The Start of Something Good

THE START OF SOMETHING GOOD (Stay Book 1) by Jennifer Probst is definitely a GOOD start to a new contemporary romance series. The H/h start as enemies, but Ms. Probst weaves a story that gradually brings out their backstories, insecurities and vulnerabilities and turns them into a sexy couple who find they fit and have to decide what they truly want to get to their HEA. Ethan Bishop has returned to his family’s B&B and animal rescue farm in the Hudson Valley. His last mission with his Special Forces team left him seriously wounded physically and mentally. He wants to hide out at the farm, heal and try to find some peace. Mia Thrush owns her own PR firm in Manhattan which is about to hit the big time. She is big city and designer clothes all the way. When her most prestigious client asks Mia to be a “guardian” to his daughter as she does community service at the farm over the summer, Mia cannot refuse. Ethan hates high maintenance women. Mia hates everything country. City girl vs. country horse man. It is going to be a long, hot summer. I absolutely loved this romance! Ethan is the wounded hero that you cheer for throughout to get a happy ending. At first, I did not like Mia at all, but Ms. Probst knows how to turn a character around with great writing. Their attraction and growing understanding of the other was well paced, realistic and heartwarming. There are several sex scenes that are explicit and I feel appropriate to the romance. I loved everything about the B&B and animal rescue ranch. Hei Hei, the chicken was the funniest animal character I have read in a romance and that he fell for Mia was extremely entertaining. I am looking forward to the continuation of this series. I am also looking forward to Ethan’s sisters’ stories and to continue to follow all the towns people introduced in this book. This story has everything I am looking for in a well written contemporary romance genre book.

I'm not big on romance novels but this one was definitely better than most. Well developed main characters Mia and Ethan don't play games with each other and develop a true connection. Still a little of the unrealistic animalistic attraction and some overly detailed sex scenes for me. But overall a really good story line. Mia, a self made business woman with a ground floor publicity firm is strong and resilient. She meets Ethan, an ex military guy with some unresolved PTSD issues, on his family's working horse rescue farm while supervising one of her clients teenage daughters that is doing community service. Sparks fly and a relationship develops. Overall a good story line. Some cheesy moments and Mia's personality transformation are a little hard to swallow but who doesn't love a good feel good story.

The Start of Something Good is AMAZING! How have I never read a Probst novel before?? Why didn’t anyone make me? I was searching and searching amazon for a new read (like my TBR pile isn’t big enough) when I came across this GOREGOUS cover! I couldn’t help it, forget the TBR, I just right into this! To say that Ethan and Mia got off on the wrong foot is an understatement, but that just means that the best was yet to come. One of my favorite tropes is enemies to lovers. The bantering, the little teasing moments, all of it makes my heart smile! You know that feeling you get when you read a book that just captivates you. A book that pulls you in and just leaves your breathless? This was that book. The writing was flawless. I was hooked from page one. I loved Mia and Ethan, but the secondary characters were just as perfect! Chapter after chapter I fell more and more in love with the book. The whole concept of the little town, the farm, the B & B. It was all so perfect. I feel like I just can’t say enough great things about it. Ethan was a broken man. He had his demons to overcome and coming home was supposed to be his escape. The place where it all a started. Mia the city girl sent to the country side to be a “babysitter”. These two couldn’t be more different, but they fit together perfectly. Mia helped heal the broken parts of Ethan. While Ethan gave Mia a whole new outlook on life. Perfection. Heartwarming. All the small town feels. Top rec!

I really liked this book a lot. It's an easy read. Has a great plot and I like the characters. They are good people! It has spice and sweetness. Overall, a really feel good book! Can't wait to read the next one!

This truly is the start of something good. Mia owns her own PR firm and is currently helping Jonathan Lake run for mayor of NYC. He asks her to watch over his 19 year old daughter for the summer as she's gotten into some trouble and has to do community service at a B&B/Horse Rescue upstate in Gardiner. But, Mia loves the city and has no idea what it's going to be like "in the country". Ethan has recovered physically from a military career ending injury, but he still struggles with the mental part. He's not initially impressed by the city girl who shows up at the farm. What I liked about this story was how open and deep Ethan's thought process was, and how he heard everything Mia said and often realized it spoke to his deepest wounds. And he might have come off as gruff and tough, but he also had some pretty insightful things to say. I didn't initially like Mia's restriction of her diet - but I think that was part of the author's plan all along. There's nothing wrong with being a size 6 instead of a size 4 - skinny is not always better. But I loved how Ethan used food as part of his plan to romance her. Sweet Scale: 4/5 Spicy Scale: 4/5

This book follows the story of Ethan and Mia as they come to terms with their pasts and dreams for the future. Ethan has been hurt and is coming to terms with what really matters in his life. His relationship with his sisters was well-written and is full of love and banter. He also is a bit of a wounded bear when it comes to attitude at the beginning and it was fun to watch him slowly come around. Mia is a headstrong city girl and loves it. Her reaction to being sent to the country was priceless - and I'd imagine quite accurate for someone who self-declared hated the idea of anything other than city life. When Ethan and Mia first meet it was an explosion of bad first impressions. Eventually they do come around as they share a common goal/job: keeping Chloe Lake out of trouble and completing her service hours. Probst has a way of weaving humor into the story that helps it keep flowing. Mia's encounters with animals - especially the rooster - had me cracking up. It was Ethan's awareness of his limitations that was the most heartbreaking - knowing he could never fit into Mia's "real" world and dealing with what that would mean for them. Chloe was a great character as well - one that kept both Mia and Ethan on their toes for various reasons. Her character may have shown the most growth throughout the book and that in turn forced Mia to look at her "perfect" life and see if that's still the future she wants. From troubled pasts to a hopeful future, this book had everything you need in a fulfilling romance. I thought this was a great start to the series - I can't wait for Ophelia and Harper's stories!

I liked the storyline very much and the characters were well developed. The over abundance of graphic sex was a bit much for me. It detracted from the beauty of the book.

Sometimes family isn’t made up of blood and sometimes home isn’t a place, but a person. And sometimes hopes turn into dreams one never dared to dream when a soul finds its other half. Mia is a big city gal with big city ambitions to build her PR firm and right an old wrong she holds close to her heart. Ethan is a combat vet with far more scars than just the physical, but his family’s ranch in the mountains and the rescue horses there may hold the balm his soul needs. These two are about as far apart as opposites can be, yet beneath their initial vehement dislike for each other, something draws them together. Probst has been a go-to author for me for quite sometime, so it was a no-brainer when I had the opportunity to read an early copy of this book, and it was every bit as great as I anticipated it would be. This book wraps around the reader like a warm, cozy blanket gently carrying her on a delightful, heartfelt journey. With a damaged hero in need of mending, a strong, determined heroine with a cause, a troubled teen in need of guidance and acceptance and a lovelorn chicken (yes, you read that right, a chicken) this book has a little of everything. From humor to heat, to heart to healing to finding home, Ethan and Mia's story is an absolute must-read and sure to please. *I reviewed this book freely and voluntarily, having made no commitment to provide a review and receiving no compensation of any kind from any source for this review.

The Start of Something Good is definitely a fantastic start to Jennifer Probst’s newest STAY series. It’s fun, engaging and emotional. Jennifer, once again writes a story with the perfect balance of family saga, and steamy romance. Once I started my copy, I seriously could not put it down until I turned the last page. So good! ❤️🙌🏼📕 I want to thank Net Galley and Monte Lake Romance for my readers advanced e-copy, for an honest review . They made my day. If you are looking for the perfect summer read, one that will have you blushing in the most wonderful way, I highly recommend treating yourself to a copy of today. You’ll fall in love with both Mia and Ethan, plus a silly little chicken named Hei Hei.

What a beautiful story. I looked forward to reading - during morning read and lunch and after work. A wonderful escape. Proust created an authentic world with engaging and loveable characters. My favourite was Hei Hei. I wanted to take him home. What an adorable array of characters. The romance in this story was rich with emotions on all sides. I loved Mia’s spunk and swooned over Ethan. I’m off to buy book two in the Stay Series. Jennifer Proust you are a writing goddess.

I wanted a cute romantic novel and that’s what I got. I very much enjoyed the story and finished the book almost in one setting. Can’t wait to read the next one in this series.

Lovely storyline, characters were great, too. Really enjoyed the twists and turns. I'm glad things turned out the way they did, I'm intrigued to find out ophelias story, though.

Really enjoyable reading.