Stone Cold Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan Series: Montana Men #4
Publication Date: February 23rd 2016
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Source: Publisher
Format: eARC
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Disclaimer: I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely mine.
The last thing rancher Rory Kendrick expects to find when he’s searching for his missing cattle is a genuine damsel in distress. After rushing to help, he can’t help wanting to do anything he can for this lovely but damaged woman. But even his kind deed won’t get Sadie to tell him who’s responsible for hurting her.
Sadie is trying to hold onto her family, and her life. With an ill father who’s refusing treatment and a younger brother who has fallen in with a dangerous crowd, she’s beginning to feel like she can’t save anyone, least of all herself. When her brother owes money to the wrong people, Sadie tries to pay off his debts, but she doesn’t have the cash. The one person who might be able to help her out is the last person she wants to involve in her family drama, but Rory won’t take no for an answer.
Rory is all about family, but sometimes you’ve got to let go. If you can’t save them, save yourself. Sadie’s been dealt a bad hand she refuses to fold. Because he loves her, he’ll do anything to keep her safe and give her the happy life she deserves, even betray her trust to take down her brother.
Review
STONE COLD COWBOY starts out with a punch of raw intensity and pretty much delivers more of the same throughout the book. Even with the powerful and unsettling opening chapter, Ms. Ryan still manages to balance out the danger with a sweet and exhilarating romance all the way to the end of the book.
Sadie Higgins has spent her whole life trying to take care of her family after her mother’s death and no matter how much she does, she’s barely keeping her head above water. Between the mounting bills, the upkeep of the ranch, her brother’s slide into drug addiction and the cost of his criminal activities, Sadie is pretty much tapped out. The last straw comes when her brother abandons her after she’s attacked and left to die by one of his cohorts, but it’s also the start of something beautiful in her life and it’s now her turn to be pampered and taken care of.
Rory Kendrick is on the hunt for cattle rustlers who have been stealing from him but the hunt takes a backseat to protecting Sadie. He’s always been interested in her and now he has the perfect chance to keep her safe and happy, no matter the cost.
Honestly? I think Sadie was too optimistic about the chances of her brother’s rehabilitation and should have cut him loose long before things got that far, but I can’t fault her for hoping day after day that the sweet boy she grew up with would find his way back.
I loved the Kendrick boys and their grandfather, their fun and delightful relationship, their playful banter and how they opened up their hearts and home to Sadie, as well as supported her in her decision to protect her brother even though he was undeserving of it.
STONE COLD COWBOY is a really great story with characters that are easy to relate to and is filled with action, danger, loss and emotion; at times uncomfortable and frustrating, but also carries a powerful message of hope and unconditional love.
Excerpt
Sadie crested the rolling hill and spotted her target: her missing horses and a herd of cattle that didn’t belong to her reckless brother. She didn’t waste a hope he was saving them from some predator. Not with two of his miscreant cohorts right beside him pushing the mooing and bawling animals farther along the valley. Leave it to her brother to make trouble with no regard for the consequences. If he got caught rustling cattle, he’d expect her to get him out of it. She’d been saving his butt since he hit a rebellious stage at thirteen that turned into his way of life, escalating from pranks to petty theft and drug dealing. What happened to the sweet boy who loved to swing the highest at the play- ground? The one who cried at their mother’s funeral and brushed his hand over Sadie’s hair that same night while they cried themselves to sleep on their mother’s side of the bed? At twenty-one Connor had changed from a sensitive boy into nothing short of a hoodlum numbed by drugs, with no regard for anyone else. One day she feared he’d end up in jail for the rest of his life . . . or dead.
If whoever owned those cattle didn’t kill him, she might.
A soft pat on the neck and a nudge with her heels sent her horse Sugar down the hill in a trot. Sadie loved to ride, but chasing after her brother took the pleasure right out it. The cold wind, scented with pine, grass, and rain from the storm last night that had left the ground muddy, whipped her hair out behind her and burned her cheeks. Her lips dried and cracked in the bitter cold.
Her horse’s fast approach startled several cattle. They broke off from the herd and scattered. She rode straight up the middle and split the herd in two, hoping to discourage the animals from following the rider up front and the two flanking them. Her brother spot- ted her and reined his horse around to meet hers. She pulled up short and stopped beside him, glaring at his ruddy face, red from the cold. His intense gaze collided with hers. His pupils were the size of saucers. High. Irritated he’d been caught, he narrowed his eyes on her.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Her lips drew into a grim line. “Saving your ass from making another mistake.”
“Get out of here before you get hurt.” Connor scanned the area, avoiding looking at the two guys with him, who closed in on them. “You have to go now.”
Sadie sighed out her frustration. The cows had stopped walking down the valley and milled around them, chomping at the new grass just beginning to grow after the last of the snow melted. The cold temps remained even as spring pushed in to take winter’s place. She stared at the poor, tired animals. Her brother and his buddies had pushed them hard and brought them a long way. One steer turned, and she caught a glimpse of the brand on his hide.
She sucked in a surprised breath. “These are Kendrick cattle. Are you crazy? Those guys will hunt you down and beat the living shit out of you. If Rory comes after you, you’ll wish you were never born.”
She’d gone to school with Colt Kendrick, but didn’t really know him. The last time she saw him, he’d been sitting around a table with his two older brothers at the bar. She’d gone to drag her brother home after the bar- tender called to let her know Connor was playing pool and looking for a fight. He’d nearly gotten one when he stumbled into Colt and dumped beer down his front. Sadie stepped in just in time, blocking her brother from the punch Colt threw and almost landed straight in her face, until Rory grasped his brother’s wrist and stopped his swing inches from her nose. When her brother tried to go after Colt, she’d tried to hold him off, but he got around her. Rory grabbed Connor by the shirt and held him off the ground in front of him like he didn’t weigh more than a puppy. He’d looked her brother in the eyes and shook him hard to get his attention. He didn’t speak. Didn’t have to. The ominous look in his eyes made her brother quake in his boots. Rory set her brother down with a thud, and Connor ran for the door. Sadie chased after him, but not before she turned back and caught the feral look in Rory’s eyes. The same kind of look she’d seen weeks earlier when she plowed into Rory’s big, solid body in the feed store. The man was hard and unyielding, physically and mentally. You did not go up against a Kendrick, and especially him. Her stupid brother got off free and clear that time.
Connor scratched at a scab on his chin. “If you keep your fucking mouth shut and get lost, they’ll never know.”
“You don’t think they’re going to know an entire herd of cattle is missing? You’ve lost your mind, little brother.”
He puffed out his thin chest, his bony shoulders going back. “I’m not little. I can take care of myself,” he whined like the child he acted like most of the time. “You have yet to prove that in any capacity. If it weren’t for me, you’d have been locked up in juvy at fourteen. All these years later, you’re not proving to be any smarter than that punk kid who cried and begged me to save him. You promised me on our mother’s grave you’d do better, you’d quit drinking and doing drugs. But you didn’t keep that promise to me, or her.” “I warned you.” The words belied the sad, resigned look that came into his eyes.
A split second later, she had the blink of an eye to understand what he meant. A fist slammed into her face, sending her off her horse and into the mud, grass, and darkness.
About Jennifer Ryan
Jennifer Ryan is the New York Times & USA Today bestselling author of The Hunted Series and The McBrides Series. She writes romantic suspense and contemporary small-town romances featuring strong men and equally resilient women. Her stories are filled with love, family, friendship, and the happily-ever-after we all hope to find. Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she isn’t writing a book, she’s reading one. Her obsession with both is often revealed in the state of her home and in how late dinner is to the table. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper.
Great review! I really enjoyed this one. Thank you for hosting today.