Restless Rancher

September 1, 2019

Austin Hubbard has found himself at the bottom of a bottle and just barely hanging onto his dream thanks to his best friend's girlfriend, Roxy. He wakes up in more ways than one when Sonya Tucker comes into his life one morning with a pitcher full of water. Sonya left her job at an accounting firm and is now helping her sister Roxy with a new investment project, the ranch Austin inherited from his grandfather. While things might be heating up as Austin and Sonya make the hoarder house into a respectable home, dark family secrets on both sides threaten to destroy what feels like the first place Sonya has ever felt she belongs. VERDICT Series fans will enjoy this look into Austin's life, along with more appearances from Noah, Roxy, and other residents of Wild Rose Ranch. Ryan delights with exciting twists and one hot, protective cowboy. Readers may struggle to believe how easily this couple overcomes each hurdle set in their way, but if they hang on, they will be eager to return to Wild Rose Ranch. Especially recommended for fans of Linda Howard.--Morgan Lockard, Campbell Cty. P.L., KY

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 14, 2019
Ryan delights with the sizzling second installment of her contemporary Wild Rose Ranch series (after Dirty Little Secret). Feisty accountant Sonya Tucker was raised in the Wild Rose Ranch brothel in Nevada, and after one of her friends from the Wild Rose uses money from the brothel to invest in Austin Hubbard’s Montana ranch, she hires Sonya to help out. Austin inherited the ranch from his grandfather, causing an insurmountable rift with his ruthless father, Walter, who wants the ranch for himself. Now he’d rather drink his pain away than work to maintain the place, but Sonya’s determined to whip him back into shape. Though flirty Austin and no-nonsense Sonya initially butt heads, they soon develop a bond. But as they start to clear out all of the junk Austin’s grandfather hoarded, Walter resorts to violence to try to stop them, hoping to keep an old family secret buried. Villainous Walter leaps off the page, making his eventual takedown that much more satisfying. Ryan’s expert pacing will easily keep readers enthralled. While this can be read as a standalone, the ending has enough of a hook to make readers eager for their next visit to Montana. Agent: Suzie Townsend, New Leaf Literary.

October 15, 2019
A destitute rancher betrayed by the people he trusted is brought back to life by a no-nonsense accountant with a troubled past. Family betrayals drive the plot of the second book in Ryan's (The Me I Used To Be, 2019, etc.) contemporary Western series about women who were raised together as virtual sisters while their mothers worked at the Wild Rose Ranch, a Nevada brothel. Sonya Turner, one of them, is a forensic accountant looking for a radical change of pace after being passed over for a promotion at her firm. When her sister Roxy invites Sonya to join her in Montana to restore a dilapidated home and neglected ranch, she jumps at the chance. Sonya loves "the wide open spaces, hills that rose to mountains in places, and the crisp clean air," but she soon realizes that the owner, Austin Hubbard, is in need of renewal himself. Disowned by his father, dumped by his girlfriend, and drinking way too much, he has just about given up. Sonya helps lift Austin out of helplessness, showing him how to stand up for himself against his ruthless and greedy father while he helps Sonya support her abused mother. Austin's and Sonya's enemies generate hair-raising, violent plot turns, but Austin's father is such a cliché readers will expect him to mutter something like, "I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for you meddling kids" when he finally gets his comeuppance. A sweet romance wrapped around an inheritance mystery and surrounded by family trauma.

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