The Cowboy's Valentine - Donna Alward (HAR #1535 - Feb 2015)

Series: Crooked Valley Ranch (Book 2)

HEART OF A COWBOY

Coming home is hard enough without ranch manager Quinn Solomon making Lacey Duggan feel like an unwanted guest. She's only here until she figures out what to do with her one-third ownership of Crooked Valley. But Quinn's irresistible daughter is giving Lacey ideas about being part of a family. And though they don't even like each other, Lacey's having crazier notions about the widowed single dad.

Does Lacey think she can waltz in and turn Quinn's life upside down…only to leave again? The pretty accountant knows nothing about running a ranch, yet she's making the Montana homestead feel like a home. Quinn isn't looking for love again. Until a woman who's all heart and a determined little girl help one lovestruck cowboy see the light.

Very good story. Lacey has returned to Crooked Valley Ranch to try to get her life back together. She lost her job because of budget cuts and her husband to divorce. She's part owner of the ranch, but she really doesn't want anything to do with it. She'd be just as happy if they sold it, but her older brother has married and settled there and wants to try to make a go of it. To fulfill her grandfather's terms of the will, she and both her brothers must agree and also spend time on the ranch. Ranch manager Quinn has made no secret of the fact that he thinks she is selfish in her intentions about the ranch.

Quinn is a widowed father of a four year old girl. His daughter and his job are the most important things in his life. He's still dealing with his grief and trying to make a stable home for Amber. Having Lacey around is stirring up feelings he's not ready for.

Quinn and Lacey strike sparks from each other from the beginning. Though they claim they don't like each other, it's pretty obvious that there's a strong attraction and that their antagonism is more a way to resist it. When a fire at his house has Quinn and Amber moving into the ranch house with Lacey those barriers start to crumble. First it was little Amber making Lacey feel like she was part of a family and Quinn's antagonism fading away as they got to know each other. I loved all the little things they did together. Quinn has been mourning his late wife for a long time, but he starts to get the sense that he's ready to move on. He didn't expect it to be Lacey that brought him to that point. 

Lacey had come to the ranch expecting to only stay for awhile, until she got a new job and could leave. She doesn't want to be tied to the ranch. But the longer she stays, the more comfortable she is there. She also finds ways to satisfy her need to work. But she has some deep seated issues that prevent her from seeing any way that something can come of the attraction between her and Quinn. I liked the way that they eventually sat down and discussed what was happening between them, but got a bit frustrated with Lacey's fixation on her problem. It was great to see Quinn's feelings stay strong and true even as she was trying to push him away "for his own good". I liked that he didn't push her, but tried to give her the time she needed to see the truth. I liked how her friend showed her how she was expecting trouble where there didn't need to be. There was no miracle at the end to fix everything, just an admission that it was something that they would have to deal with, but if they were together they could do it. The end was really sweet and romantic.

The Cowboy's Homecoming - Donna Alward (HAR #1545 - May 2015)

Series: Crooked Valley Ranch (Book 3)

BACK…FOR GOOD?

Once, rodeo star Rylan Duggan had called Crooked Valley Ranch home. But after an incredible, romantic night with neighboring rancher -- beautiful, strong, smart Kailey Brandt -- he'd bolted. He didn't look back, telling himself he preferred life on the circuit with no commitments and no ties.

Until now. With Rylan back for a few short weeks, Kailey can't deny their attraction is as strong as ever. She thought she'd learned her lesson the first time he'd hurt her -- and the handsome cowboy is still adamant he will not be sticking around. While helping him build Crooked Valley's business, Kailey sees a different, more grounded side of him. Has Rylan finally found his home…in Kailey's heart?

Rylan is the youngest of the three Duggan kids and the last of them to come home to the Crooked Valley Ranch. He is only there to use the ranch as his home base while rodeoing and to fulfill the terms of his grandfather's will. He wants to help his brother and sister keep the ranch, but he has no intention of staying permanently. He also has to figure out how he's going to face Kailey.

He and Kailey had connected back on Valentine's Day and spent an incredible night together. But something about that night and Kailey had touched him in a way that scared him, and he had left the next morning without speaking to her. He knows it was wrong and that he needs to apologize to her, but facing her again isn't going to be easy. Kailey is still furious with him three months later and forgiving him isn't going to be easy. She's not just mad, she's hurt, because she'd thought they had something special, and she's not going to make things easy on him now that he's back in town.

I really liked both Rylan and Kailey. The first impression of Rylan is that he's a bit selfish and only interested in what he wants, but it doesn't take long to see that he's much more complex than that. When Kailey confronts him, he doesn't try to make excuses, he owns up to the mistake. He also admits that he's still attracted to her, but for the sake of peace he'll try to ignore the attraction and just go for friends. Rylan is also fighting the sense of home that he feels whenever he's at the ranch. Long ago he had made the decision that he was never going to get attached to a place or a person, because losing them hurt too much. And even though he keeps insisting that he's not going to stay around, his actions show that he wants to. I loved the scene when he brings the horse to the ranch, and how it begins to change the way his brother and sister look at him, and how he looks at himself.

Kailey is a strong and smart woman. She's the only child in her family, and as such knows the ranch her parents own will be hers. She loves what she does but there are times when she wants more. After a romance that didn't work out because of her commitment to that ranch, she feels especially alone, and that's when she has her night with Rylan. It turns out to be much more intense that she expected and his disappearance the next day makes her feel worse rather than better. When he comes back it is hard for her to face him at first, and she has a hard time accepting his apology. It doesn't help that she's still attracted to him. She wants him, but risking her heart on a man who is leaving isn't what she wants to do.

I really liked the way that, once they get past their initial reunion, they are able to put together a friendship that works for them. One thing they don't have trouble with is talking to each other and I liked that they were able to share some of their deeper fears and memories. Rylan is actually a much more sensitive guy than he first appeared. He sees how hard Kailey has to work at things because she is a woman doing what it is mostly men doing. At the same time, Kailey sees Rylan's love for his family and how he tries to show it. I loved seeing how she stands up for him about the horse and gives his family something to think about. Over the months that Rylan is there, their friendship grows, but so does the attraction. Giving in to it, both of them try to pretend to themselves that it's just physical. Admitting their feelings to themselves is hard enough, but confessing to the other is a risk that's hard to take. A misunderstanding drives them apart, and both have to look hard at their own fears before they can move ahead together.

The family dynamics were really good and such an important part of the story. The things that happened with his family when he was a kid had a really huge impact on Rylan's outlook on life. His brother and sister had never realized just how big, or the influence it had on the man he became. I wanted to smack them a few times for not seeing how much he really cares, but is afraid to show it, I really loved seeing Rylan with the kids, and seeing him hold his brother's baby was really emotional. I loved the ending and how well it wrapped everything up.