Review - - Tough Talking Cowboy

Tough Talking Cowboy
by Jennifer Ryan
Wild Rose Ranch - Book 3
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: March 31, 2020
Reviewed by PJ
 

Ex-Army Ranger Drake McGrath has come home to Montana, locked in a battle with himself, lashing out at those who love him most—driving away his ex-fiancée and alienating his family. But Adria Holloway sees beyond Drake’s tough talk to the raw pain beneath.

Raised with her twin sister Juliana by a neglectful mother at the Wild Rose Ranch, Adria also struggles to put the trauma from her past behind her. To help them both, she makes Drake a shocking deal—a no-strings relationship that’ll help them both face down their demons. Maybe it’s a way for her and Drake to heal each other, one sizzling night at a time…

The heat between them is instant and incredible. But the biggest challenges are yet to come. With Juliana battling her addiction and Drake working on his issues, Adria realizes she can’t save everyone. But Drake and Adria discover love can survive tragedy and loss—and they can have the life they never thought possible if they just hold on.

PJ's Thoughts:

Jennifer Ryan excels at dragging me through emotional quagmires and Tough Talking Cowboy is no exception. Forget keeping a tissue close to hand. I needed the whole darn box for this story. The hands life has dealt Drake and Adria are not just heartbreaking, they're heart crushing. Ryan takes them to some very dark places and, at times, the reader has to wonder if light, and love, will ever find its way into a tortured soul. It's a testament to the author, and the resilience of the human spirit, that even in the midst of these times, she never allows the reader to lose hope. 

Drake and Adria captured my heart and I'm not sure they're ever going to let go. Only a woman who had survived Adria's past could have looked beyond the barrier of Drake's anger, guilt, and grief to the love and hope buried deep inside. The example she sets with the future she is building for herself, and the courage she shows in the way she reaches him is remarkable. And only a man as strong as Drake could have reclaimed the life, and love, he so desperately wants, to be there for the woman he loves when her world is turned on end. 

I shed a lot of tears while reading this book but I also turned the final page filled with hope and joy for a couple whose love triumphed over tragedy and was stronger for it. Tough Talking Cowboy is a testament to the strength of the human spirit and the healing power of love. I will not soon forget these characters, or their story. 


Content Warning: child pornography, addiction, PTSD

Review - - Restless Rancher

Restless Rancher
by Jennifer Ryan
Wild Rose Ranch - Book 2
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: November 12, 2019
Reviewed by PJ
    

One minute down-on-his-luck rancher Austin Hubbard slept soundly, the next, a sassy spitfire dumped a pitcher of water on his head and woke him up—in more ways than one. Hired to help him rebuild his ranch, Sonya Tucker ends up helping him put the tattered pieces of his life back together. The capable, all-business accountant is on a mission to get the ranch up and running, but can he convince the temptingly beautiful woman to take a chance on him?

Sonya was dismayed that Austin had lost it all: money, family, respectability. Things she—who’d been raised by her mother at Nevada’s notorious brothel Wild Rose Ranch—only dreamed about. But working with the long, lean cowboy shows her that Austin is honorable to his core. Together they slowly grow to see what the love between them might bring.

But then Austin’s powder keg of a family feud explodes, exposing long-buried secrets, and threatening their new-found love…

My thoughts:

With each book she writes, Jennifer Ryan further solidifies her place on my list of favorite romantic suspense authors. Restless Rancher is another fast-paced story with snappy dialog, heart-tugging romance, well-placed humor, an intriguing mystery, and enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, and eagerly flipping pages, from beginning to end. I love a good redemption arc and Austin's evolution certainly fits that bill. I enjoyed the connection between him and Sonya, how their relationship slowly progresses, how they work together to restore Austin's ranch and solve the mystery of why his father's so desperate to steal his land. I love their fiery chemistry and the deep emotions that tie them together. I was all-in for their romance and happily ever after. Ryan excels at creating realistic, complex characters and she's on her game once again with Austin and Sonya. Ryan also excels at creating truly nasty villains and she's done so again in this book. She's also thrown in a surprise twist that I didn't expect, but thoroughly enjoyed.

Restless Rancher is the second book in Ryan's Wild Rose Ranch series. It stands well on its own but characters from book one play significant roles. While I think readers could enjoy this one without reading book one, that enjoyment deepens with the knowledge that's imparted in the first book.

Review - - Dirty Little Secret

Dirty Little Secret
By Jennifer Ryan
Wild Rose Ranch - Book 1
Publisher: Avon
Release Date: December 18, 2018
Reviewed by PJ

Noah Cordero is a modern-day cowboy who loves three things: ranching, his younger sister, and his step-father. John Cordero groomed Noah to take over the Montana spread where he learned to ride and work the land. But when John unexpectedly dies, he leaves half the ranch to a woman Noah doesn’t even know.

Roxy shares Noah’s last name, but not his blood. Estranged from her father, haunted by regrets, and eager to escape her notorious mother’s past, she is forced to fulfill her father’s last wishes. Inheriting means sharing a home with infuriating, challenging, and oh-so-tempting Noah. But John didn’t just make her owner of his ranch and guardian to her sister, his hidden sideline is her worst nightmare—she’s the new owner of the notorious Nevada brothel called Wild Rose Ranch where she grew up.

As their strictly business relationship starts to turn to true love, Roxy begins to wonder, what will happen when Noah discovers her dirty little secret?


My thoughts:

I discovered Jennifer Ryan a few years ago and have devoured her gritty, western-set, contemporary romantic suspense novels. I expected this first book in her new Wild Rose Ranch series to be of the same ilk but it takes a bit of a turn from previous series. It's still set (primarily) in Montana, features a hot cowboy, strong heroine and has plenty of heat and heart. But while there's heavy focus on the gritty, suspense aspect of previous books, in Dirty Little Secret it has a small role near the end of the book. This is primarily a contemporary romance that reeled me in and held me captive from beginning to end. 

Enemies-to-lovers is one of my favorite romance tropes and Roxy and Noah certainly have good reason to not trust - or like - one another very much. Roxy's father abandoned her to an abusive life with her drug-addicted, prostitute mother while showering his two adopted children (Noah and Annabelle) with love, support, and a stable, secure life on his Montana ranch. Roxy has always known her father chose Noah over her while Noah, who has poured his heart into the ranch and had every expectation of inheriting it, didn't even know Roxy existed until the reading of John's will. You want conflict? We've got conflict. Add in an unwanted attraction between Noah and Roxy and the fun's just beginning.

I had a hard time putting this book down. Ryan created flawed characters who deserve a happy ending but keep getting in their own way then gave them a story that would test them at every turn. Roxy, in particular, captured my heart. I wanted to open my arms, give her a big hug, and tell her that I see her but that would be awkward for a woman who has never known physical affection given in kindness and love. I want her to know that when I look at her I don't see the outer Marilyn Monroe body and make incorrect assumptions but, rather, the smart, educated, hard-working woman within. I see the woman who continually gives to others, never expecting kindness in return because, in her life, it's never been given. I see a woman who, even though she looks like her mother, is nothing like her in thought or deed. I see a woman who is deserving of love even though every experience in her life has tried to teach her the opposite. I see a character worthy of my affection, admiration, and trust.

Noah, on the other hand, is a character I needed time to warm up to. He makes mistakes, he makes assumptions, and he's a bit of a jerk at the beginning. But, at heart, he's a good man, his world also has been turned upside down, and he's looking for someone to blame since the man who set all this in motion is now out of reach. In short, he's human. I enjoy characters with layers, with flaws, and with the ability to grow and learn and make amends. He won me over in the end.

If you enjoy a western-set, enemies-to-lovers story with rich characterization, sizzling chemistry, a bit of suspense, and a happy ending, I recommend Dirty Little Secret by Jennifer Ryan.