Series: Fortunes of Texas: Welcome to Horseback Hollow (Book 5)
Christopher who?
As far as Christopher Fortune Jones is concerned, when he
left Horseback Hollow, he left his past behind. No one needs to know that he
grew up on a ranch, or that he never had any money, or that his father
considers him a disappointment. Here in Red Rock he can simply be Christopher
Fortune. Rich, powerful, successful Christopher Fortune.
Kinsley Aaron has secrets of her own. The biggest one is
that she has a crush on her sexy new boss. She thinks maybe he likes her, too.
But he never talks about himself, and he never lets her get too close. Is she a
fool dreaming of tomorrow with a man who seemingly has no past? Just what is
Christopher Fortune hiding?
Good story of a man who finally figures out who he is. Christopher had always felt out of step with the rest of his family while he was growing up. Ranching was never something that he wanted to do and he was constantly at odds with his father over it. When the family connection to the Fortunes came out, he saw it as his chance to escape. He left home, dropped the Jones from his name, and went to work for the Fortune Foundation.
I have to say that throughout the series Christopher has been my least favorite character. He has seemed rather selfish, wanting more than he has but I never saw him actually trying to do something about it. Even moving to Red Rock, he was using the family name rather than making the effort using his own abilities. At the beginning of the book, he is practicing putting in his office and thinking about how boring the job is rather than actually working. He's not putting any effort into it. He's also wallowing in all the material goods he has acquired. Then, to top it all off, when his brother and sister-in-law arrive unexpectedly all he seems to think about is keeping them away from his coworkers so they don't see where he came from. His actions when they went out to lunch were rather immature, as he appeared to rub their noses in how well he is doing. I loved seeing Toby call him out on his behavior and walk out on him.
Christopher has also been enjoying the female companionship that his name has brought. But the one woman he is most interested in doesn't seem to return the interest. No matter how much he tries to flirt with Kinsley, she keeps shooting him down. When she blasts him for not doing his job he starts to realize that she is very different than the women he has been hanging out with.
Kinsley has worked hard for everything she has. She came from an abusive home, with a father who was also a charmer when he wasn't drunk and abusive to her and her mother. She has a distrust of men who seem to trade on their looks and charm to get what they want. She is attracted to Christopher but doesn't want to give in to it because of what she sees. When they are assigned to work on a project together, she starts to get to know the man behind the flirt. As she got closer to him and he opened up to her about his past, her feelings for him start to change and grow.
Throughout the book we see Christopher start to grow into his responsibilities thanks to Kinsley's influence. I really enjoyed seeing her keep him on task. She also showed him the importance of learning about the people he worked with, all things he had never been exposed to before. The more time he spent with Kinsley, the more he wanted to be a better man because of her. I loved seeing him start to get really involved in the anti-bullying project they were doing. The more time they spent together the more his feelings for her grew. When he realized just how strong those feelings were it scared him. He had become so used to being in control that being vulnerable like that really freaked him out and he didn't know what to do.
I loved the ending and seeing just how much Kinsley's love had changed him. His moment of clarity at the party, when everything finally came together for him was fantastic. I loved his speech and the way he really put himself out there. His solution for bringing together all the parts of his life was great. The only thing that would have made the ending better for me would have been seeing him take Kinsley back to Horseback Hollow with him and seeing the family all together.
No comments:
Post a Comment