"A girl escapes with her life to find love and a place she can call home ."
Reviewed by Unassigned 1_Reviewer
Posted June 29, 2015
Romance Contemporary
Sixteen year old Star Smith has a devastating life with her mother Roxie and aunt Luanne in the slums of a trailer court in Charleston, South Carolina. Physically and mentally abused by them, Star is also involved with a young man even more abusive to her. After witnessing Billy shooting a man, Star ends up in the hospital, severely beaten by him and terrified as she fears for her life. Her Grampy was her savior, rescuing her and arranging her care in a safe house. Changing her name to Jessalyn Alcott and eventually absconding to Boston, Jess begins a new life operating her own yoga studio.
Thirteen years later Jess is to be bridesmaid for her friend Hayley at Montana's Whisper Creek Ranch. Her friend Kyla was previously married to one of the hunky brothers of the ranch. The one that takes Jess's eye though, is Cole Driscoll. Buffy and gorgeous, Cole works the guest ranch leading the guests on trail rides at the Carefree, Montana ranch. Finding out Kyla is pimping out the cowboys for a calendar as a Men-of-Whisper- Creek memento, only heightens Jess's libido for the cowboy of her choice.
Jess receives a $25,000 check from Grampy's estate when he passes, opening up her fear of being found by her mother and Billy. Her secret past is fast becoming of great concern to her, after having lied to all her friends about her true identity and background for all these years. Eventually she is forced to disclose all the horrendous things that happened in the past that she has carefully hidden away. But now will Billy come after her to finish what he started and does Cole love her enough to still want a life with her?
ONCE UPON A COWBOY is a Whisper Creek Novel filled with emotional heartaches of the past, fear, and desperate love for a cowboy. The characters will capture your heart and envelope you in their fears and struggles to find that forever love. I have read several of Maggie McGinnins' books and have loved each and every one. The stories are thrilling, warm and sexy with suspense in abundance. Do not miss this very poignant tale of a child-girl suffering at the hands of a deranged mother and boyfriend that will mold her life forever. Maggie McGinnis is a brilliant writer creating great stories to share and will provide them to us for a very long time to come.
SUMMARY
In this sexy Whisper Creek romance for readers of Kristan
Higgins, Susan Mallery, and Molly O’Keefe, a red-hot
cowboy
uses some Montana magic to give a reclusive beauty her
happily ever after. Yoga instructor Jessalyn Alcott radiates peace, calm, and
serenity—on the outside. Inside, she still feels like the
broken, desperate girl from the trailer park. She’s got
dark
secrets she can’t share, which is why she never lets her
relationships go beyond the third date. But when she
travels
to the Whisper Creek dude ranch for a friend’s wedding,
Jess
is enchanted by a cowboy whose deep blue eyes, dimpled
smile, and rock-hard body make it tough to remember why
she
keeps running scared. Cole Driscoll has struggled to find his place on a family
ranch where he’s always played second fiddle. His future
might be uncertain, but he’s sure of one thing: He wants
Jess by his side. Easier said than done. When it comes to
getting close, she’s full of excuses, and he longs to fix
the hurt he sees in her eyes. Now that she’s at Whisper
Creek, there’s nothing he wants more than to break down
the
walls around her heart and heal her pain with the power
of
love.
Excerpt“Okay, look to your left.” Kyla pointed toward the stable
as she adjusted her camera later that afternoon. “And
stop growling at me. Grumpy cowboys do not sell
calendars, Cole.”“Don’t they have models who do this kind of thing?”? “Yes, but they’re not authentic. You guys are the real
deal.”? Cole raised his eyebrows. “The real deal is sweat and
dirt and stink.”? “We’re going for pseudo real deal, then. Dirt and stink
don’t sell calendars, either.” She motioned at him again.
“Lift the brim of your hat up a little, okay? Your eyes
are in shadow.” “Kyla.” “No growling.” He raised his hat the obligatory half-inch, and of course
as he did, Decker strolled out of the barn.
“Lookin’ good, Cole. Gonna get a little scratchy with
those buttons undone, though, don’t you think?”? “Shut up, Decker. Don’t get any horse shit on those fancy
shoes.” He looked toward Kyla. “Are we done here yet?”? “I was actually hoping to get a few more in the—”? “Sorry. Union rules. I can only be photographed for an
hour a day.”? “Just a few more?”? Cole started doing up his buttons. “I have work to do,
Kyla. Go play shutterbug with
somebody else for a while, wouldja?”? Christ. Stupid calendar. Real cowboys didn’t run around
with their shirts open, aiming for the best light so
their eyes wouldn’t be in—shadow. He shivered. At least
she hadn’t suggested waxing. “You could do worse, you know.” Decker grinned as he
watched Kyla walk back up to the main lodge. “Maybe she
can post those pics online or something. Might help you
get a date for Daniel and Hayley’s wedding.” Cole executed a middle-finger salute, then leaned down to
pick up a rope Kyla’d insisted on using for a prop.
“Don’t need a date. We have any early guests coming in
today so I can be very, very busy next time she comes
around with that damn camera?” “Just Jess.”? Cole stopped coiling the rope. “Oh. Right.”? “Trying to make like you forgot? I’ll pretend I haven’t
seen you check your watch about eighty times today.”
Decker laughed. “Gonna get up the nerve to actually take
her out while she’s here this time?” “I’ve got plenty of nerve.” “Right. She’s been out here three times now, and every
single time, you’re like a parched man looking at a
desert mirage, but—” “Shut up. I’m hardly—parched.” Decker eyed him in that way he had, the look that
stripped the lies right off your face and made you tell
the truth whether you wanted to or not. “I don’t know.
Word in the bunkhouse is that your rep in town is getting
a little rusty.” “I’m not—rusty. And we don’t have a damn bunkhouse.” “Want to know what I think?” “No.” “I think ever since you met Jess, you can’t help but
compare everybody to her. And nobody quite measures up.” Exactly. “Not true.” “Well, true or not, she’ll be here by dinnertime. Kyla’s
leaving for the airport in a while to get her.” Cole rolled his eyes. It wasn’t like he’d been counting
the days or anything. Not like he’d gotten a haircut
yesterday or had thoroughly checked out Jess’s cabin this
morning to be sure it was shipshape and ready for her. He shook his head, trying to get visions of Jess’s long
dark hair and deep brown eyes out of his brain. “I’m
still trying to wrap my head around Daniel and Hayley
getting married in a week. I feel like we live and
breathe weddings around here these days.” “We’re gonna have a lot more if Kyla’s Bridal Bliss
package thing works out.” “I suppose that means we’d better finish the spa so she
can start selling the packages.” Cole shook his head. How
in the world had their working ranch become a wedding-
slash-spa-slash- getaway place? “Your woman makes a hell
of a lot of work for us, you know.” Decker laughed. “She makes a hell of a lot of money for
us, too. I think the only reason she’s not haranguing us
to get the spa done is she’s hoping Jess will help with
the design. I have a feeling she’s going to dangle it out
as a carrot to get Jess to stay out here.” “Out here out here? Like, for good?” “Yep.” Decker nodded. “She’s been planting seeds for
months. Getting Hayley to move to Montana got her all
puffed up about her abilities. Now she’s turned her
sights on Jess.” “Poor Jess.” Cole shook his head. “Pretty sure she can handle herself.” Decker tossed a
beaten-up leather briefcase into the cab of his truck. “I
gotta go charm the home buyers. Hold down the fort.” As Decker headed out the driveway, Cole turned up the
hill toward the new lodge, half of which was Whisper
Creek’s new childcare facility and petting zoo. The other
half was still rough-framed inside, but by fall was
supposed to be ready for duty as a full-service spa. He strolled toward the building, letting himself in the
spa door. He inhaled, loving the scent of fresh lumber
and drywall putty. Decker was the acknowledged brainiac
of the family, working with his design software for half
the night, but Cole preferred to be the guy with his
hands right in the mud—literally.? Morning sun came through the east-facing windows and
skylights, and he tried to picture what the spa would
look like once it was finished. They had fifteen hundred
square feet to work with, which might be an architect’s
dream—if the architect was ever at the ranch long enough
to figure out what to do with all this emptiness. Cole
sure didn’t have a clue. But then he pictured Jess in the warmly lit space,
gliding around with one of her yoga outfits on, flashing
her warm smile his way, tying up that long, long dark
hair into a ponytail he’d just itch to take back down. He shook his head, trying to erase the vision.
Fantasizing about Jess before she even got here was only
going to torture him more. And her kind of torture was the kind that only left a man
wanting what he could not have.
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