When Leila Valentino signed a partnership agreement with Kingston Family Wines, she thought she was digging her family’s small winery out of a temporary, but potentially fatal, setback. With her new MBA in her back pocket, a head full of ways to increase their revenues, and the necessary 30% to retain control of their business, Leila was confident that they would be out of the woods by fall. She just needed a little infusion of cash to get them back on their feet and out of the way of disaster.
The hard part of the business deal, though, was keeping it a secret from her grandparents - the winery’s founders. With Nonna just getting her strength back from the heavy-duty treatments for breast cancer she’d endured, learning the true state of their winery’s looming financial disasters was more than the elder Valentinos could handle.
But, it turns out, this wasn’t the most challenging part of the deal after all. Forrest Kingston is a ruthless shark. To ensure that Valentino Bellas Winery stays in the red so he can take over in the fall, he sends his second-in-command and requisition manager to oversee the new partnership and winery’s failure in person.
August Harding owes his life and career to Forrest Kingston. Kingston picked him up and gave him a job and a purpose when he was in a very dark place, devastated by the death of his beloved father. August grew up on a ranch outside Silverado Lake, so Kingston knows August will be familiar with Valentino Bellas. However, only August knows that he’s even more familiar with Leila Valentino. Leila was the love of his life, the girl he’d promised to marry but left behind when he fled to California, without a word or explanation, in the grief and pain of losing his father.
When August shows up at the vineyard, he’s ready for anything. Still, he never expected Leila to suggest they claim a renewed relationship that had already progressed to an engagement, all to keep her grandparents in the dark about the Kingston partnership. August goes along with her plan, knowing this is a bad idea.
LAST DANCE WITH A COWBOY is the third book in Sara Richardson’s Silverado Lake series and tackles the story of the third Harding sibling, August “Auggie” Harding. In this story, readers are treated to both a second chance romance and a fake dating/fake fiancé storyline that really complement each other.
I like cowboy romance stories, but this is more about the wine business. Nothing wrong with that. I found that aspect exciting and engaging. However, August does seem to regain his inner self while being back on his family’s ranch, caring for his late father’s grieving old horse - so there’s your cowboy connection.
There is much interest in Leila and August getting back together from family, friends, and the town in general. Most feel the two are ‘meant to be,’ but I appreciated Leila’s brother, Sam, the one hold-out on forgiving and forgetting, as August had done some long-term damage to Leila previously when he left and broke her heart.
I particularly liked Nonna and Poppa, Leila’s grandparents, and believe they were much more resilient than Leila thought. I think she should have been upfront with, at least, Poppa about their looming financial crisis. I don’t think he was oblivious to the situation, after all, considering discussions later in the book. But without the deception, we wouldn’t have this wonderful romance, would we?
I recommend LAST DANCE WITH A COWBOY for those who enjoy second chance romances, fake dating/fake fiancé fiascos, romantic Colorado settings, stories dealing with the wine industry, and, of course, readers who enjoyed the previous books in the series.
Can this wandering cowboy convince his first love that he deserves a second chance in a charming contemporary romance for fans of New York Times bestselling authors Jennifer Ryan and Maisey Yates—with a bonus novella by Carolyn Brown!
Leila Valentino will do anything to keep her grandparents’ Colorado winery afloat. Even partner with August Harding, the first—and last—man to break her heart. Fifteen years ago, August left Silverado Lake, and Leila, far behind. Now the cowboy’s back with an offer that could save her family’s business. But to keep her grandparents from worrying over the vineyard’s finances, Leila insists August give a different reason for his return: her.
August Harding is one step away from a huge promotion. All he has to do is ensure that his company acquires Valentino Bellas Vineyards. And if pretending he and Leila are back together is the cost . . . well, he can’t say no. Leila has never forgiven him for the way he ended things, but the longer they pretend to be a couple, the more he begins to wonder if a second chance isn’t impossible after all. But can he convince Leila that this time he’s not walking away?
Includes the bonus novella Sunrise Ranchby Carolyn Brown!
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