It's Grace's turn (and Dani's turn too). This is the third in the Pine Cone Romance, and it's a doozy.

We've met Grace and Dani in previous books in the series. Grace is a Deputy in Pine Cone, while Dani is a Vet that works for Trip (also Grace's best friend). But, in this book we get to know both of them quite a bit more.

Dani has quite a back story, and that makes it really hard for her and Grace. And Grace has some bumps when it comes to the African Parrot that an ex left with her. (I have to say, I called that part of the story near the beginning).

One part that I really found interesting is that the book was so well written that as I approached the end, the thought ran through my head, 'Is this gonna be a non-Happily Ever After book?'

And, honestly, of the three books in this series, this one is definitely the most intense, and that's saying something because the first two were not slouches in that area.

This book and the series in general were really cool and the series was something I've never read before, a series all set around the same time from different points of view and written by three different authors.

Amazing, and still blowing my mind.

I was given this ARC by Netgalley on behalf of Bold Strokes Books.

I felt a little robbed when I read this book. It is basically the same as the book before this one just with two different characters which you have already met in book two. In book two the characters are secondary although you are shown that they are interested ion one another.

That may all sound confusing. But the book is done from two of the other characters view points but the story itself remains the same.

It is an enjoyable story. I was glad I read it. I also thought in book two that Grace deserved to find someone special and she did.

I would recommend this book. Its nice, Its sweet and its enjoyable. Enjoy!

*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2492804087

I did like the concept of having three different authors write one book in the book of three series. At times I did skim over the parts of the book that were basically repeating from previous books but showing things from a different characters point of view as it just felt very repetitive.

I did like Grace the character from the first two books and did enjoy reading about her journey. However I never really warmed up to Dani. She just was at never stage likable which made it hard to see why Grace liked her so much apart from her looks. I would have liked to see other reasons (apart from giving money to a homeless person).

The book was ok, it had its moments but nothing memorable for me.

From the three books in this series, this one is my second favorite. Of the three friends, I like Grace best.
Dani has walls all around her, she doesn't trust anyone. Grace is the complete opposite and trust people easily even tho she is a cop. It takes a lot of work and patience from Grace to connect with Dani and her parrot Dirty Harry isn't helping at all. As a whole, it is a good series with all good ingredients such as a small town, quirky characters, and friendship. Usually, the authors collaborate on a book with short stories, this is the first time I read a series with each book written by different authors.

I think it’s a fantastic idea to give each of three authors a main character to develop a story around in a small town. After reading this last installment I’m amazed at how hard it must’ve been to weave the common part of the story together while still being cohesive. Each author was given her “specialty” to write around: Missouri Vaun is a real-life artist so Clay is an artist; D Jackson Leigh is an expert on horses and women’s basketball; and VK Powell is a retired police officer and gets to share that expertise with Grace.
After I finished the second book I couldn’t wait for this one to arrive, and I was not disappointed. This is a super slow burn romance but it was worth the wait! Dani was a little hard to like at first because she is so private and secretive, but luckily Grace was able to dissolve her walls and sneak in.
Because each of these three books run at the same time it’s not essential to read them in order. Each is told from a different character’s POV. I can’t imagine any other three authors pulling this off, but because each have a similar Southern voice it just flowed seamlessly from book one to book three. Brilliant idea, perfectly executed.

The third instalment of the Pine Cone series. All the books in this series are stand alone stories and they can be read in any order, which is downright clever, but that also makes it hard to keep it fresh. I enjoyed this romance, but it was a tiny bit odd to already know large chunks of the story having read about them twice before, albeit from a different perspective. Interesting idea though and all three authors should be applauded for pulling it off so well.

Review of 'Take your time' by V.K. Powell.

This book is part of the 'Pine Cone romance' series by three different authors: 'Take my hand' by Missouri Vaun, 'Take a chance' by D. Jackson Leigh and 'Take your time' by V.K. Powell. This series follows the lives of three friends: Clay, Trip and Grace in the small town of Pine Cone, Georgia.

There are series written by an author that usually need to be read in chronological order, series of standalone novels by different authors under a common theme, and the 'Pine Cone romance' series which is a bit peculiar. In this series the three different authors decided to create three romances (one in each book) but with the three stories overlapping. For example, if the three friends share a scene, it will appear in all three books but with a different point of view. D. Jackson Leigh says in her acknowledgements that it was arduous to write. Well, sometimes it's also arduous to read. I personally found some issues, one is that after reading the first book (whichever the order) the reader has sometimes a sense of deja vu, a feeling of having read that before because... they read it in the previous book. It works fine in some scenes as it gives other characters' perspectives but in other cases it is tedious. Also, some events that overlap in the books give information that act as spoilers for the other books' stories which is a bit annoying. Finally, I found that there are a number of unresolved secondary plots which are main plots in the other books, so in order to grasp the full story, you need to read all the series. So I guess readers can rate each book separately but also the series as a whole. Due to these problems appear throughout the series, you'll see some of my comments repeated in the other reviews.

'Take your time' is the story of Grace Booker, a police officer in Pine Cone who is left with a parrot who hates her. When she takes the bird to Dani Wingate, a local vet, there is an undeniable mutual attraction. But Dani is a city girl staying in Pine Cone temporarily and she's not looking for anything serious. Will their initial chemistry have any future?

This is a slow burn romance with very little action on the side. The author is a retired police officer and she normally writes crime novels so I was expecting more action. However, I understand the restrictions of writing a story with other two authors. The characters are well portrayed in their rights and wrongs but I personally couldn't feel much chemistry. The final chapters seemed a bit rushed and one of the crimes is left unsolved. All in all, the funny moments, specially with a very peculiar parrot, worked better than the serious ones.

Now that I've read the whole series, my overall rating is 3.5 stars. It's an interesting writing experiment that, in my opinion, didn't work that well in the execution.

Overall, an ok read though I recommend to read the rest of the series in order to fill in the gaps in the story. 3.5 stars.

ARC provided by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

See all my reviews at
www.lezreviewbooks.com

Eagerly awaited this 3rd book The Pine Cone Series. I love the concept of three authors doing three books and to be honest it worked. Loved the first two books but honestly this is the best one. VK Powell has the art of description, she really gets into the characters, which results in you the reader having an enjoyable book.
This book is based around Grace and Dani, both lovely characters and I found myself routing for both of them.
All three books are well written but this one is an absolute 'must read'

This is the 3rd book in a 3 book series. There are 3 main characters and each book focuses on 1 characters and a new lover. I enjoyed the 1st book that focused on Clay and River. I enjoyed the 2nd, that focused on Trip and Jamie, a bit less because it was so similar to the 1st book. As I was reading the 3rd book I realized I have been reading "Ground Hog Day". Each book took place in the same time frame. Each book has the auto accident, dog surgery, drug arrest and kidnapping but is told a bit different through the eyes of a different character. Unfortunately not different enough. As a result I just skimmed the repetitive scenes to get to new content. Remove the repetition and combine all 3 love stories and you have one good book. I think the 3 author's had a clever idea but next time maybe advance the time frame rather than repeating the same events.

A lazy day romance with an emotionally crippled protagonist and a small town sheriff. A nice story, but I may have enjoyed it more had I been familiar with the other Pine Cone Romances. The romances of the Grace Booker's friends are told in the longer series.

This is the third and final instalment of the Pine Cone Trilogy. This story follows Grace and Dani. Grace is a police officer and Dani is a veterinarian who doesn't trust any form of law enforcement. Grace is looking for a long term relationship and Dani always has one foot out the door. The two women have undeniable chemistry, but are they just too different for a relationship to work? Or is this the kind of love that changes everything.

I started finding some parts got a little repetitive by the third book, but at the same time I feel like the series really hit its stride in the third book and it was just wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed this whole series. I am so thankful for the authors for creating such a beautiful group of friends in a heartwarming town. (I fear these reviews may be getting repetitive now.) I really loved how nicely the authors writing styles matched one another and seamlessly flowed into the next story.

The chemistry in between Grace and Dani was just off the charts. I think it was the most sizzling of all three books! I loved it! Dani was a really beautiful character, I loved the way she evolved. Grace was so so sweet, she deserves all the love!

Reading this series was a lovely experience, thank you so much to all the authors!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is part three of a trilogy written by different authors (Book 1: Take My Hand by Missouri Vaun and Book 2 Take a Chance by D Jackson Leigh)

Grace is a deputy sheriff who owns a B&B and wants a woman who wants to commit. Dani is a vet on the lookout for a better job, who had a bad childhood and prefers no strings sex. I enjoyed watching them meet and interact but Dani’s character was hard to get a read on, she kept saying she didn’t want to get involved but was focussed on Grace from the get go. The first 3/4s of the book (maybe even 4/5s) is a lot of push me/pull me between them because of this.

To be honest, this book suffers from the same thing the others did, and that’s the way the authors decided to form them into a trilogy by telling the stories at the same time. This starts from the same place as book one and extends a bit past book 2. This means that there are large hits of exposition and repetition throughout all three books. I actually skimmed most of the repeated scenes because I just couldn’t be bothered reading that stuff again. I only read the stuff that specifically featured Grace and Dani.

Grace is the redeeming feature here, she’s the best character in all three books. Dani is not a great character, I couldn’t warm to her, and that made reading the last fifth of the book a struggle because her choices there didn’t make much sense and seemed too sudden, especially given where her relationship with Grace was. Dani’s relationships with Trip and Clay were also weird. One day they’re all pals, then they’re threatening her, then all pals again. The ending also felt rushed, and the overly HEA epilogue didn’t help either, but I guess it was required to wrap things up.

Over all I guess I liked this a bit better than book 2 but not as much as book 1. Though that’s only because book 1 had the benefit of not having any repetition. I said on my review of book 2 that these books would have been better as sequels rather than being staged at the same time, and I stand by that. 3 stars.

This is the last in the Pine Cone Romance series and the story centres on Grace Booker, deputy sheriff, and Dani Wingate, a vet working for Trip. A little background first though: Each book in the series is written by a different author. The first, by Missouri Vaun, deals with Clay Cahill and the second by D Jackson Leigh is about Trip Beaumont. Clay, Trip and Grace have been friends since childhood. The series runs concurrently for the most part so there are parts in the second and third books with some repetition where the stories overlap.

Grace’s girlfriend of three months ups and leaves, taking all her stuff but leaving behind Dirty Harry, an African Grey parrot. Dirty Harry hates Grace so she takes him to Dani for some advice and assistance but Dani has already unfairly judged her. Dani is fairly new to Pine Cone having lost her job as a zoo vet in the city which, ideally, is where she’d rather be. Her experience with exotic animals is what made Trip hire her which is fortunate because her animal-skills are much better than her people-skills.

Of the three friends, Grace is the character I liked the most. She’s easy-going, grounded and patient; patient enough for someone like Dani, who is closed with all defences up. Actually, in light of that, this is also the book I enjoyed the most in the series and a lot has to do with the type of characters Grace and Dani are.

All three books can be read as stand-alone novels but if you’re going to read them as a series, give a reasonable amount of time between them so that the repetition is more a reminder of what happened previously.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

This is the 3rd in a series of the Pine Cone Romance's that are written by three different authors. VK Powell did an amazing job sculpting these characters. Grace is a true gem, a gentle, kind, sweet soul who is seeking genuine love. Dani is an aloof veterinarian with a troubled childhood. Dirty Harry, the crazy parrot, brings the two women together.

I truly enjoyed this book and the back and forth of learning to open up and let love in and also about letting go. Grace is emotionally calm around Dani's inner turmoil, yet Grace also has enough self-respect to create a healthy relationship or let it go.

There are two other characters that are in this book, and they are great supporting characters.

Grace has two close friends who she grew up with and they all still hang out together and are emotional support for each other.

The characters are well crafted and the book is an enjoyable read.

more than 4 less than 5 stars rounded up
The last one in the Pine Cone Romance trilogy is the best one. Grace Booker is the most likeable character of the three best friends who grew up together in a small town in the American South and her story is the most interesting. Fair enough. The fans of push pull romances might especially like it.
The whole series is a good idea done well.

3.5 Stars. I enjoyed this book, but it did have some flaws that lowered my review. This book is the third in a trilogy, called Pine Cone romances, all of which were written by different authors but focus around three friends in a small town in Georgia. This book was about Grace, the third of the trio in Pine Cone, who is a deputy. Her girlfriend leaves her for a red head and leaves a parrot behind. The parrot hates Grace and is sick so Grace has to take it to the vet. The vet is where she meets Dani, the new vet in town. Dani has moved from Baltimore due to being fired from her zoo job and took a job at Trip's vet clinic. Dani and Grace have a connection at first which Dani denes and tries to avoid. Dani can only avoid Grace so much, as she is living in Grace's B and B. Grace won't let them avoid it as she tries to spend time with Dani and get to know her.

There is a lot of tension in this book between Grace and Dani which I loved. I love books that have tension and do not go straight for the romance. The one thing I did not like was that it felt like their connection almost felt forced in the beginning and it did not feel real to me until it evolves more throughout the book. I didn't believe it in the beginning of the book and wish it seemed more real. I thought their feelings did evolve and change throughout the book, even if Grace's seemed to change awfully quick toward Dani. Dani especially, did have a lot of character development as the story continued and I did enjoy reading it.

Otherwise, it was a good solid book and it wrapped up the Pine Cone romance trilogy. Due to all three of the Pine Cone books taking place during the same time period, I tended to know the basics of what was going to happen in this book, which was slightly disappointing. I knew the ending twist, as it was talking about in the second book. I almost wish they didn't take place during the same time to not be expecting certain things to happen throughout this book.

Take Your Time is the third in the Pine Cone series written by three different authors and a great way to end the story. VK Powell did a fabulous job in book three and bringing the series to a close. I about fell over with laughter with the Dirty Harry bird. Classic!! Powell's crisp writing and quick with will keep you yearning for more. I recommend this book.

I found the concept of his trilogy to be quite intesting with a different author taking on 1/3 of the main character plots. This is the third installment and while the book can stand alone, I’d recommend reading the other two first. I liked that as a reader, all of the pieces I’ve seen with Grace and Dani were finally fully explained. As an outsider looking into Grace and Dani’s relationship, I could not understand why Grace continued to pursue Dani after all of her rebuffs and weird actions. Yes Grace did say she felt Dani was worth the effort, but I never really saw that. Dani finally gave in, but I never felt a connection between them. Overall this was a good ending to the trilogy, but what I enjoy most was three authors writing the series. This would definitely be a great beach read!

Set your expectations to Utopia! Pine Cone GA is a town where shopkeepers not only forgive would be shoplifters and agree not to press charges, but offer them jobs as well. It is, however, the only bastion of such goodness in the world and evil lurks outside its walls, particularly in the big city of Savannah, "sin city to the folks in Pine Cone. Any kind of deviance you wanted thrived there, and those temptations had ended many good marriages and relationships." Early on I decided that I would just roll with it and enjoy what is a pretty well written book, rather than picking holes in this imagined world (and really just succeeding in annoying myself). Do the same and I think you will enjoy the ride. There are some clichés, new girl in town Dani (who also had a terrible childhood) is a player just waiting to be 'tamed' and a minor character utters the phrase, "but you can't spend the rest of your life in dead-end relationships to keep from getting hurt. At some point you've got to open up again." (Is there a checklist that some lesfic authors use?)

One aspect that is certainly not clichéd about this book and the primary relationship, is that despite Dani being butch and Grace being quite femme they have a very even and equal courtship and relationship. I also like that Powell has reversed the traditional job roles with Grace in the supposedly butch cop job and Dani in a caring profession as a vet.

Not the best book I've read this week but miles better than the other Pine Cone romances I've read.

Third and final book in the Pine Cone Series. All three books were a lot of fun to read but Take Your Time gave me some real belly laughs. Quirky and chock full of humor (Dirty Harry the Parrot who screams “five-o” whenever he sees Grace in uniform), romantic, and most especially a story of fighting past your personal demons to allow yourself to be happy. Very nice buildup to the romance between big hearted Grace, deputy police sergeant, and the new vet in town, Dani. Grace is so gentle and generous with emotionally scarred Dani, it had me teary eyed at work where I snuck in a few chapters. Hard to put down the book. I’m also a sucker for the big romantic gesture and the ending had a great one. Hope the three writers collaborate in the future to create another great series.