Jennifer Ryan (1)

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Introduction
Max Wilde’s Cowboy Heart is the third installment in the series, and I am pretty sure its just a trilogy so this is the finale, but we did get hints for the next series or at least I am crossing my fingers on that. I have to say that this book is my favorite of the trilogy actually. I absolutely loved this one so dearly. In fact, once I picked this one, I couldn’t put it down. I was so gravitated show more towards this book and I became so easily immersed into this novel. This author definitely did some magic wonder with this one here. I will say that I adored this one in every way. She definitely delivered a kick ass romance to finish off the trilogy while also giving her readers teasers for upcoming books. And I am not going to lie, this book will tear your heart out! Its full of so much heartfelt emotion, and I loved every single moment that we get with this one here. This romance is a second chance and the type of second chance where a couple deserves to find their way back to each other while also there being lots of danger surrounding them as well.

Summary
The story starts off with our heroine, Kenna Baker. Max Wilde and Kenna were once sweetheart and had a epic love but then something tore them apart out of a misunderstanding. Now its been years later, and Kenna is a local teacher and working on moving on with her life even though her heart will always belong to Max Wilde. But when her brother disappears with a message that he is on the run from someone, she doesn’t think much of it until she comes home from a date, her home ransacked, and her date murdered right in front of her trying to protect her. Now she has a target on her back, her brother is on the run from criminals and FBI, and she is forced to be living in the same home as Max Wilde when his brother tries to do some matchmaking and with her life in danger, there is little that Max or Kenna can do about it. While trying to figure out what her brother is up to and who is behind everything, Max and Kenna are forced to hash out the past and come to terms with what happened and find a way to come back together as the truth becomes reveals fully to them and they rediscover a love for each other that never died…

My Outlook
My heart…this story delivered everything for me and more! This is probably one of the best books by this author I have read in a while. I am not sure exactly what it was about this book but everything in it just clicked perfectly for me. From the beginning I was hooked into this story and I just couldn’t put it down. But also the story had me in ALL of my feels and I was so swept away by this romance and all the emotion that was so smoothly delivered on this one here. I was cheering on Max and Kenna all the way through. You just know from the beginning that there is so much more to the story because they each blame themselves for the breakup when it was so much more than that. And once the truth of what really happened comes to the surface, my heart broke for these two. Throughout the trilogy we have known what a beautiful love story these two have had and seeing them finally get their justly HEA was so satisfying. I adored seeing them lay everything out on the table and really embrace what they have together.

Now as for the plot of the story, there is actually so much happening in this book and my heart really broke for the heroine. We have the plot happening with her brother who discovered something he shouldn’t have, and hid it away because it could be dangerous for ANYONE to actually have possession of. And then we have the trauma that Kenna faces losing a good friend but also having to be a prisoner on the Wilde ranch while the FBI tries to find her brother and the ones hunting him. The ending really tore me up but I wonder if the author has plans for the brother? I am kinda hoping she finds a way to bring him a HEA, it might be we never learn about what truly happens with him but I am kinda hoping this isn’t the last time we see him. Then we also have a teaser with the Wilde’s cousin as there seemed to be something between her and the MC biker, and I am like going to explode because is this author going to do a MC themed series or something? Because I would be completely down for that.

Overall View
I found Max Wilde’s Cowboy Heart to be a heart wrenching romance that delivers on the country charm atmosphere, the fierce family bonds, a epic love story that deserves a happy ending and enough heart to satisfy any romantic reader! UTTERLY SATISFYING!

Rating Evaluation:
Plot: 5
World Building: 5
Cover:5
Hero: 5
Heroine: 5
Steam: 4
Heart & Feels:5
Ending:5
Overall View: 5 show less

3.5 stars

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

With a drug kingpin father, paranoid delusion uncle, and deceased mother, Cara has learned and protected herself with her trust issues. She runs a truck stop coffee house devoted to giving parolees second chances but trying to keep her life separate from her father's is proving more and more difficult.

As a DEA Special Agent, Dawson has devoted his show more life to taking drugs off the street and taking down the bad guys. When a drug dealer uses his skills as a sniper to take out a rival, he makes it his personal mission to send him to jail. Trying to get an in with the man's daughter may prove fruitless in entering the drug world but Dawson may have succeeded in finally finding love.

So he couldn't trust her. She didn't trust him.

Second in the Montana Heat series, True to You focuses on Dawson King, a DEA Special Agent sniper. His bestfriend was the hero in the first book and while his story was summarized nicely, I felt a little rushed and lost in the very beginning while the set-up involving the drug cartel plot opened up. Reading the first book would have definitely helped but after a couple chapters I was able to settle into the world the author had created. Even though I had a bit of a whiplash feeling as previous events were rattled off, the prologue was incredibly gripping with our DEA sniper hero being put to the fire.

She didn't even know his name. Not his real name.

The set-up of having our hero Dawson going undercover to try and get close to his target's daughter Cara provided a great tension filled romance. Cara was an extremely distrustful heroine, she was a tough cookie but what kept her from crossing into the stubborn for angst sake well was her willingness to put it on the line when she couldn't fight getting close to the hero anymore; she was strong and passionate. While Cara learned her trust issues, Dawson's was trained and because his work and life depended on his cover, he couldn't just reveal all to Cara. I know we're dealing with fiction but the author did such a great job of creating realness to not only the characters but the story. The focus wasn't mainly on Cara and Dawson's sexual relationship, although there are some sexy times, but their emotional one. They had a full circle of meeting, distrust, attraction, bonding, betrayal, hurt, and then coming together. All the building blocks were there to create and enjoy a rounded out romance.

This was no lie.

With a cover that seems to project a more light and fluffy story, this was anything but. The drug cartel plot gets slightly more attention than the romance. The suspense doesn't come from overt action scenes but more from the reader watching and learning who and how the chess pieces are moving. The author did a great job of creating a multifaceted villain, the heroine's father named Iceman, but I thought the story lacked from getting more of his point of views. I would have also liked a smidge more drug cartel action with a little less hammering of how crappy Cara's life had been, it felt like trying to force the reader to really be in sympathy with her.

"There is right and wrong, truth and lies. We are in between those lines."

The story has a little bit of a sputtering ending with the action being over and the emotional relationship aspects staggering to the end but this also gave the readers a fully constructed ending, however, the added epilogue then seemed a bit unnecessary and cheesy. This had trust issues that cover secrets that are too important to be openly revealed, action that occasionally flirts with believability, but hotness that endangers and seduces. True to You was an impressive, fun, and hot romantic suspense story that also had a sexy hero who made a mean cherry tart. I'll definitely be checking out Jennifer Ryan's backlist and future releases. show less

Austin and Sonya seem worlds apart at first glance, but at heart they are one and the same. Both are struggling with the past. Both are grappling to keep a handle on their present, Both have their sites set on a future more steady and prosperous. The thing is...sometimes the best laid plans go SERIOUSLY awry, and in this case, that's the best thing for them both! What Austin's father (and his former fiancée because yeah...I'm not counting her blameless in this!) did to their family was show more unforgivable. What Sonya's mother's relations did to them was beyond excusable. While it wasn't all done to them on an individual level, they have hearts, which they've promptly buried (understandably so), so yeah, the pain is still there. The resentment, the anger, the desire for payback...all swim in a pool of unhealthy WANT just waiting to be set free...but sometimes the soul recognizes another soul and a connection is forged that is strong enough to carry them both through the fires of earthly heck they've been given and rise above. This is that story....filled with harsh realities, unrepentant evil, and yet, so much love at long last. If you're a Contemporary Romance fan, this one's for you!



**copy received for review; opinions are my own show less

I have read many books where the male lead is the one coming back from a war and suffering from PTSD. Yet, I rarely read about the female lead being the war hero. That is what drew me to pick up this book and read it. I will tell you I read in one day. Yes, this book is a one day read! His Cowboy Heart took me on an emotional roller coaster with great characters!

I loved both Ford and Jamie. The sweet nickname that Ford has for Jamie, I could not help but melt at the love behind it. The show more nickname is "Firefly". In addition, I just loved how Ford did not push Jamie to heal quicker and acknowledged both her physical and emotional scars. He was not turned off by either of them.

Author, Jennifer Ryan did a wonderful job of not shying away from the topic of PTSD in this book. She brought the subject matter to the front which I appreciated. PTSD is real and people need to be aware of PTSD. As the author highlights in this book, it does not just affect the person (Jamie) but all of those around the person as well (Ford). The first time that Ford and Jamie made love, I had a smile on my face. Because, they were meant for each other and I could see Jamie starting to let her guard down. show less