Review: Last Chance Beauty Queen by Hope Ramsay

Title: Last Chance Beauty Queen
Author: Hope Ramsay
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Published: February 1 2012
Format: Paperback
Number of Pages: 350
How I received this Book: Won in a blog giveaway from Peace Love Books
Read: May 27-June 3
In A Few Words: Charming story with likeable characters
My Rating: 3 stars
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Goodreads synopsis:

Dear Reader,
Gracious me, my beautiful daughter Rocky sure could use my help. I always knew she wasn't much interested in the local boys - but who'd have thought she'd come home with English royalty? 
Trouble is, Hugh wants to buy some of our folks' land. We don't want to sell, but Rocky's job depends on her closing the deal. And though Hugh's obviously smitten, I'm not sure he's right for my Rocky. Oh, he's classy and handsome - and you should've seen the way he judged pies and fixed stock cars at our Watermelon Festival! - but what do we know about him, really? I know I sound like a nervous mother hen, but after forty happy years with my Elbert, all I want is to see my little girl find the same. 
Well, time for me to quit chattering and get back to Miss Bray's wet set. Always nice talking to you, and remember: the Cut 'n Curl's got hot rollers, free coffee, and the best gossip in town.
See you real soon, 
Ruby Rhodes

Melissa's Musings:


I don't read romances all that often, but this year I challenged myself to read more romance novels as part of a 12x12 challenge for a group on Goodreads that I'm a member of, One Million Pages Per Lifetime. (It's a great group, you should check it out)

This book  is part of a series, which I didn't realize until I added this to my currently reading shelf on Goodreads. Luckily, you don't really need to have read the other books to understand what's going on. There are a few details that are a little unclear, but for the most part you can understand everything going on.

There aren't any spectacular, take your breath away moments, but it's a sweet story and the characters are approachable, and down to earth. Some of them are a bit quirky, but thankfully they aren't too over the top.

There's Hugh,  British Lord who's looking to buy land and bring some business to a failing economy in Last Chance, South Carolina. The only problem is, that land holds the spot of a defunct golf course called Golfing for God that belongs to the main female character Rocky (Caroline) Rhodes; father. It's Rocky's job to make sure that the factory deal goes through, and yet, she doesn't want her father's golf course to be taken over. And, she can't help falling for the very man who wants to buy up that land.

There are lies, drama, bar fights, and a Sorrowful Angel that only a few people can see.

The relationships between the characters don't go too far in depth but that's okay. This is just a nice easy read. The only thing that was slightly irritating was that Hugh kept being compared to barons in historical romance novels, but, I suppose that's exactly what he was like, with a little bit of regular joe mixed in, so the description was fitting. I guess my peeve there was that it was mentioned in the same way one too many times.

The only other thing I didn't like were the names of the main characters. Rocky Rhodes, and her brothers Tulane, Clay and Stonewall Rhodes. The names just sound a bit too punny for me. It's cute and endearing though, like the tone of the story, so I can see how most people would like it.

This story is a solid three stars. I'd recommend it to anyone who's looking for a sweet romance.

Do you read romance novels? Do you have any recommendations?