wanted to like this book. I see Emily March’s books a lot - in the emails I get about book sales, and there is a whole shelf of her books in the romance section of my local library. I wanted to like these books because the covers are lovely and they remind me of my favorite small town romance series - Virgin River by Robyn Carr. But The First Kiss of Spring wasn’t able to keep my interest, and I’m trying to do better about not spending time on books that don’t connect with me. So, sadly, I’m forcing myself to move on.

* thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I really enjoyed the book very much! It was well written and a book you don't want to put down! Would recommend!

Nope. I am not going to judge anyone for a few f-bombs and this book was done when the author decided to write a "delicate" heroine that gets offended by other women cursing.This isn't Victorian England, lady, get with the program.There's nothing wrong with women cursing.

Emily March writes great characters, great wit, and great locations. This is one that will be passed around among friends.

See the full review at: https://wickedcoolflight.net/2018/04/04/fly-girls-review-of-emily-marchs-latest-release-first-kiss-of-spring/

If you know anyone who is coping with addiction, this one will hit hard. But it makes their love story and the support they give to one another that much sweeter.

Josh is such an ordinary guy trying to be good, but knowing he’s going to slip up that you want to see him succeed. Caitlin on the other hand knows what she wants, doesn’t do things rashly, and works hard for the things she desires. And, boy does she desire Josh. The stages of their relationship, Emily shows us, is heartwarming and in many cases reminded me of the early days with my husband. The fun loving, can’t get your hands on one anther enough, the slowing down of the passion and the exploration of the person stage, the I’m not sure I can do this stage, and of course the HEA. They all felt good and I smiled and almost cried throughout the whole thing.

This one will stay with me long after I’ve finished the next novel so for that reason I’m giving it a 5 Star. The better news about this one in the series is if you’ve read any of the other Eternity Springs novels, you’ll get fresh updates on other lover’s stories in this one.

This is a very simple story with few surprises but was totally enjoyable. I had never read anything by this author before and I suspect many of the characters cropped up in previous titles in the series. While that would have better explained some reactions by secondary characters, it really did not affect my enjoyment of this lovely book. The two main characters are believable and likable and I think it will do well in the book world.

I read this book in one sitting on a long haul flight and it was the perfect book for the trip. As I began my next read and review book, a highly touted thriller, I found myself wishing I was back in Colorado with the close knit families of this lovely story instead of being in the world of intrigue and murder in my next story. I may go back and read earlier books in this series just to better understand a few scenes where I found the family dynamics a little confusing and hard to figure out just how certain characters were related to one another.

I received an ARC of this novel from St. Martin's Press through Netgalley in exchange for my review. At first glance, I judged a book by its cover and thought this might be a just a sweet romance, but I was pleasantly surprised at how much plot and content were at the heart of this story!

Caitlin Timberlake has been designing fabric and climbing the corporate ladder when she is asked to be in a friend's wedding in her home town of Eternity Springs. She finds herself alone the night before the wedding and meets Josh Tarkington and asks him to be her plus one at the wedding. They had a great time, but decided not to turn it into a one night stand, which leaves them both wishing for more.

Caitlin decides she has had enough of corporate life and decides to move back to Eternity Springs to start a daycare and further test the feelings she has for Josh. As excited as Josh is to see Caitlin, he warns her that he will never settle down with her or anyone. Will she have what it takes?

I really liked this story! As I said earlier there are not so much plot twists, as really descriptive back stories that drew me in as a reader. I also like that Josh's journal entries were shared; that is not something you see very often in fiction.

The latest in Emily March's Eternity Springs series is lovely. I adored the "meet cute" of our H&H in Telluride. Although, I must admit to being a bit concerned about Josh at first. He seemed like he may have been a player. Thankfully, that turned out to be the farthest thing from the truth. I enjoyed the building of the relationship with Caitlin but was a little sad for what he was dealing with. The stories with a little pathos always make you feel a little more and as such, remember them long after the book is closed. If you are looking for a heartwarming tale, look no further-this is it.

I wanted to read this book because I had been reading a lot of books with "heavy" subject matter and needed something light. Unfortunately, this wasn't quite as light as I'd hoped! Though the synopsis does include the word "tragedy" I guess I didn't realize just how serious it would be (I won't list specifics, because I don't want to spoil anything)! It was definitely well written. I'd never read anything by Emily March before and I was pleasantly surprised. I felt there was way too much dialogue during the main characters' first official sexual encounter (do people really talk that much when they're getting it on?), but otherwise the dialogue seemed to flow smoothly and didn't seem forced, unlike in some books, especially romances. I did have a hard time keeping some of the characters straight. This was my first Eternity Springs novel and there are a LOT of characters! I think if you've read at least one other book in the series it probably would not be a problem, though. Overall I would rate this book 3.5/5 stars. If you like romance you will probably like this book! Not exactly fluff, but has a happy ending!

I received an arc from Netgalley. What a refreshing Romance this was. This is not only a HEA story but one that describes real trials and temptations that real couples deal with daily.

For Cait and Josh it means overcoming Joshs past and him accepting help from those he loves.

Set in a beautiful small town setting this book will grab you right from the start.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Caitlin Timberlake has a successful career in New York City, but lately she has dreamed of moving to Eternity Springs, Colorado to be closer to her family and open a daycare. After discovering a spark with Josh Tarkington while in Telluride for a friend's wedding and finding out that he also lives in Eternity Springs, Caitlin decides to put her dreams into action and moves to Eternity Springs. The last thing Josh wants is a relationship, but he hasn't been able to get Caitlin out of his head since that weekend in Telluride. When he learns that Caitlin is opening a daycare right next to his auto shop, Josh knows he will have to do get her out of his head. Josh suggests to Caitlin that they start a “friend affair”, but that it will go know farther. Caitlin agrees but lets him know that she will still be pushing for more.

This is the 14th book in the Eternity Springs series but can easily be read as a standalone. First Kiss of Spring has all the elements of a small town romance book that makes them so popular, though in this case, Josh's reasons for not wanting to be in a relationship were fairly unique. That kept the story fresh. If you like small town romances, I recommend checking this one out!

I wasn't expecting such a damaged hero, but he was compelling and I liked that the heroine was strong and tenacious. The book was full of intense emotional issues , also not what I expected based on the cover-- Caitlin and Josh have a lot of obstacles to overcome with no easy fixes. I liked these characters though, and was glad to experience their love and that there was a happy ending.

I'll admit, I was unaware of Emily March and her books prior to requesting The First Kiss of Spring. My initial interest in this book was based on two facts: 1) I was in the mood for a sweet romance, and 2) I was intrigued that it takes place in my state.

I requested this novel from NetGalley not even realizing that Emily March's Eternity Springs, CO is the setting of a series of novels (which I'm now compelled to read more of!). But, even as a very late addition to an established series, The First Kiss of Spring is a very satisfying stand-alone novel.

Caitlin has given up the big city, corporate existence she worked so hard for and has returned home to Eternity Springs, CO to pursue a different kind of life and a new business. Josh is strong, sexy and trying to keep his distance. The attraction between them is instant and intense, but can they both keep this relationship casual or is it meant to be more?

I loved the way Caitlin and Josh's relationship developed. It felt authentic and wasn't rushed. I'm a fan of instant, intense attraction followed by a slow-burn build up to real feelings and that's exactly what I felt while reading this book.

There is a cast of supporting that each feel like richly developed characters characters in their own right (again, I'll be pursuing the other books to learn more about everyone in this town!).

The First Kiss of Spring is a sweet, hot and satisfying romance and I was pleasantly surprised to find this series and author to add to my future TBR list.

*I received a copy of The First Kiss of Spring from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review