Ever meet a character you immediately recognize as someone you would cherish as a friend. Well that’s Beatrix Leighton. If you’ve been following Maisie Yates' series Golden Valley then you’ve already met Bea. Delightful, caring and with the patience of Job. But in UNBROKEN COWBOY Bea finally meets up with a person in need that is bringing this woman of enormous caring and patience to her maximum. In short her fuse is about to ignite. Just what could do that do this amazing character – not what but who. Dane.

UNBROKEN COWBOY is actually a story about expectations. Each of us has dreams and expectations of our future which is driven by those dreams and hard work. There is also the gamut of trying to meet external expectations of friends, family, and people that are part of our social circle. When born into wealth one expects those dreams and expectations to be met – hopefully with success. But when success is beyond your reach the problem is learning to live with other's reactions.

It’s hard enough meeting the expectations of others but oftentimes you are your own worst enemy. How about when you are considered nothing more than poor white trash and expectations are nil. When you finally achieve some sense of personal success you can’t help second-guessing some of your decisions.

So in UNBROKEN COWBOY, we are reacquainted with Bea and Dane who have appeared in prior books in this series by Maisie Yates. They have been characters on the fringe of activity in many stories. The irony is that both Bea and Dane see themselves as living on the fringe. Bea’s family has had wealth and yet for her, their lives were unsatisfactory. She didn’t fit their mold so to speak. She wasn’t a great student, had no business acumen, and was most happy watching the action from the sidelines. One big exception was Bea’s habit of extending a caring helpful hand whether or not asked for it. And she has a special affinity with animals of all sorts.

Dane’s family has had to catch some lucky breaks to get out of their family mold. His sister Lindy is now owner-operator of a successful vineyard. She has opened her home to Dane offering him a place to recover from devastating injuries from an unfortunate bull riding contest. Dane had sort of coveted his bull riding skills and carefree lifestyle. He earned a good living and wasn’t looking for anything even remotely resembling roots. But here he is in Golden Valley working at odd jobs and working tirelessly to get back in shape so that he could return to his bull riding career.

Once again Maisey Yates introduces some very memorable characters. It's what I've begun to expect and she doesn't disappoint in UNBROKEN COWBOY.