Jennifer Ryan's newest book focuses on the third of the McGrath siblings. We first met Drake in TOUGH TALKING COWBOY as the last book in the <I>Wild Rose Ranch</I> Series. Then crossed over to meet Tate in WAITING ON A COWBOY. And now it's Declan's turn to find love with the backdrop of the family cattle ranch. Each of the books contained an underlying social issue addressed along with the character development and main storyline including military PTSD, addiction, and stalking.
Ryan crafts an interesting story with likeable and complex characters in Declan and Skye as they meet and overcome the adversaries against them. Some of them expected and others not so much. My only negative was how fast Declan fell and attached to Skye did not seem in line with his character from the prior books in the series. Declan immediately takes her in as a complete unknown to work on the ranch after she shows up hungry and on foot looking for work. Unbeknown to him, she fled her commune home after seeing the corrupt leader of the community murder her friend.
LOVE OF A COWBOY can be read as a stand-alone book without missing any backstory but it was wonderful to see glimpses of the other two couples throughout the storyline. Looking forward to Trinity's book TRUE LOVE COWBOY due to be released end of August.
Meet New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ryan’s McGraths: a family as untamed as the land they call home.
Skye Kennedy has always loved the close-knit community of Sunrise Fellowship—but when she witnesses the commune’s new leader commit a terrible crime, she flees…and finds herself in Montana, on the McGrath ranch, and drawn to the stoic yet kind man determined to help her.
Declan McGrath has always handled things himself and focused more on work than his love life. With his newlywed brothers distracted by their beautiful wives, Declan has even more work on his hands. But when Skye arrives at the ranch starving and desperate for work, his loner days are over.
Skye wants to keep her distance and protect Declan from the deadly threats facing her, but soon their relationship morphs into something much more than either of them expected. When she fights back against those out to destroy Sunrise Fellowship, Skye and Declan will have to do everything to protect not just Skye's community, but also their new love...
She stared into Declan’s eyes, hoping he saw that she wanted to stay and explore this strange but tempting connection between them but that she also had to go.
He suddenly stood beside the bed. “We’ll talk about the rest in the morning. Try to get some sleep.”
Impulse was a dangerous thing. Especially when she went with it.
She reached out and grabbed his hand. Her eyes traveled up his thick toned legs, over his really nice ass, up his lean back, and right to the intense gaze staring down at her from over his shoulder. Before she thought better of it, or maybe she simply didn’t want to miss this opportunity to spend just a little more time with him, she tugged him back down beside her. “Stay.”
Exhausted, she needed to sleep, but she was too scared to face the night alone. And Declan had this magic way of banishing all her dark thoughts.
Declan squeezed her hand. “You’re safe here.”
She relaxed into the pillow and stared up at him. “Will you stay? Just until I fall asleep.”
His lips pressed together and indecision filled his eyes.
“Please.”
He shifted on the bed, stared down at her, and placed their joined hands on his warm, bare thigh. The hair on his legs brushed the back of her hand. The heat from his skin seeped into her. And that wonderful zing of electricity that vibrated through her any time he touched her hummed to life and eased her heart.
“Close your eyes.”
She really liked looking at him. Maybe that’s what put that something extra in his gaze as he stared down at her. Whatever he was thinking or feeling he kept locked down. She wished she could read his thoughts. She didn’t have enough experience with men to guess, but hope bloomed in her heart that maybe he was as attracted to her as she was to him, and somewhere down the road, maybe, when things were different, she’d find her way back to him.
When he said she was safe here, she heard you’re safe with me.
She believed that.
Some men had a core of dominance they used to bend others to their will. Like Gabriel.
Others, like Declan, protected, encouraged, and took care of people, even if it meant putting themselves at risk.
“I need to leave,” she whispered.
His hand contracted around hers and just as she fell asleep, she heard the quiet response that made her lose her heart. “I want you to stay.”
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