At Wolf Ranch

November 10, 2014
Ryan’s Montana Men series launch, a follow-up to the Hunted series, precisely balances romance and suspense. Heiress Ella Wolf overhears the murder of her twin sister, Lela, by their uncle, Phillip. She escapes to the family ranch in Montana, hoping to find whatever Lela had that was worth killing for. After she’s stranded in a snowstorm on the country roads, rancher Gabe Bowden rescues her. Gabe had planned his future around buying Wolf Ranch from Phillip, but he’s shocked to learn about the murder, and he admires Ella’s grit and determination to take Phillip down in the midst of her grief. As the city girl and the country boy get closer, they explore both their growing feelings and Ella’s past, searching for a way to rescue both of their lives from Phillip’s machinations. However, the realistic dangers of a Montana winter and the intensity of Ella’s quest are let down by unnecessary, manufactured romantic tension and an absurdly cartoonish villain. Agent: Eric W. Ruben.

February 1, 2015
Ryan, author of the popular the Hunters and McBride series, launches a new run with the first Montana Men novel. Ella Wolf flees Manhattan after Lela, her identical twin, is murdered in the wake of a conflict with their uncle Phillip. Ella heads to the family ranch in Montana, but she is assaulted on her way there and left injured on the side of the highway in a blizzard. She is rescued by former rodeo star Gabe Bowden, who thinks she's Lela, and who, it turns out, has a contract to buy the ranch from Phillip. As a celebrity often in the tabloids, Ella finds it hard to keep a low profile while she tries to discover what Lela found out that led to her murder. Meanwhile, Gabe and Ella experience a passionate attraction that they fear can go nowhere because of their vastly different lives and ambitions. A smart heroine, a caring hero, high stakes, and a suspenseful plot make for an entertaining read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)