I have mixed feelings about this book. The theme is one of my favorites - friends to lovers. Ryder and Sammy have been friends for seventeen years. Ryder was her refuge from her abusive father, and Sammy brought light to the darkness of his life after his parents' deaths. Their friendship gets complicated when Sammy decides she wants to have a baby and asks Ryder to be the father.

Both Ryder and Sammy have some deep-seated issues working against a successful relationship. Ryder gave up all his plans for the future when his parents died so that he could care for his younger siblings, cousins, and friend. He instantly became a father to them all, plus having to run the ranch. The responsibility was overwhelming, but he stepped up and did it. However, as the years went on, Ryder decided that marriage and children weren't for him. He'd done his bit and wasn't interested in starting again. Looking even deeper, Ryder saw that opening himself up to love would open him up to the same devastating feelings of loss if/when something were to happen.

Sammy is all about maintaining control over her life. She says what she wants to say, not caring if it shocks those around her. In her interactions with men, she always holds part of herself back. She's proud of her independence but doesn't see that she has allowed her past to control her present. Sammy's latest confrontation with her mother makes her realize that she wants more from her life, and she thinks that having a baby will fill that hole.

The development of the relationship between Sammy and Ryder was volatile. It quickly becomes apparent that Ryder has been attracted to Sammy almost since the beginning. He's an honorable man and has kept his attraction buried rather than take advantage of her. His protectiveness and a bit of jealousy pop up when she starts talking about finding a father for her baby. Sammy doesn't take well to Ryder's comments and challenges him to do the job himself. She didn't expect the combustibility of the first time he kissed her and freaked out at the loss of control she experienced. Over the next few weeks, the physical connection between them grew, but both of them fought against admitting their feelings for each other. Their confrontation after Ryder finally confessed his feelings was heart-wrenching. Sammy was terrified that he mistook obligation for love and could only envision a repeat of her parents' marriage. I ached for her as she ran from those fears and rooted for her to face them and overcome them. I hurt for Ryder too, because he finally knew that he wanted it all, only to have Sammy turn down his love. He also had some self-examining to do and was a bit surprised at what he learned about himself. Once they each faced those issues, they were ready to embrace their feelings fully. The ending was good, but I would have liked to get through the baby's birth.

The problem that brought the book from 4 stars to 3 stars was the amount of page-space spent inside Ryder and Sammy's heads. I think their interactions would fill maybe three or four chapters. It felt as though most of the rest was spent inside their heads. And most of that was thinking the same things over and over and over. By the last third of the book, I found myself starting to skim whenever this happened. I may have missed some things because of it, but it was too repetitive to hold my interest. ( )

The Hero Of Hope Springs, by Maisey Yates, is available at booksellers on 7-21-2020. Hero is part of Ms. Yates Gold Valley series. Rather than centered around one family this series is centered around a place, Hope Springs in the Gold Valley, Oregon. Lost of cowboys and ranchers.

Our hero is Ryder Daniels, head of Hope Springs Ranch and his cobbled together family. He's too old for his age, too much responsibility at a young age does that. He's a fixer and is use to being in control and having to make all the decisions. He's boring and needs to lighten up. Sammy Marshall is one of his cobbled together family, since she was a teenager. She's Ryders sunshine, the only light he thinks he has in his life. They both are emotional wrecks but in different ways, he's stoic and she's flighty. They solve their problems, marry and have a baby on the way. Good stuff. Bad stuff is so much inner dialog that I stopped reading it. Every little thing they were thinking. While they were thinking they weren't doing. The worst part is that what dialog I did read wasn't much help and tended to repeat itself later on. At this time some of the other family members have promise so here's hoping the next book is a complete winner.

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