'Happy Trail' by Daisy Prescott is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, can be read as a standalone, and is book#1 in the Park Ranger series, Green Valley World, Penny Reid Book Universe.
📚Cassie's Review📚 I absolutely fell in love with this book. Ranger Jay Daniels, and Olive/Snowbird have such an incredible connection. Daisy Prescott's writing was impeccable, she has such a lovely way with words. I don't think I've even highlighted a book so much. I re-read passages, just savoring the words. This was a romantic comedy, with a slow burn aspect of it. Jay and Olive, might not have spent a lot of time together, but it was meaningful connection, and it felt true to their characters.
'"It can be difficult to be authentic when you feel like an outsider among the people who are supposed to be your community." "Any advice?" "Be true to yourself." "Easier said than done." I give him a weak smile. "Better than the alternative of leading a false life to appease the people whose opinions shouldn't matter." '
"Love is what gives our journey meaning. How we travel this winding trail of life and who walks beside us makes all the difference."
I can't wait to see where the next book in the series takes me. This book is another shining example of what Penny Reid and the Smartypants Romance group embodies. Inclusion, smart romance, diverse characters, love is love. Bravo!! Definitely one of my top favorite books of the year!
📚Ashley's Review📚 “Life isn’t about the destination. We all end up at the same place. Love is what gives our journey meaning.”
Happy Trail by Daisy Prescott is another precious gem from the SmartyPants Romance Universe. This story focuses on “The Runaway Fiancée,” Olive Perry, who is hiking the Appalachian Trail alone after a proposal gone wrong and surly park ranger Jay Daniels who is sent to clear hikers from the trail ahead of a winter storm. Sparks fly when the two get trapped in an abandoned moonshiner’s cabin. While the time they spend together is brief, it is significant and life-changing.
This book had a good mix of comedy, romance, charm and depth. I highlighted more passages in this story than I have any book I’ve read in a long time. A couple of my favorites are:
“Why does every girl want to be a mermaid? Or a unicorn? They don’t exist. Be a narwhal if you want a horn. Or a rhino. They’re super cool and couldn’t care less about what other people think of them.”
“A measure of a person’s worth is synchronicity between their words and actions. No one should be judged on the color of their skin or the money they do or don’t have, nor should we bear the weight of our family’s deeds and words.”
📚Extra Tidbits📚
Hardest Hike you ever did? Cassie - Sky Pond via Glacier Gorge Trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park. My husband I did this one on my birthday weekend in 2014. http://www.rockymountainhikingtrails.com/sky-pond.htm Ashley - I don’t hike much, but two of the most memorable hikes for me were in Vedawoo Recreation Area in Wyoming and Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park - in the snow.
📚Blurb📚 A man of few words, Ranger Jay Daniels values the calm, quiet solitude of the Great Smoky Mountains. Never quite fitting in with either side of his family, he prefers the company of birds and trees to people.
Yeah, he'd most definitely prefer a bird--any bird, any bird at all, take a vulture for instance--to the human-tornado hybrid that just blew onto his peaceful stretch of the Appalachian Trail.
The path of true love never has run smooth for Olive Perry. After getting dumped and promptly abandoned in the middle of her multi-month hike, Olive swears off men. Determined to finish the long trek by herself, she doesn't need a prince--or broody and taciturn ranger--to save her.
Yet, when an early snowstorm threatens the mountains, and Ranger Daniels is charged with getting hikers to safety, that includes hot-tempered Olive Perry. Snowed in and forced to share an abandoned cabin, can Olive's heated intensity melt Jay's cool reserve?
And if so, will this happy trail lead to true love? Or will their time together be just another bump in the road?
