Mail Order Cowboy (Wishing River #4), Victoria James

 

Mail Order Cowboy (Wishing River #4)

By: Victoria James

Recommendation: 👍👍👍👍 - (Out of 5 👍)

Hope Roberts and her daughter Sadie are trying to get acclimated to life in their new home. As a single mother who owns her own business, life is hard enough without the stress and cost associated with renovating a dilapidated, run down ranch. The ranch is Sadie's legacy, her inheritance from her paternal grandparents and Hope is dedicated making things work. 

Dr. Dean Stanton grew up living a very privileged life. His family owns one of the largest ranches in the Wishing River area and are extremely wealthy. Unfortunately, not everything is as it appears. Dean's father is an abusive man unable to love and care for his sons. He never talks about his upbringing because he doesn't want to be consider the 'poor little rich boy'.

Dean and Hope hanging out in the same circle of friends but their relationship is fraught. Hope blames Dean for the death of her husband and Dean has been keeping a huge secret from Hope. Regardless of what Hope believes, Dean only wants the best for Hope and her daughter and promises to help with the ranch. Unfortunately, there are outside forces that are working against Hope, compromising her success.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley and the publisher Entangled Publishing, LLC for an honest review.

'Mail Order Cowboy' takes us back to Wishing River. Victoria James has a wonderful talent for creating beautifully written stories with deep characters who are facing realistic life struggles. I fell completely in love with Hope, Sadie, and Dean and was rooting for their success. Hope was easily relatable. She is struggling with the loss of her husband, trying to raise her daughter to be a good human being, juggling work and managing the ranch. It would be so easy for her to just give it all up but she perseveres. Dean is the perfect complement to Hope. Even though he stands to inherit so much he strives to bring something more meaningful to his life. Dean wants a real family, he wants to stand on his own and be known for his successes, but he is afraid he is more like his father than he wants to admit. 'Mail Order Cowboy' is a great story with a wonderful ending.

'Mail Order Cowboy' is available to preorder and will be released on December 27, 2022.

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Danger Rising (Red Stone Security #20) Katie Reus

 

Danger Rising (Red Stone Security #20)

By: Katie Reus

Recommendation: 👍👍👍👍 - (Out of 5 👍)

Lana didn't have a normal upbringing. When she was a teenager, Lana learned how to scale buildings, crack safes, and escape crime scenes undetected. Her mom was a modern day Robin Hood, stealing from those who were doing evil and then giving the spoils to their victims. Lana travelled the world with her mom to assist on her heists. But Lana had plans to leave that life behind, that was until her mom was murdered and a prized family heirloom was stolen by her mom's shady business partner.

Teague is a black ops agent who fell in love with Lana between assignments. He can never share with her the intimate details about his job even though she has told him everything about her life. The past few months, as a way of protecting her from enemies who want him gone, Teague has allowed Lana to believe he was dead. He has watched her from a far and realizes he needs to intercede when Lana decides to go up against the monster who stole her inheritance and get back the necklace that was stolen from her. 

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley and the publisher KR Press, LLC for an honest review.

I have been a long time fan of Katie Reus but admit that I have never had the opportunity to read a story from her 'Red Stone Security' series. From the very beginning of the book, Danger Rising grabbed me and drew me in with a fast paced, action packed, edge of my seat scene. The main character Lana, was already in the middle of her first heist. At that point in the story I didn't need to know why or who, the writing of this first chapter was so engaging I couldn't wait to learn more. Reus created in Lana a strong female character who is self sufficient and capable of taking care of herself. Yes, she is a thief and technically that is a bad thing but Lana has a moral code of ethics her mother instilled in her. They always stole from those who were wealthy and then used that wealth against those less fortunate. A portion of the money stolen would go back to the victims. As you read deeper into the book you find there are several layers to the story, each one creating a greater depth to the overall storyline. I enjoyed Danger Rising and will definitely be checking out the other books in the series. Danger Rising can be read as a stand alone; no evident storylines from the prior books carried over.

Danger Rising will be released on September 20, 2022 but you can pre-order your copy now.

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