I loved the characters and the storyline development of this book. It was absolutely one of my favorites so far and I can't wait to delve in to the next one that this author writes. The storyline was simple, enjoyable, and entertaining.

Excellent and emotional book that sucked me in from the start. Cora is the single mother of a twelve-year-old boy and the survivor of an abusive relationship. With the help of her sister, Cora began a new position as a wedding planner. Her first job is to plan the wedding of Deb Tyler, the Tyler ranch matriarch. Unfortunately, she must deal with Deb's oldest son, Shane, who is very much opposed to the wedding.

Shane became the man of the family at the age of twelve when his father died in a ranching accident. He helped raise his younger siblings and still takes his responsibility to family and ranch very seriously. He doesn't trust his mother's fiancé, a man a decade younger than his mother, and makes his feelings very clear.

I loved the first meeting between Shane and Cora. While they disagree about the wedding, there's no doubt about the sparks that fly between them. Cora needs to succeed at this first wedding gig, and Shane and his siblings want to stop the wedding entirely. I liked how Cora refused to give in to Shane's attempt at intimidation, reminding him that Deb is a grown woman who knows her own mind. Shane can't let go of the idea that Ben wants the ranch more than Deb and will do anything to prove it.

I liked the development of the relationship between Cora and Shane. Though ostensibly on opposite sides of the issue, they connect over their common need to do anything to protect their loved ones. When Cora has problems with her son, Micah, Deb insists that Cora bring him to the ranch. She knows a thing or two about rebellious sons and that hard work and horses are an excellent remedy. Micah quickly bonds with the entire Tyler family, and Cora is pulled in also. The attraction between Cora and Shane continues to grow, and their flirty banter is fun to watch.

Cora is wary of letting things go too far with Shane. The abuse by her ex left Cora with some confidence problems. She works hard to be independent but frequently second-guesses her decisions. She keeps her past to herself, fearing that Shane and the others would look at her differently if they knew. This tends to make her relationship with Shane something of a yo-yo because she pulls back, then moves forward, then pulls back again. Shane suspects the truth and has a fantastic amount of patience. He often finds himself walking a fine line between pushing for answers and giving her space.

At the same time, Shane has his own demons to fight. His protectiveness frequently puts him at odds with his family. I ached for him when he shared the reasons behind that protectiveness with Cora and waited for her to do the same. Their joint issues come to a head when a crisis forces them to look at how they let their pasts control their presents. I wanted to shake Cora for pushing Shane away just when she needed him the most. It takes some straight talk from an unexpected source to open her eyes to the way she sabotages her own happiness. Shane gets similar advice and must decide how best to repair things with Cora. I loved the ending.

The secondary characters were great. I loved Cora's son, Micah. He was a realistic blend of sweet and sullen, typical of that age. The reader also gets a good look at the effect of his father's abuse on Micah and his view of the world around him. The dynamics between Shane and his siblings were interesting. Even though they are now all adults, Shane still tries to tell them what to do "for their own good." This especially doesn't sit well with his youngest brother, Boone, who joined the rodeo circuit in rebellion. One of the most interesting characters was Deb's fiancé, Ben. Initially, I understood Shane's reservations. Ben's attitude was annoying, smug, and "in your face," and I wondered what Deb saw in him. But as the book went on, there were hints that there was more to him. I liked how Cora encouraged Shane to speak honestly and without animosity to Ben and see if it made a difference.

I love Nicole Helm’s books. She writes so well, and this story of a wedding planner in conflict with the bride’s son is a joy. Highly recommended.

This was so, so, so delightfully good :D Just the right balance of sweet and angst, and just such a lovely nuanced approach to tough issues. I really do adore Nicole Helm's books--she's an auto-buy from me, for sure.

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

This was a very emotional story. One that deals with a heroine and her son that suffered from physical and emotional abuse at the hands of her ex-husband. As someone who has never been either, there were times that it was hard to understand her actions. Having the book written in a dual POV format though, helps in understanding characters that have gone through different backgrounds than myself. Shane even had a difficult event that shaped his childhood that I have never gone through. Seeing these two wonderful characters connect and go through the some painful relationship building made for a worthy read.

I had not read the prior books in this series. It appears that they were mighty good as the characters that did appear here were really great characters. I look forward to reading them.

This books does have some intense sections where abuse is mentioned by not in detail or action. I highly recommend this book and author to anyone who loves to read a truly realistic and touching story.

A Nice Day for a Cowboy Wedding is the fourth book in Nicole Helm's Mile High Romance series, but only the second book in the series that I've read, and I'm happy to say I liked this one more than the first, and it gets 4 stars from this reader.

Clearly, as I missed reading the second and third novels in this series, I've missed a great deal of the backstory on these characters, but it wasn't terribly difficult to read this novel as a standalone. The principle characters are Cora Preston, who, along with her 12-year-old son, Micah, moved to Gracely, Colorado, to be near to her sister, Lilley, who, along with her husband, now run Mile High Adventures. Cora is on the run from her violently abusive ex-husband, one man in a long string of poor choices in the happily ever after department, but she's been drafted by her sister to start an offshoot business, Mile High Weddings, and the first wedding she's about to plan is that of Deb Tyler, a fifty-something widow, and Ben, a ranch hand who works on the Tyler Ranch. He's 10 years younger than Deb, and her 5 adult children want to derail this wedding in its tracks, and none more so than her eldest, 30-year-old Shane Tyler, who doesn't think much of Ben as a ranch hand, and thinks even less of him as the man her mother should marry.

When Shane and Cora first meet, the attraction is instantaneous, but they are at cross-purposes. She desperately wants to succeed at planning her first wedding, and Shane wants to stop the wedding from happening at all. So far, he's not met with much success, and he and his siblings become even more frustrated when Deb informs them that she wants to move the wedding date from late December to September, giving them even less time to convince her that Ben is wrong for her, and giving Cora less time to get this wedding off the ground.

Shane is everything you could possibly want in an excellent cowboy hero: strong, handsome, sexy, kind, caring, and honest, all of which attract Cora, but to say that Cora is ambivalent is putting it mildly, and her character was my least favorite in this novel. While we don't learn how long Cora was married to her ex before she got away from him, her ambivalence about getting involved with anyone, which was understandable at first, eventually made her inner dialogue and her on-again, off-again, flirtatious behavior with Shane, followed soon after by her pushing him away, became annoying after a while. Although she and her son are both seeing a therapist to deal with the emotional aftermath of their abuse, 12-year-old Micah seems to be doing a better job of that than his mom, who keeps second-guessing herself, second-guessing the motives of everyone around her, and fearing that if anyone at the Tyler Ranch found out about her having been a battered wife, it would completely change the way they perceived her. Just before her first official date with Shane, Micah makes her promise not to tell him anything about their abuse, and she agrees--excuse me, but just who is the adult here? When Shane bares his own well-kept secrets to Cora, something that was incredibly difficult for him to do, does Cora respond in kind? Nope. She's honoring her promise to her son, but be prepared for a shocking turnaround.

In addition to the relationship between Cora, Shane and Micah, that forms the core of this novel are the excellent secondary characters, Shane's mother and his siblings, especially when his youngest brother, Boone, a professional bull-rider whose recent injuries make his returning to the rodeo circuit unlikely, returns to the ranch and he bonds better with Micah than Shane does. Then there's Shane's soon-to-be stepfather, Ben, to deal with too. There's a lot of emotion and angst between all of these characters and Ms. Helm does an excellent job of storytelling when it comes to the emotional ties between them, making this novel quite an engrossing read, and making this reader look forward reading to the next installments in this series.

Yes, there is an HEA ending, and yes, there's some heated sex as well, but what I liked best about this novel was its hero, Shane, and the depth of emotion which Ms. Helm handled with such care and understanding.

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

I really really enjoyed this book. It was such a pleasant surprise!

It tells the love story between Cora and Shane. At first, I didn't like Cora. She seemed so insecure and with low self-esteem. However, as the book unfolds, we see why she's like that, why she thinks what she thinks, why she's always comparing herself to her sister or why she doesn't think she deserves to be loved.

Their romance is very realistic - slow development but also involving the kids (very important part when one of the them has a child).

As I said, I truly liked this book. And, although it's the 1st book by Nicole Helm I've read, I'm looking forward to read more!

P.S.: As someone that experienced abuse, I really appreciate the approach the author makes. I don't consider myself a victim because I lived throughout it, I grew up with it. But I do still feel today those kind of thoughts when you think you're not worth it or you're dumb...

This was a hard one to rate for me, I was deciding between 3 and four stars. Shane was what pushed it up to 4 stars. Shane was a good hero, and a great man. He did everything he could to help those around him. Cora was what was bringing my opinion of the story down. I understand that she was in a horrible situation, but she was supposed to be in therapy and dealing with things, and she clearly wasn't. She was always taking things the wrong way, second guessing everyone, and taking things out on Shane that didn't have anything to do with him. I felt like she let her 12 year old make decisions for her, and that was no way to be either. I liked all the secondary characters, and even though this is not the first book in the series, I didn't feel like I missed out on anything. I did enjoy the ending, and I was glad that these characters could move past everything and get their HEA.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced readers copy of this book.

I found this book hard to get into. I didn't care for Cora and I found the book didn't hold my attention. Overall, an OK story. *I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.

Cora is trying to change her life. So one of her many steps is succeeding in her new job as a wedding planner. Of course, her first job will be very hard because the bride to have not support from her children. One of them is Shane a very charming hot cowboy. Both Shane and Cora are interesting and with a lot of baggage from the past. So that is why they can't enjoy their romance fully. The story is full of family drama and family love. Cora thinks that past defines her but through the pain and tears she realizes she is more than her past self that she has grown and that the fear is the one that is not letting her be happy again. I hope that the author will continue to write about all the siblings.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for Netgelly

We meet Cora Preston, the heroine of Nicole Helm’s A Nice Day For A Cowboy Wedding, as she comes into her own: “She was reaching for the stars now, or maybe those snow-peaked mountains. Strong, immovable, and majestic.” Five years ago, Cora and her then seven-year-old, Micah, lived with an abusive husband and father. When Stephen threatened Micah rather than her, Cora divorced him, got full custody of Micah and a restraining order. In the intervening years, Cora and Micah moved to small-town Gracely to live with Lilly, her sister. They’ve been difficult, growing-pain years, but the movement has been forward and positive. Cora and Micah are forging a new life. Cora’s gleaned herself off of total dependence on her older sister, is living on her own with her son, and partnering with Lilly to launch a wedding-planning business. More importantly, she and Micah’s therapy, while a work in progress, is helping them cope with the day-to-day. Micah is showing signs of teen-age rebellion and sullenness, but Cora is mothering more than being mothered. Micah is in baseball day-camp and Cora on her way to her first wedding plan client, Deb Tyler of Tyler Ranch. Cora is a vulnerable heroine, but determined to succeed and do right by her son. I liked her from the get-go.

As Cora’s mini-something makes its way to the Tyler ranch, good-guy hero Shane Tyler, stalwart, handsome, and responsible, is having ungenerous thoughts about his mother’s, Deb’s, fiancé, ” … scheming, lying, thieving Ben Donahue.” And he’s about to meet the woman who’s going to make his mother’s dream wedding a reality – while he aims to stop it. On the surface, it seems Shane and Cora will clash and spend the novel’s duration working at cross-purposes. Instead, Helm uses this frivolous at best, puerile at worst, premise, to say something about healing the past, understanding yourself, learning to understand the person you’re falling in love with, and navigating what it means to be a family. Shane and Cora have more in common than they do apart. And this is one of the secrets of the romance genre: seemingly impassable odds for the couple turn into the means by which hero and heroine will work out their HEA.

For Helm, the bridge between Cora and Shane is simple: “Shane would do anything to protect his family” and Cora will do anything to protect her son and ensure that he thrives. They both feel, for spoilerish reasons in Shane’s case, they have to atone for the past. Helm offers them, and by extension the reader, the “out” Cora and Shane’ll need to work out their differences and turn them to commonalities. Helm’s strength lies in her Ariadne’s thread thrown to reader, hero, and heroine in the form of sentences pointing to mutual understanding, respect, and consideration. Shane watches Cora with Micah, her care and love, also her confusion and uncertainty: “Shane knew what it was to look at someone and be afraid and at a loss and just desperate to figure out what to do to make everything okay.” Cora doesn’t know what to do with this suddenly difficult teen. Their relationship has had to be mitigated by therapy, to offset the pernicious effects of the abuse Cora suffered and Micah witnessed. We watch as Cora flexes her good-mother muscles and as Shane learns to respect his mother’s wishes. Helm’s portrait of their growth is wonderful.

What of their relationship? Nice Day For A Cowboy Wedding is, after all, a romance and the romance is central. Helm rightly cannot have much by way of dramatic conflict for Shane and Cora. Cora’s had more than her share and Shane is too silently strong and capable. too honest and good to engage in any mind or otherwise games. Instead, Helm creates an ideal hero for Cora, one so exemplary, though flawed in his way, that Cora can trust and like him, and still notice how he fills out his cowboy jeans. Their physical attraction and relationship is flirtatiously gentle and gently flirtatious. Shane is a man made for fidelity and commitment and perfect for what Micah and Cora need. His thoughts on Cora: “It was this kind of thing. Not just great sex, but an easy camaraderie. A partner in things: to talk to, tease, enjoy … what a partnership would look like. With Cora, he didn’t care what it looked like. As long as it was with her.” I loved the idea of “camaraderie” as a basis for a relationship. It’s as good as the conviviality Cora’s and Shane’s families enjoy together. And the two things that round out every romance’s positive ending.

At this point in my review, I’m making Cora and Shane’s relationship sound boring and it is anything but. If they were cardboard cut-outs, then yes, maybe we can say Helm’s couple is a tad ho-hum. But they do have interesting “stuff” to work through. Firstly, separate and for different reasons, Cora and Shane have to realize they are deserving of love and that their actions haven’t failed their families or each other. Shane is a man who is compelled to protect others, to always appear strong, and to be the one who “fixes” everything for those he loves. Cora is a woman who’s yet to thoroughly feel as if she CAN fix anything, can protect her son, and take care of herself. There are moments when Shane has to let go: ” … he was selfish enough to want to keep his weaknesses from her. His failures.” He can be vulnerable and loving and protective, that’s his lesson to learn and enact in the HEA; Cora’s is to trust herself, to acknowledge her strength, to embrace what Shane offers: love, commitment, family, consideration, respect, and laughter. But their road to the HEA reaches an emotional impasse:

“The sad fact of the matter was, no one wanted that. His help, his guidance, his protection. No one wanted him.”

“She would always be the victim. He would always be the man trying too hard to make up for things that weren’t his to make up for.”

The resolution, dear fellow-readers? Is one of such depth, simplicity and beauty. With Miss Austen, we find in Helm’s A Nice Day For A Cowboy Wedding “no charm equal to tenderness of heart,” Emma.

Nicole Helm’s A Nice Day For A Cowboy Wedding is published by Zebra Books. It was released on August 28th and may be found at your preferred vendors. I received an e-ARC from Zebra Books, via Netgalley.

A good story that has the oldest brother Shane Tyler not liking the man his mother is about to marry. He does not think he is in love with her and that all he wants is half of the ranch. That part he does not understand because he never finishes a job that is given to him to finish. He is looking for help form his siblings and that is slowly fading away. On top of everything else his mother hired a wedding planner and for the love of --- why does he like arguing with her and how could he be attracted to her when she is part of his problem putting on this wedding. Cora Preston has moved to a new town and has taken on a new job. Leaving her abusive husband she and her 12 year old son are looking for a new and fresh start. She really needs this first wedding to go off as planned and does not need some good looking cowboy messing up her plans, even if he is the mother’s son. She is also dealing with her 12 year old, Micah his character is perfect for this story along with all of the other characters of this book. Once the story gets going you are in for a nice ride and you find out about of the main characters past and each of their secrets that they have been holding on to. I for one really liked Nichole and the character as you can see her struggle as a mother and with her own fears at times as a parent, all the while knowing she did the right thing leaving her ex. A very good book and very good characters.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book. The story is slow and boring--the hero and heroine barely interact at all in the first four chapters, the focus on anything other than a main romance--and the writing is mediocre at best. DNF

Family is everything!

This was the first book I've read from this author. This book is really about moving forward after some terrible situations and how family and trust can help you do that. The fact that this is a book about a cowboy and a single mother, just makes it better.

Shane will do whatever he can to protect his family,including sabotaging the wedding of his mother to a younger man. Cora has pulled herself and her 12 year old son out of an abusive relationship. That takes a lot of courage and strength on her part. Now she’s trying to start over by planning Shane’s mother’s wedding. But Shane is trying to stop it, as well as not act on the increased chemistry between himself and Cora.

I had difficulty getting pulled into this book but part way through, it seemed to “catch”. I’m not sure why the beginning seemed slow and halting to me, but pushing through was worth the initial pain.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely.

This is the 4th book in the Mile High Romance series. It can be read as a standalone. I haven't read any of the previous 3 and fully understood the whole book. This one is about Shane Tyler and Cora Preston. Shane runs the family ranch and feels the full responsibility of making sure his family is not only happy but safe. He is determined to stop his mother from marrying a younger man, especially as he feels that man is only out for her money. Cora has been hired by his mother to plan the wedding. And for her this is her new start after leaving her ex and moving her and her son away from him. She is determined that everything will go off without a hitch, even if that means she has to learn how to stand up for herself and have the stubborn will to make it happen.

I truly liked this story. It started off slow for me but once I got past that I liked it. Cora is a sweet woman who has been through a lot. But she still had the strength and gumption to get away from the horrific situation that her and her son were in so that she could make a better life for him. Shane comes across as being hard headed but always willing to do what he could for his family. And he had his own issues to deal with as well. I really liked how they never treated Micah any differently than if he had been blood related. That's something that I always love to see and it was great to read about. These two together make a great couple, especially once they truly start dealing with their issues and can move on with their lives. Another good read by this author!

Great read. Love, Romance, and Family Dynamics. Single mom and a cowboy. Too wed or not To Wed is the question for mom. Lovely, story shows how they work through some rough spots and learn to trust each others instincts.

2.5☆

What I liked:
The writing style
Most of the characters
Part of a series: A Mile High Romance
Standalone
HEA
Epilogue

What I didn't like:
Cora

I had a hard time staying interested in this book.

From the title, A Nice Day for a Cowboy Wedding, I would have never guessed that this is part of the Mile High Series but it certainly is. Nicole Helm has changed this series up and I like it. This is Cora Preston’s, the wedding planner for the Mile High Wedding venue, story.

The story involves the son of one of the brides using Cora’s services. The story is well developed with excellent deeply complex characters. It shows/ growth in Cora and her son, Micah. These are people I grew to love so it was easy to see how Shane should fall head over heels too. Well done.

The Mile High series continues as we move down the mountain and meet some of the fine people of Gracely, Colorado. Shane Tyler grew up in Gracely on his family ranch. He's the oldest of the family so when his father passed away he took over responsibility for the ranch and his family. No way will he let some smooth talker come in and con his mother out of anything! Cora Preston is new to Gracely. She was brave enough to leave her abusive ex and start over in Gracely. No way will she let some gruff cowboy derail her from planning his mother's perfect wedding. Enjoy the ride as these two butt heads over the wedding and fight the attraction between them. Love is definitely in the air!

First, I want to acknowledge that the author named a character Maisey in this story and I just love that. If you’re not in the know, this author and the author Maisey Yates are friends and I think it’s very sweet that their friendship gets a nod in the form of the hero’s grandma.

As for the rest of this story? Amazing. There is definite chemistry between Shane and Cora from the very beginning. I’ve been extremely lucky that I’ve read so many stories with warm-fuzzy inducing characters lately. It’s my favorite thing! These two gave it to me in spades. Plus, Shane has a great relationship with Cora’s son. Not easy and light, but rocky and full of it’s ups and downs while they figured out their roles.

Cora did drive me batty with her discipline (or lack thereof) of her son, Micah. Yet I’ve never been in her situation so I tried very hard not to judge. Not only was Cora in an abusive marriage for many years, but Micah witnessed so much in that time and has not fully learned to cope. I was immensely happy that Cora’s parenting decisions were questioned a bit (by herself) later in the story since she didn’t seem to know how to say no to Micah.

Seriously, Shane has the most patience of any man in the world ever. Not only was he great at taking a step back from Cora when she needed him to, he also kept his family going regardless of the push back he got so often. He was extremely worried about his mom and her choice of beaus yet was able to keep his temper reigned in…for the most part.

This series has been a bit all over the map for me. I’m really excited about the addition of the Taylor family though. They all seem to have such interesting stories that are just waiting to be told.