Series: Once Upon a Time in Texas, #1
Traits & Tropes: enemies to lovers
Publication Date: 10.30.18
Genre/Setting: Contemporary/Western; Texas Hill Country, USA
Heat Level: 3.5
Rating: 4/5
After a painful childhood full of hurt and disappointment at the hands of an alcoholic father, Travis Blake left Big Verde, Texas and joined the Army. Now his tour of service is complete and with his sister-in-law’s death and his twin brother’s incarceration, Travis must return to care for his nephew. He has a job waiting back in Austin, he just needs to sell the family’s rundown ranch and get out of there. Only, there are unforeseen obstacles to his plans and a feisty neighbor he’s loath to leave.
Maggie Mackey can’t stand Travis. He’s trying to ruin her landscaping business, his cows are constantly destroying her apple orchard, and he’s much too attractive. When they have to work together on a landscape project, Maggie begins to realize Travis is more than she first thought. He’s a doting parent to his nephew, devoted to helping the community, and he causes her to feel all too many flutters. Maggie doesn’t want to chance being hurt by a man who’s not planning to stay, but maybe she can give him a reason to change his mind about leaving.
It took me quite a while to really get into this book, but I wound up really liking it. The deception aspect here went on a bit too long, but Travis was an excellent hero, the perfect combination of strong and dominant with sweet and sensitive. He was struggling so much and had no idea how to ask for help, never having had anyone he could rely on, and it made him so relatable and endearing. This also meant Maggie was at times taking care of Travis and that about face from the usual really worked here. I loved the side characters and the humor they provided. Maggie did get on my nerves sometimes with her snappishness and the assumptions she made toward Travis, but this did improve as she got to know him, and I liked that she was willing to listen to him when he apologized. I would’ve liked a bit more steam here and more time with Maggie and Travis together on the page and free of any secrets between them. Overall, I liked these two as a couple, especially Travis as a hard-working hero who wasn’t a man-whore and who had somewhat of an ugly duckling to swan transformation. I enjoyed this story and these characters left me with a nice warm, fuzzy feeling at the end.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1333109172
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3954924628
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