I love second chance romances. Embracing Her Heart is the perfect example of why I love them. Grace and Reed were girlfriend/boyfriend in high school, although their relationship was kept a secret due to them going to rival schools. They parted not because they didn’t love each other but because the loved each other so much that they let each other go to find their own ways. Grace had dreams of going to the big city and directing, writing, and producing screen plays. Reed swore to never leave Oak Falls but ended up fleeing to Michigan to hide from his memories of Grace. Both characters followed their dreams, found their ways, and are living successful lives doing what they love.

Fast forward 10 years… both Grace and Reed are back in Oak Falls and of course are not able to steer clear of each other. They also are not able to deny the sparks that are still sizzling between them. I love that Reed is the one that is not willing to let Grace hide from her feelings. He pushes her to talk about how she feels and what she wants. He also is the romantic one. He relives some memories, makes some that they couldn’t do together in high school, and helps makes so many new ones. He is definitely one romantic soul who proves that he will do anything to keep his Gracie happy and in his life.

This is the first book in the Pleasant Hill-Oak Falls series. The Montgomery Family is featured in the story and I cannot wait for more from them. I love that the Braden Family is mentioned and know that they will be more prominent in future books in this series.

I loved this fun, sweet and steamy second chance romance! Grace and Reed had a secret romance in high school. They were each others first love and thought they could weather a separation to follow their dreams. When they lost contact, they were both heartbroken. Now years later they are both back home at the same time. They never expected the attraction and sparks to be even stronger and they find it impossible to ignore. They fall back into a flirty and sizzling romance. But Grace is only home for a short time, heading back to a career she loves but has grown disenchanting. Can she find her passion again with the home, family and man she loves and never forgot? I loved this heartwarming start to this new series. Grace, Reed and their family and friends are fun, quirky, loving and supportive. It is the kind of small town story that captures your heart and makes you feel at home.
I always enjoy listening to Andi Arndt, and Sebastian York, and they did an amazing job bringing this heartwarming and sizzling story to life.
Foster did a wonderful job bringing these two large families into one series. I can't wait to find out more about all The Bradens & Montgomerys!

Modern meets small town with huge personality. You can take the girl out of the city, but can you take the city out of the girl? Grace is no one's country girl. Fireworks are what she needs, not country living. So why is she rethinking her stance on cowboys? Reed is a walking heartache. Been there, done that and have the bruises to prove it, are the words swimming in her head. Will she listen to her head or follow her heart? Embracing Her Heart brings a colorful canvas of heat, heart and humor to an already picturesque landscape.

Audiobook Review: Embracing Her Heart (The Bradens & Montgomerys [Pleasant Hill - Oak Falls], #1) by Melissa Foster (Author), Andi Arndt (Narrator), Sebastian York (Narrator)

Watch your step or you could lose your heart. Foster laid the groundwork for an instant hit.
Reed and Grace are the perfect blend of heartache and hope. Embracing Her Heart feels like a country song. With a melody that's hard to forget and a delivery that targets emotion, Foster, Arndt and York create harmony that will haunt long after the last note.

Finding love and the path that’s right for you

I loved Grace and Reed’s first love, second chance, coming home, healing romance. The story is filled with all the emotions, the connections and the love. Grace and Reed are portrayed as real, relatable people who have flaws, but are really just trying to do their best as messy humans. Grace is an independent play producer in NYC. She is in her small home town visiting her parents and siblings for three weeks. Reed is a contractor and historic preservationist who recently moved back home after his uncle had a heath scare. Grace and Reed dated secretly in HS but broke up because she was determined to pursue her dream in the city and he was equally determined to live in his small town. They have not seen each other in a decade. Despite the passage of time, the feelings and their connection is still there and stronger than ever but so are all the reasons they broke up. Their lives are geographically and figuratively miles apart. As they continue toward their HEA, there are a lot of truths to learn and accept, a lot of hurdles to overcome, a lot of self reflection, and a lot of baggage to unpack. The story was well written and included witty dialogue, three dimensional characters who grow, and an engaging storyline as shown in sweet moments, steamy scenes, chuckles, supportive friends, messy families, painful pasts, and all the heart squeezing love. All of Melissa Foster’s books have a central theme of family who accept you as you are - those we are born into and those we create. This book is no different. I love Melissa’s characters and families. And I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Note: This ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Ah, how I adored this second chance love story from bestselling author Melissa Foster! Embracing Her Heart is the first novel in her all-new Pleasant Hill - Oak Falls series, a collection of stories about the Braden and Montgomery families and falls under the author's Love in Bloom umbrella series. Introduced in the fourth and final book Bad Boys After Dark quartet as the best friend of the newly married Sophie Bad, Grace Montgomery gets her own story told in this new series starter, and she shares it with Reed Cross, her first love and the boy she had a secret relationship with in high school. He also happened to be the boy that broke her heart after their graduation. She went off to New York and he headed to Michigan, their lives no longer entwined. Years later, Grace is back home in Oak Falls, Virginia temporarily. She's surrounded by her family and her roots, and as much as she's made an effort to become more of a city girl, her past is alive and well in Oak Falls, including Reed. While he may have let her go once, Reed doesn't intend to do it again. Will Grace stay or will she still go?

At first glance, the author's Love in Bloom series may seem rather daunting because of how many series fall under it. While each series is interconnected in one form or another and there are characters that crossover and have cameo appearances, a new reader to this new Pleasant Hill - Oak Falls series will be more than able to navigate their way through the love story between Reed and Grace as well as the influx of supporting characters. There's some drama that goes on because, let's face it, second chance love stories have drama to a certain degree. Grace was already a notable supporting character in Brett, and she truly was a worthy main character here. She had a strong personality and I liked seeing her trying to come to terms to the fact that she could find some middle ground between being the woman who found success in the city and the girl whose roots were firmly in the country. Then there was Reed who was such a sweet and amazing guy--someone who loved Grace, his family, and his legacy. Embracing Her Heart was a five-star beginning and I can't wait for more! ♥

This review was originally posted on Star Crossed Reviews I received this book for free for a Blog Tour in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Thank you to Lisa for letting me take part in this tour and for my copy of this book. We met Grace in the last book of Melissa's Bad Boys series, Brett. If you haven't read Brett it doesnt matter as each book is a standalone. 

Melissa's characters always have more than what they seem on the surface and Grace and Reed are no exception. 

Grace has a fast paced life in the city as a playwright producer. Grace has very little down time and is feeling burned out. When her sister asks her to return to their hometown of Oak Falls for 3 weeks to run a screenwriting class she thinks it might be a good opportunity to re-group. I loved Grace Montgomery as soon as I met her. She is tough, passionate and hard working. Grace is also extremely loyal. She's not the rebellious type. Except maybe when it came to Reed Cross. 

Reed Cross has recently returned to Oak Falls too. Reed and Grace had a secret relationship in the last year of high school. Grace and Reed went to rival schools  so in order to save themselves some hassle they kept it a secret from their friends and family. When Grace left for college in NYC they broke up. 

Reed Cross was brought up by his Aunt and Uncle. In his eyes they are his parents. Reed's mother died during childbirth and his father left him with his Aunt and Uncle when he couldn't cope and never looked back. Reed Cross had everything a child could need from his Aunt and Uncle but he has been scarred by his father and still harbours a lot of anger towards him.

I really enjoyed Grace and Reed's story. It was really great to see love winning out in the end. Melissa manages to make me cry so often in her books and she did it again this time. These were tears because it was so sweet and I was so happy not tears because I was sad, by the way. 

As well as meeting Grace and Reed we also met Grace's siblings and a few other people from Oak Falls. It was a great set up for the rest of the Pleasant Hill/Oak Falls series. I really can't wait to read these books Grace's siblings sound like an absolute hoot! We also caught up with Janine and Boyd (Touched by Love) as well as Sophie's family (Brett) which I enjoyed. I love that Melissa's books are all connected it makes it feel like more real and like I'm catching up on old friends and meeting new ones with every story.

This was sweet yet sexy and I loved this couple and all the extended family. Truly a great small town romance.

I read Embracing Her Heart several years ago and recently listened to the audio version and fell in love all over again for Reed and Grace. High school sweethearts from rival towns make it hard to be yourself. I absolutely love the small town setting, large family with unconditional love all the time in a Melissa Foster book. The conflict/angst in a book is usually always cleared up with real communication when the time is right in the story. Embracing Her Heart is a second chance romance at its best. Will both Reed and Grace embrace their feelings and grab hold of that forever love? Andi Arndt and Sebastian York narrate this audiobook. I love these two. Both voice actors are super talented and do an amazing job bringing Reed and Grace to life in my head. Andi Arndt is amazing. I’ve listened to her voice in a bunch of audiobooks, great job. Sebastian York is one of my top 3 favorite male narrators. His voice is so smooth and what he can do with a between-the-sheets action is out of this world. Oh, did I mention that Melissa Foster can really, really write a super hot between-the-sheets scene? She definitely can and these two narrators bring it to life amazingly! Totally recommend both the book and the audiobook!

Grace and Reed’s story was a cute one. They had dated in secret when they were in high school and they reconnect when Grace comes home for three weeks. They reconnected quickly and in some ways it seemed too quick. The major roadblocks in their relationship was their past and the distance between where they lived. Both obstacles were overcome and they got their HEA. I enjoyed this book and will continue to read this series.