New Release Review and Giveaway! AN ALASKAN PROPOSAL by Beth Carpenter (Northern Lights #4)

An Alaskan Proposal
(Northern Lights #4)
By Beth Carpenter
Contemporary Romance
Mass Market Paperback & ebook, 384 Pages
January 1st 2010 by Harlequin Heartwarming

Can he teach her survival skills—

without endangering his heart?

When Sabrina Bell taps Leith Jordan for a crash course in conquering the great Alaskan outdoors, he figures he’s on safe ground. They’re polar opposites and his spectacular home state’s just a pit stop for the hotshot fashionista. So no one’s more surprised than Leith when he starts falling for her. Now he’s a man with a plan: get Sabrina to fall in love with Alaska…and, hopefully, with him.

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Review:

Such a sweet romance!

I love the Alaskan setting of this series, and the people in it are just wonderful too. I loved Sabrina and Leith, and watching them go from two people who aren’t quite sure what to make of the other to friends to more was just delightful.

When they first met, it was easy for Leith to put Sabrina into the same category of his ex-wife. She seemed to be overly concerned with fashion, unfamiliar with the outdoors, and less concerned with being completely truthful when the facts might not exactly help her to move ahead. The reader, of course, quickly saw through her POV sections just how wrong his first impressions were, and as he got to know Sabrina better Leith gradually re-evaluated his opinion of her to match reality. I loved that he was able to admit when he was wrong; seeing their friendship and mutual respect develop was a lot of fun.

Sabrina’s had a harder life than she lets on at first, and her experiences have colored the future she’s looking for for herself. She starts her temporary job in Alaska with a very specific goal in mind, and it takes her a while to realize that there might be other, even more fulfilling paths out there for her. Should job security really be her number one goal? Or is her dream job and an even more than she dreamed relationship worth taking a risk for?

This is a Harlequin Heartwarming romance, which means the romance is going to be a low sensuality one, which this definitely is–for the longest time there’s nothing more than kisses between them, which was fine. The only thing I questioned was how quick Leith was to throw an ultimatum at Sabrina when they’d been declaring nothing but friendship for each other for weeks (friends who kissed good night/good bye with a little more than friendly intent, but still…) It just seemed that a declaration of *another* kind should be in order before demanding that she make a choice that involved him in her life. He does (mostly) make up for it later, and their HEA is beyond satisfactory, but still…it felt a little bit out of order.

I somehow missed reading the second book in the series, A Gift for Santa –it’s on my TBR–but each book could work as a standalone. Past series characters do pop up, as they did here, but if you haven’t read their stories (yet!) you will still do fine; if you have, it’s like briefly visiting old friends 🙂

Fingers crossed that there’s more to come from this series–I am loving these little glimpses of Alaska and the wonderful characters Ms. Carpenter has created!

Rating: 4 stars / B+

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Other books in the series:

About the author:

Once upon a time …

…when Beth Carpenter was a little girl, she read everything she could get her hands on, and entertained herself on the school bus by making up stories in her head. Not a lot has changed. She’s still consuming books like M&Ms, and spends her days creating happily-ever-afters for her imaginary friends.

She lives in Alaska and Arizona with her husband and an aggressively affectionate fifty-pound lap dog. She loves to hear from readers.

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