Series: Once Upon a Time in Texas, #2
Traits & Tropes: second chance; hero with commitment issues
Publication Date: 03.31.20
Genre/Setting: Contemporary; Texas Hill Country, USA
Heat Level: 2
Rating: 3.5/5
Claire Kowalski is determined to find her Prince Charming, but after giving her heart to Ford Jarvis two years ago only to have him leave anyway, she’s not so sure she’ll find him. Now Ford is back in her small town of Big Verde, Texas, and Claire is determined to learn from her past mistakes, even though he still knows exactly how to get under her skin and becomes irresistible when her need for his help means spending quite a bit of time together.
Ford had no plans of returning to or remaining in Big Verde but when the Kowalskis need help, he can’t turn his back on them. He’s not thrilled at the reminders of the home and family that he’ll never be able to have, but he’ll stay on the ranch temporarily, just long enough to help Claire get things back on track. But in teaching Claire the ins and outs of being a ranch foreman, Ford finds his feelings for her are just as strong as they ever were and he begins to question everything he ever believed about what he wanted and could have in life, leaving him to finally fight to have a permanent home with the only woman he’s ever loved.
I must admit, for the first half of this book I could barely tolerate Claire. Her hostility toward Ford was understandable, but she complained about him treating her like a child when she did nothing but act like one. She knew about the experiences of his past and knew that a flood would be triggering for him, yet she still continued to give him a hard time about trying to keep her safe in the flood and brought up near-constant reminders for him. Her pomposity in the beginning made it hard to like her and her penchant for risk taking, which I think was meant to make her more dimensional and interesting somehow just didn’t have that effect for me. For a long time it was hard to see her as anything more than a spoiled princess and Ford was just sort of flat, with lack of emotion being his only characterization. All that said, they both grew on me. Claire really stepped up both with her family’s ranch and her ideas for diversifying it and with summoning the nerve to show Ford affection and love, even knowing that he’d probably still leave. Ford had a lot of baggage to deal with and was bogged down by his fear of failing someone he loved again. I would’ve loved to see more communication about this between him and Claire, though we did at least get a little bit near the end, it just seemed a bit short. Much of this story did seem to be rather unnecessarily drawn out and rather slow-paced, and the depiction of cancer treatment and battle was extremely difficult for me to read having just been through this situation personally. Overall, however, I was satisfied by this story and charmed by the supporting characters and the small-town setting that left me wishing I lived in a place like this.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
https://www.bookbub.com/reviews/1687260735
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5360650506
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