Author: RaeAnne Thayne
Genre: Cowboy Romantic Suspense
"Star Valley Winter" by RaeAnne Thayne introduces readers to the rugged and picturesque world of Salt River, where single father Matt Harte find himself entangled in an unlikely romance. The novel begins with Matt, who has been deeply hurt by the departure of his wife, leaving him distrustful of women. As a stoic rancher, the last thing he wants to do is plan the annual Valentine’s Day dance. However, his daughter Lucy has other plans. Determined to see her father happy, she sets her sights on Ellie, a recent transplant to Salt River and a skilled veterinarian.
Ellie Webster, aware of Matt’s initial reluctance to accept her presence, finds herself on a two-person dance committee with him. Despite the tension and awkwardness, Ellie can’t help but imagine what it would be like to have Matt as a real partner, beyond the dance floor.
This book sets up a classic romantic suspense scenario, blending the rustic charm of cowboy life with the complexities of new beginnings and rekindled trust. The audiobook version of "Star Valley Winter" is narrated with skill, bringing the characters and the setting to life in an engaging manner.
Overall, "Star Valley Winter" offers a cozy and heartwarming read, perfect for fans of cowboy romances.

Republished as Star Valley Winter, previously published as the Valentine Two-Step, is a hallmark vibe, small town romance.

I received this audiobook from NetGalley and I throughly enjoyed it. It was an audiobook I finished in one day. I thought the narration by Carly Robins was done well. I thought the flow of the audiobook was great and was easy to follow, even with multiple POVs.

It’s a light and airy read with warm cozy romance and a touch of spice. I found this storyline to be low stakes and a great relaxing easygoing story, there is a little suspense towards the end but it fits well with the overall vibe of the story.

Matt and Ellie are two broken hearts afraid of letting themselves become attached to the other. Matt comes around sooner about his feelings for Ellie and is left trying to get Ellie to understand he won’t be like the other guys, but is Ellie willing to take the leap?

Also - single parents and their kids are trying to set them up so they can be sisters… so cute!

4⭐️/1.5🌶️

Star Valley Winter is the first book in RaeAnne Thayne’s Outlaw Harte series. In this book eldest Harte brother Matt meets his match when his daughter Lucy and new town veterinarian Ellie Webster’s daughter Dylan team up to make each girl’s fondest dream come true, that of becoming sisters with Matt and Ellie as their parents. After all, the two girls share the same exact birthday, shouldn’t they be sisters and share in a family?

Their plan takes form as the girls volunteer their parents to head up the committee to hold the Valentine’s Day carnival to support the school’s library. When Matt and Ellie are first called by the girls’ teacher their initial reactions are to decline, but through conversation with the teacher, first Ellie and then Matt agree to the task.

But there is more at play in the valley this particular winter than the planning of a school carnival. Threatening notes on dead animals, an outbreak effecting only horses Ellie has cared for, and ultimately a demanding ransom all lead the reader to solve the mystery enveloped in a romance that brings together two people who have both suffered much loss and too many setbacks. This was a very enjoyable story and I do recommend it!

Star Valley Winter is a well written romance. I enjoyed the plot and the character dynamics. I definitely recommend this book.

This was a cute story. For me it was over the top with the cliche phrases and stereotypes of the western ranch life and characters. I feel like the story is missing some meat in between the let's get to know each other and fell in love stages. It feels like we are missing a lot of the story and there are definitely some holes in the plot. I did enjoy the mfc, she was relatable to me and the relationship between her and her daughter was sweet. The mmc wasn't my favorite, he was a harsher personality which is fine, but I don't feel like the character was fully developed. It would have been nice to have more of his background and history of his ranch and family. The people of the town were a nice addition, it would have been nice to get to know some of them more fully as well. This was a short listen and I think it has potential to be a 3 star read for me with some more plot and character development added.
Thank you to Harlequin Audio and NetGalley for the ALC of this book.

I was able to enjoy this book through an audio version. The narrator did a wonderful job. The story is a quick one to listen to and easy to get involved in. It is an early book by RaeAnne Thayne and has the happy ever after ending you expect in her early stories. The characters in this book are easy to like especially the two little coniving nine year old daughters. An easy read or listen to that is definitely enjoyable. I now want to get my hands on the rest of the series.

This is a sweet romance. Matt has been burned badly and does not trust easily. In fact, he gives women no chance to hurt him. He raises his daughter on his ranch. A new vet rolled into town and Ellie is a beauty. And he starts to question himself.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Harlequin Audio for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

( 3.5 / 5 )

This book was extremely cute and wholesome, however, it lacked connection. I found it hard to really immerse myself into this story and completely fall in love with the characters.

The plot moved too fast, in my opinion. However, I enjoyed the storyline of a Rancher x Veterinarian.

All in all, it fit into the vibes of a Harlequin romance novel, so I truly am not upset by it.

Cute read!

Star Valley Winter
by RaeAnne Thayne
Narrated by Carly Robins

I received an ARC of this audiobook through Netgalley.

Matt and Ellie’s love story was a bit cozy and a bit of a tug-of-war, and a lot of will they/won’t they.

The narration, setting, characters, and plot are all stellar! I prefer my romances with a little less back and forth. However, this book built a solid foundation for a happily ever after.

I like it enough to recommend it.

And, I am completely blown away by Carly Robins. I thought this book had dual narration. Carly is phenomenal!

I love RaeAnne Thayne's stories and this single parent romance was no exception! Matt and Ellie's daughters have become friends at school when Ellie and her daughter moved to town. The girls are scheming to get their parents together. Ellie faced lots of adversity moving to a new town and taking over the veterinary office. The local farmers and other vet in town don't want her around and Matt is one of the first to move his horses over to her clinic. The romance was super sweet and I loved their daughters getting involved.

I really enjoyed this book. I finished it in one setting. The female main character though i wanted to strangle at times. But she finally pulled through. Great character growth.

This is an older book that was re-released recently and I was fortunate to receive an audio ARC. This was a sweet, romance set in a small town with a little bit of suspense added.

This was a very lighthearted, easy read. I was able to finish in an afternoon. I really enjoyed the character development as the story continued on and I look forward to reading the other two books in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley and RaeAnne Thayne for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in exchange for my honest opinion.

Star Valley Winter is a fantastic romance book. It is engaging and fun to read. The characters are interesting and have great chemistry. I really enjoyed this book.

Star Valley Winter is the first in a new series by RaeAnne Thayne. I was given the chance to listen to the AudioBook. The narrator did a fantastic job of bringing the book to life for me.
The story was such an easy book to listen to while driving. The characters were wonderfully written. I am going to look for more books to read as well as audiobooks by this author.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7254212105

Thank you for this copy! I am now a huge fan of RaeAnne Thayne and the Hart family!

This is a Cowboy Romantic Suspense, and this is the first book in the Outlaw Hartes series. I listened to the audiobook for this book, and I did like the narrator. I found the story to be ok, but I wanted more action and suspense. I also found the romance to be boring and done so much. I received an ARC of this book. This review is my own honest opinion about the book like all my reviews are.

Star Valley Winter by RaeAnne Thayne is the first in the Outlaw Hartes series. I listened to this as an audio book. The narrator Carly Robins did a great job. In the town of Salt River lives a rancher Matt Harte and his daughter Lucy. Ellie Webster is a big city veterinarian transplant from California with some unconventional methods for treating animals with her daughter Dylan. The two young girls hit it off and instead of being just best friends they want to become sisters. They decide to make their parents spend time together to hopefully fall in love and get married. They volunteer then to co chair on the Valentine’s Day dance. Matt being a busy rancher and Ellie trying to build her practice are not too happy about this. Thank you to the author, #NetGalley and #Harlequin Audio for this Arc book. I loved it and a looking forward to the next book in this series. This is my honest review.

The audiobook of Star Valley Winter just came out. It is wonderful.
Two wounded souls overcome their fears to make a future together. Of course, the overcoming fears part comes at the end after they have faced danger and near ruin together with one or the other resisting all the way.
Matt and Ellie each have a darling daughter that wants what the other has - a mom or a dad. They set out to bring their parents together.
Matt and Ellie are attracted to each other from the beginning but certain views each holds get in the way.
Thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Audio for the chance to listen to this lovely story.
content note: Some RaeAnne Thayne books contain intimacy outside of marriage.

This appears to be an Audiobook release of Star Valley Winter which was originally released in 2002. The narrator was great.

A cute story about 2 nine year old, who want to make it so that their parents fall in love and get married so that they can be sisters. They just have to figure out how to bring together a vet and a rancher in order to do that. The story was very predictable but a cute story.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

🎧Audiobook Review🎧

Thank you NetGalley and harlequin for the audiobook ARC.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I absolutely love Carly Robins as a narrator so I was excited that it was her I got to listen to! She does a great job narrating and her voice is so easy to listen too. She really embodies the characters.

I am already a huge RaeAnne Thayne fan! So I was super excited to get to listen to this! The story line and plot was fantastic!!!! I love a small town romance it’s truly my weakness. The story was adorable I loved the main character Ellie loved her so much actually! This story reminded me a little of the parent trap which is also a fav of mine!

Would recommend this book for sure!