Six years ago, golden girl Dakota McGraw left Resurrection, Montana behind to chase her dreams of opening up Ava Hunter is SUCH an underrated author!
Six years ago, golden girl Dakota McGraw left Resurrection, Montana behind to chase her dreams of opening up a bakery. With that she left the love of her life, Davis Montgomery behind too. Now, she's running– leaving the new life she longed for up in flames... literally. Now she's back in town, and Davis swears to protect her from everything she's afraid of. Not only does her new life leave her with a lot of baggage, but she's pregnant with the baby of the very man she's running from. She and Davis snuck around back in the day, but now everything is different.
I LOVE SECOND-CHANCE ROMANCE SO MUCH. Davis is a retired marine who now volunteers at the sheriff's station and helps rehabilitate DOGS. WHAT A MAN. I'm not a big military romance girl, but a lot of western romances include them, so I just go along with it. He did reference his marine life a lot in this one, so if you're not open to just ignoring it, then skip this one!
What personally shined a lot for me other than Davis' unconditional love for Dakota, is the McGraw family. Dakota, her sister, Fallon, and their dad Stede are everything to me. The Montgomery brothers see Stede as a father figure and the way Stede treats them is so wholesome. Fallon and Dakota got off to a rocky start, but Hunter shows sisterhood at its finest.
The suspense storyline can make or break it in a romance and I think this book did it perfectly. I'm also a reader of the Sugarland Creek series by Brooke Montgomery, which are other yeehaw suspense romance books, and I think the Runaway Ranch series blends the suspense and romance a lot better than those do. Not to rudely compare, but if you're looking for another series similar to this one, read those! I do find it silly when it comes to romantic suspense series because these people are always getting into murder scandals constantly LOL. But, it's fiction so I'm not here for realism.
I don't know if people will like this because of the pregnancy trope, but mostly because of the romance. Dakota and Davis love each other from the BEGINNING. There is no real angst or "Oh my god does he like me?" because it's obvious, at least to the reader. I wouldn't call it Insta-love because obviously, these two have history we don't see much of, but we don't get to see their initial attraction. With that being said, I still think Ava Hunter did a GREAT job, I gave this five stars, didn't I? I just think some might be disappointed in that area.
Do I need to read book one to read this story? Not at all! I'm a firm believer in reading the series in order when it comes to interconnected standalones, but in this case, Hunter recaps Charlie and Ruby's story from Tame the Heart so well that you could skip it if you're not curious about them. However, if you do want to read their story, I wouldn't read Rope the Moon first because you'll get spoiled for everything that went down in their book!
Overall, I ate this book up. I loved that from the BEGINNING, Davis stood his ground and told Dakota she was stuck with him and she wouldn't feel unsafe or alone ever again. That's a MAN. I'm assuming we'll be getting Fallon's story next and I'm really nervous for her. She's easily become a character that I'm awaiting the story of (+Ford, I need that asshole's book, NOW). ...more
I'm going to write an awful review for this book solely because I stayed up WAAAY past my bedtime to finish this book.
First and foremost, Brittainy CI'm going to write an awful review for this book solely because I stayed up WAAAY past my bedtime to finish this book.
First and foremost, Brittainy Cherry did THAT. I've always heard wonderful things about her books, but I didn't realize how amazing it would be. Cherry's writing is so simple yet so impactful and beautiful. It touches your soul in ways most books can't.
The Air He Breathes follows widows, Tristan and Elizabeth who meet under circumstances and fall in love. Elizabeth is a newly widowed single mother and has decided to move back to the town she and her husband lived in together a year after his death. Moving back isn't easy for her or her baby girl, Emma, and transitioning back into a neighborhood full of judgy PTA moms isn't helpful either. Tristan Cole is known as the town asshole. No one likes him and even though he is stunning the town believes he's a waste of face with a personality that reeks almost as much as himself. As these two navigate their loss and find the same loss and emptiness in each other's eyes, they go from neighbors to semi-friends with benefits and use each other as surrogates for the partners they've lost.
This was BEAUTIFUL. Their story was so heartwrenching and the end took such a romantic suspense turn that I wasn't expecting. Emma is such a sweet girl and Elizabeth was doing her absolute best to step up. Once I found out about the white feathers on the cover my heart was so warm.
Tristan is an asshole at first, but once you realize it's a front to help him cope with his loss and all of the hurt in his heart, you realize he's just a guy who doesn't know what to do.
This is a beautiful love story that won't be for everyone. It's full of angst and of course, the thriller plot line thrown in at the end felt slightly sudden, but I loved it.
My only issue was the jokes that you can tell are a product of 2015. "Fatty Matty" and The Hulk jokes are things I could have lived without. ...more
I'm struggling between rating this a three-star and a four-star read solely because I loved this but also have so many questions. (If I change my ratiI'm struggling between rating this a three-star and a four-star read solely because I loved this but also have so many questions. (If I change my rating to a four, mind your business!!!!!)
Come With Me is the prequel to the Sugarland Creek series. The main five books in the series follow the Hollis siblings, but this book is about the honorary sibling, Ayden. 10 years ago, Ayden left his high school sweetheart and love of his life behind in Texas to escape his abusive and power-hungry father. What he didn't know, was he was now leaving his ex-girlfriend, Laney pregnant with their daughter and she had no way to contact him. Back in Texas, Laney and Ayden's best friend are being harassed by his father. Laney has decided enough is enough and tracks Ayden down to Sugarland Creek Ranch and Equine Resort where they catch up, spill secrets, and see how much the other has changed. A sweet second-chance romance with a secret baby turns into a romantic suspense.
I didn't know there'd be a thrilling element to this 182-page prequel novella and that is the main thing that threw me off. Normally, I dislike romance novellas because it's 99% smut and a love story that, personally, moves too quickly, but this one was so good! The first half felt so much different than the second half, primarily because of the suspenseful storyline, but other than that this was great! The romance was well done and the book itself was so interesting. I cannot wait to read about all of the Hollis siblings because I adore everything about this town and the characters that I've seen so far.
I did have a bit of a problem with how quick the storyline went, but as I said previously I can't really complain because this is a novella. I wanted more groveling from Ayden's character because while I understand why he had to leave, especially after finishing this novella, I wish there was more angst to it. Laney had to go through so much to raise and keep their daughter, Serena Mae, and even though Laney's love for Ayden didn't ever dwindle, I just wish they took that a little slower, but that is just personal preference.
I bought the other two books that are released so far in this series for my birthday last month, so I cannot wait to get to those!
Stay With Me had such promise, but unfortunately the pacing tanked this rating HARD.
Magnolia has had a crush on her best friend's older brother, TripStay With Me had such promise, but unfortunately the pacing tanked this rating HARD.
Magnolia has had a crush on her best friend's older brother, Tripp, since high school, but he's never truly shown interest until now. Living her dream with the man of her dreams is easy until a drunken hookup with her ex-boyfriend three weeks ago catches up to her and she finds out she's pregnant. Knowing how much baggage and hurt can come from dating someone pregnant with the guy he hates baby, Magnolia decides to cut off their secret relationship and be friends again. That is until Magnolia's apartment gets broken into and she feels unsafe being there. Feeling protective over the woman he loves, Magnolia moves into Tripp's house, but it's hard being in the same room with the man you love that you just friendzoned. When he goes to her appointments, picks up the food she's craving and is with her baby shopping, it's easy to pretend he's the father, especially when people keep congratulating him and he doesn't correct them.
The reason this book went from a potential five-star to a three is because of the pacing. It took almost 300 out of the 410 pages to get to the actual plot: The baby, the break-in, and the moving-in. The first 105 were backstory on Tripp and Magnolia and then the present day plot, then pages 106~290 were just Tripp and Magnolia hooking up, her saying how she's thinking of what they did so much she's had to change her panties 800 times, sexting, her getting fingered, him calling her a good girl, and then them saying "breeding kink" in the same chapter like eight times (exaggerated).
I'm not a smut girlie and I don't knock a book down if there is too much smut because I bought the book so that is just fully MY BAD if I didn't know, but this one had a LOT more than the previous books in the series which is completely fine, but I wanted less of them (finger)banging, more of them being cuties and we only really get that when she's drawn the boundary of them being friends.
I also didn't like the romantic suspense storyline. I had this problem in the prequel to this series, Come With Me, where the first half of the book feels miles different than the second half. The suspense storyline in this one just comes out of left field. While the robberies and break-ins are talked about throughout the story, it's in passing and very sparingly. It's one of those types of dialogues where it is ONLY there for the sake of having this huge moment in the latter half of the book but doesn't really need to be there nor make much sense. By the time you get to the second half/ the last 100 pages, it's deadly, threatening, and guns are ablazin'. It just felt so silly because that's not the tone of the first half! I wish it was blended a bit better.
It kills me to give this three stars because Tripp and Magnolia are PERFECT for each other. They balance each other so well and they're genuinely one of my favorite book couples. Magnolia is just so outspoken and cute and Tripp has been set on Magnolia since the beginning. It was only ever HER for him and I adore that.
I also wish the Billy storyline was explored more/ wasn't there at all. It was only brought up when it was convenient and I once again felt like it was one of those things just added for the sake of having depth when the author wanted to have an emotional scene. He was brought up in the first chapter, then here and there when he was having his anxiety attacks, but perhaps that's just my contemporary fiction-loving brain nitpicking. ...more
This is now my top cowboy romance recommendation because Ava Hunter did the damn thing.
Tame the Heart follows the epic love story of Ruby and Charlie.This is now my top cowboy romance recommendation because Ava Hunter did the damn thing.
Tame the Heart follows the epic love story of Ruby and Charlie. Ruby has lived with Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT), a condition where your heart beats rapidly and causes her to faint and potentially die, her whole life and is constantly guarded and kept in a cage by her father and brother. While they're doing it because they love and want to protect her, Ruby feels like she hasn't truly lived her life since before her diagnosis. Running away from home to finally be set free with nothing but her car and an epic bucket list in hopes of making it to California, she takes a pitstop in Resurrection, Montana for the summer.
Charlie Montgomery has lived in Resurrection for ten years and founded Runaway Ranch after a traumatic incident left him scarred and heartbroken. When a "Karen" posts a video exposing one of Charlie's brothers for being a little rude, people are trying to boycott the ranch causing many to cancel their trips and may cost the Montgomery siblings everything. That is until the strawberry blonde sunshine, Ruby bumps into his life and begs him to hire her as a social media manager so the world can see the true Runaway Ranch and save their reputation.
What starts as attraction turns into a summer fling with no strings attached. But the more time Charlie and Ruby spend together, the more they start to realize they may be healing each other's hearts. But, someone doesn't want the ranch to be saved, and Runaway Ranch may cost Ruby her heart and her life.
I've never really read romantic suspense before and this is a good balance between the contemporary western romance and the suspenseful storyline. This book had me feeling SOOOO many emotions. I was kicking my feet at Ruby and Charlie's story, then giggling over how funny the Montgomery brothers are, squeezing my heart for how sweet Charlie, Ruby, and the entire ranch are to each other, and then having my jaw drop to the floor when the mystery storyline began to unfold.
I adored Ruby from the minute she appeared on the page. She just wants to live and breathe and be seen as a woman, not a patient. She was so cute and the way she and Charlie were discussing thorn days and sunflower days made my heart so happy. I adore them to pieces.
Charlie is also a MAN. I loved him. If you want a gentleman on his knees, who talks you through it and is constantly giving praise; HERE YOU GO. He is such a great love interest and he is so precious. The way his brothers talk about him
The romance aspect was obviously a big standout, but the family connection is so beautiful. The way all of these brothers care about each other and immediately take Ruby into the family. Not to mention, Fallon's dad calls the Montgomerys his sons. SOB.
I also loved how important the horses and ranch aspects were to this series. Sometimes when I read cowboy romance books, you can tell the authors don't really care to "world-build" and just slap a cowboy hat on them and call it a day, but this book had it all. This is everything I love in a book and then some. I couldn't get enough of them and I am patiently waiting for book two because of DAVIS and DAKOTAAAAA.
I think Wyatt is the book I am looking forward to the most.
I am the #1 hater when it comes to age-gap romances as they make me uncomfortable if one of them is under 25, but Brooke MontgomeAbsolutely no notes.
I am the #1 hater when it comes to age-gap romances as they make me uncomfortable if one of them is under 25, but Brooke Montgomery made Noah and Fisher's relationship in such a mature way. THIS is how you do the age-gap trope.
Noah Hollis is the only girl and the youngest at age 22 out of five siblings. The Hollis family runs Sugarland Creek's Ranch and Equine Resort and Noah is the best horse trainer in town. Out at a bar one night she meets this extremely hot older man and they have the hottest night of their lives, but when she wakes up to look at his license, not only is he double her age, but he's her ex-boyfriend's dad. YIKES!
Fisher Underwood has had a rough life. He got married and had his first kid at age 20, but after an accident killed his daughter in front of him his wife and son blame him for the death and he hasn't stepped foot in Sugarland Creek since. Until, his son, Jase, wants to reconnect with him. When Fisher and Noah get caught by security, he realizes Noah is a Hollis, the same people who just hired him to be their new farrier. With a strict "no employees romantically fraternizing" rule and trying to mend the relationship with his son, Fisher and Noah are in big trouble.
The Hollis family is such a sight to behold. I love their family dynamic so much and how they're willing to go to war for the people they love. I also love that this book's discreet/ special edition copy is a mock-up of what their family scrapbooks look like!! It's talked about in the book so much, so having a physical copy of this book is now so special to me.
As previously mentioned, I don't like age-gap romances. They make me feel icky when they constantly mention the younger person's age or the "I was in high school when they were born" type of comments, but Noah and Fisher were both so mature. Noah is a badass and knows what she wants, she genuinely felt like an older character and I wasn't bothered by it at all. They both seemed like mature adults who wanted to take it slow in this relationship and I admired that. Not to mention, they're both hot and Fisher is a man who loves to give and praise. I guess I can like age-gap romances when they're not weirdly written!
There is also a slight suspense storyline to this book. In the prequel novella, it is much more of a suspense storyline, in this one, it's more so sabotage. It's not super prevalent and the romance is still 95% of the book!
Overall, the prequel and this first novel in the series are PHENOMENAL, and I'm so excited for book two! It's a best-friends brother romance and I am HYPED. ...more
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