On Common Ground

This is the first book in the Grounded Series, and it is a cowboy romance. I would say this is mostly a clean romance without a lot of sexy time scenes. I do have to say I did not like the first character, but after the first character I fall in love with this book. I also was dying to find out what was Trevor and Ketra's secrets. This book in whole was about Trevor and Ketra getting over some bad things that happen to them and moving on. They end up helping each other and falling in love with each other. If you love cowboy romance with a lot of drama then this is the book for you. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I actually surprised myself and quite enjoyed this book, yet when I first started reading it I wanted to slap both main characters for their attitude. Trevor is on leave from the police having killed another cop, and coming out of a vicious divorce. Ketra is hiding out from a hideous experience two years before which has left her terrified of men, although working on a ranch of men only might not be the best idea! He wants nothing to do with her, she hates him, yet within a day he is determined to get her in his bed. He is pushy she is obnoxious and whiny, not a promising start, but still once I got going I read to the end.
I got a free copy of this book in return for honest feedback

This was my first book by Jansen Schmidt and I see that a sequel to this book has since been released. I look forward to reading book 2 (so that you tell you right off the bat that I liked book 1).

This was the story of Ketra & Trevor, two people who are both reeling for personal reasons and take advantage of much needed time away from the real world. Both have chosen the same ranch to use as their escape and naturally sparks start to fly between the two of them - at first the sparks were heated and full of venom; but soon those sparks began to show signs of love.

I love many things about this book - the fact that both characters are tough and likable; Ketra kicks butt and can handle herself; Trevor has a good heart. But there are also things about this book that bothered me - too many coincidences (Ketra's attacker also has a connection to Trevor's legal problems and the fact that Ketra's mother knows Trevor's father). If either one of these would have happened, I would have thought "well, that's unusual". But for BOTH of them to happen is a bit of a stretch.

Also, I would have preferred more time elapse before Trevor move from one relationship to another. For him to start the book off by swearing off women forever and then him instantly become so smitten with Ketra is a little far fetched as well.

I was provided this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions stated above are mine without biases.

I found this book to be just a wonderful read. Both of the main characters, Trevor and Ketra had a lot of emotional baggage and when they came together and fell in love , it made me happy, It was just heavenly! I always have a soft spot for the underdogs and this book fulfilled the need. I love the way the author described so much of the scenery in Arizona and I felt like I was there. Also I have a love of horses and it was exciting to me to read about Ketra’s barrel racing training. And I loved the part about the hard to handle stallion, Lucifer. Trevor being accused of something that he didn’t do really was suspenseful and I loved the thinking and the investigation that went on. This book was fantastic in every way with hardship at the beginning and a very happy ending for all.
I plan on reading all of this authors books because she really has a knack with putting everything together and holding a readers attention. It was really hard for me to put this book down. Enjoy reading.

Trevor Donaldson needs a place to hide. He is recovering from a breakup of his marriage and a shooting of an officer in the line of duty. He turns to his father’s best friend Rocky and the Diamond D Ranch where he would go as a child. Here he can be off the grid and away from women until he is cleared to go back to work.

Ketra Weston suffered a violent assault and needed a place to heal and a place to hide. She turns to her uncle Rocky and is now living on the Diamond D Ranch and is training horses. Here she can heal and all the men on the ranch know that she is off limits. Here she is safe.
When Trevor meets Ketra, sparks start to fly. The last thing he needs is another woman in his life. Ketra wants nothing to do with Trevor and at every turn takes to giving him snide remarks. She doesn’t trust men but this cowboy just won’t give up even though he is told to leave her alone.

Trevor and Ketra find that they have more in common than they know. They are both hiding from something in their pasts and now it seems that they are connected in yet another way as the clues start to unravel about Trevor’s shooting of a fellow officer. Things start to heat up as a storm brings them together and they are starting to trust each other with their reasons for being at the ranch.

This novel was an absolute fabulous read. Jansen Schmidt was a new author for me, and I adored her writing style and character development. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series. Thank you so much to the author Jansen Schmidt, BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review. It was fabulous! All opinions expressed for this review are unbiased and entirely my own.

You can't go wrong with a hot cop/cowboy!

Trevor and Ketra are a perfect hate at first sight couple - and it has nothing to do with the other person; instead it's entirely due to the baggage they each are still carrying from their pasts. They're both at the Diamond D to hide out and to heal, and this story beautifully takes them through all the ups and downs as they fight their mutual attraction.

I loved the day-to-day life on the ranch. The writing made the setting and lifestyle come alive, making it feel like we're really there with them. The mystery surrounding Trevor's career had a surprising twist, and I really enjoyed the family history between his parents and hers.

I did find myself wishing the book had been a bit more thoroughly edited, but ultimately the minor flaws weren't enough to draw me out of the story. The characters are likable yet honestly portrayed, flaws and all. The story was perfectly paced, and the HEA was everything I was hoping for. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

i really enjoyed reading this book, I enjoyed the western romance and thought this was a great start to a series. The characters were great and I had a really good time reading this.

I can't find anything about this book in my records so I must have been unable to read it before archival, as I was taking a college degree and put that first. I will keep an eye out for the book as I would enjoy the read.

I really enjoyed this Western slash Detective novel. I learnt quite a bit about rodeos and what barrel racing was, even down to needing a different saddle for this event.
The interspersed stories of the detective trying to clear his name with the women struggling to overcome her assault and all the varied issues that needing resolving personally for them both made for a rich and compell8ng storyline.
The style of writing was effective for this story and was easy to follow.