Series: Wranglers of Wyoming, #3
Traits & Tropes: family enemies; instant attraction; suspense
Publication Date: 08.24.21
Genre/Setting: Contemporary/Western; Wyoming, USA
Heat Level: 1
Rating: 4/5
Annie Dempsey has just left a toxic relationship and her need for a place to lay low and start a new life has led her to Devil’s Door, Wyoming. She’s not looking for another relationship but when a handsome stranger steps in to protect, she finds him impossible to resist. Throwing caution to the wind, Annie ignores all her own rules, especially given the fact that her new prince charming is a Merrick, part of the very family who has been estranged enemies of her own family for years.
Jonah Merrick doesn’t care that Annie is a Dempsey, he’s still determined to keep her safe. She also stirs wholly unfamiliar feelings in him. Despite his family’s apprehensions, Jonah brings Annie to stay at the family ranch to keep her safe from the villain’s pursuing her. As her stay lengthens, Jonah realizes he’ll do anything to keep Annie by his side, permanently.
This book was simultaneously sweet and suspenseful, and the pacing was just right to hold my attention. Annie had to grow on me a bit, but anything she did that I found annoying was easy to brush off since she was in a highly stressful situation herself. Quiet, slightly broody Jonah made for an interesting hero, and I loved his combination of tough, capable rancher, and introverted mystery writer. His chivalry and protectiveness, as well as his openness with Annie about his feelings made him a real winner as a hero for me. I was a little bit annoyed by the way the final climactic/actiony scenes were handled and especially the control-freak federal agent who had, in my opinion, way too much page time and caused an unwarranted separation between the MCs that disturbed the story’s flow. I think this scene and the one following it could’ve been handled in a way that allowed the hero to really shine and provided some really satisfying romantic declarations, so it felt like a missed opportunity and when those declarations did come, it felt a bit anticlimactic. Other than that, I really enjoyed the story and was thoroughly charmed by the Merrick family and their close-knit dialogue, and I was delighted to see a satisfactory resolution for Liz and Chet as well.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/3416009080
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4166562428
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