True to their family name, the Wilders of historic Rustler Mountain, Oregon, have an outlaw lineage and a wild nature to match. But when it comes to love, an untamed heart might know best . . .
Carson Wilder and Perry Bramble have been best friends forever, starting with their painful childhoods. As far as romance, Carson always knew he wasn’t good enough for her. And by the time they were grown, their bond was too important to risk messing up. Now, Carson is grieving the death of his wife. And like always, Perry is his rock. He can’t imagine life without her. But he may have to.
Perry has loved Carson since she was 7 years old. He never showed a hint of interest in her beyond friendship, but two-plus decades later, he’s still the most important person in her life. Maybe too important. Inspired by the diary of an ancestor who left everything behind to come west as a mail order bride, Perry stuns Carson with a decision: She’s moving to a neighboring city to expand her florist business—and to find love and start a family.
Carson hates the idea, but he’ll do anything for Perry’s happiness. He’ll even help get her historic home fixed up for sale. She can stay with him at his ranch house on Outlaw Lake in the meantime. What ensues are dinners filled with laughter, dating app disasters—and Carson wondering why he’d look for another woman when the one he loves is right here. His answers may lie in the letters he finds from the man who married the mail order bride. . . . But can he finally gather the courage to be true to his wild heart—before it's too late?
PJ's Thoughts:
It's not an exaggeration to say that the strong bond between Carson and Perry is what got them through unstable childhoods, teenage confusion, and long-distance separations. It even got them through Carson's ill-advised relationship and Perry's broken heart because of it. Nothing has ever broken their friendship but they've reached a crossroads, at least Perry has. Something has to give and her decision to move away will either be the straw that breaks their bond or the incentive to forge a new path toward happiness, not heartbreak.
Maisey Yates' stories always take me on an emotional journey but Outlaw Lake takes that experience to a new level. So many feelings with these two. They really put me through the wringer. Both Carson and Perry are multi-layered characters with significant emotional baggage. Yates has crafted them beautifully, showing the many layers that impact their choices, their feelings, and their fears. I felt as if I knew each of them personally, experienced their emotional upheavals and struggles with a visceral fierceness, and could not have pulled more strongly for them to make it as a couple. They made it impossible not to invest myself in their happiness with my whole heart.
Each chapter of the book opens with an entry from the diary of Perry's ancestor, a mail-order bride who wed a widower and suffered the same unrequited love that Perry has dealt with for years. The two couples, living more than 100 years apart, share journeys that parallel one another in significant ways with the words of both Mae and her husband opening hearts and minds in present day in unexpected ways. I loved these entries and enjoyed the perspective and rich texture they added to Carson's and Perry's story.
As with book one of this series, Yates surrounds the main couple with family members and local citizens who both support and challenge the lead characters. It was fun getting to know Carson's siblings better (their books are coming) as well as a brother and sister from a rival "outlaw" family in town (I have hopes for both of them!).
If you're looking for a friends-to-lovers, contemporary romance with complex characters, family dynamics, strong emotional depth, and hard-won happy endings, give Outlaw Lake a try. I highly recommend it as well as book one in the series, Rustler Mountain (Carson's brother Austin and Millie, the town librarian - click to read my review).
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