ranch | Susan Baganz

Linda Yezak has finally released the follow-up to Give the Lady a Ride and I couldn’t be more thrilled. Mom was given an advanced copy to read and could not put The Final Ride down. After all, we all love cowboy stories, don’t we? My only complaint is there was no dog on that ranch. What’s up with that?

Patricia’s friend Marie is away on her honeymoon. Talon longs to marry Patricia but she’s hesitant because of the betrayal of her previous husband. He’d lied to her. She believes Talon would never do that but if he did, it could be a deal breaker for their relationship. Her aunt arrives to try to tempt her back to New York and life on the ranch gets chaotic. Romance and time alone with her beau become scarce.

Talon is faced with a dilemma. He’s a bull-rider but his last ride left him injured and recovery was hard. In the meantime he’s fallen in love with Patricia, the owner of the ranch he works for. Patricia is an “Uptown Girl” who’s finally adapted to ranch life. She loves him but has asked him to promise not to ride a bull again.

But if he does ride would he lose Patricia and his livelihood as well? Would he be sacrificing everything? And what if that’s exactly what God is calling him to do?

When the season gears up and the desire to ride is great, coupled with the taunting from a fellow rider, Talon sees red and struggles with the challenge to keep his word and ride again so that when he hangs up his bull-riding hat he’s done so at the top of his game. Not afraid like some would say he was.

The Final Ride is a sweet romance filled with conflict, fun secondary characters and a realistic struggle to negotiate love and the calling and gifts one is given. Mom couldn’t stop smiling when she had finished the book and said she wants a cowboy of her own. She’ll have to settle for me though since she’s allergic to horses!

I’m giving this book five bones even though it didn’t have a dog in it. Mom really liked it a lot. And I don’t do stars–I’m a dog.

Spatzle Baganz, book reviewer for the silygoos blog because that’s how we roll.

5 bones for blog

I was disappointed that I couldn’t snag a free copy of Becky Wade’s Undeniably Yours to review, but there’s always the library! Yay! I loved Becky’s writing in My Stubborn Heart and she has been nominated for some pretty awesome awards for that novel. Just rising to that level of awareness in this industry is an achievement in and of itself. The thing is, Becky deserves it. She writes phenomenal contemporary romances.

Undeniably Yours is totally different from My Stubborn Heart. It is not a sequel but an entirely new story in its own right and written with just as much compelling drama and romance. Meg Cole had no desire to run her father’s oil business and had an agreement that for ten years she could do her own thing. His death shortened that dream and put her at the helm of a business she had no skills or knowledge about. With the advice of her many staff members, she starts by cutting costs and one of those cuts was the Thoroughbred racehorse farm that was her father’s pet indulgence.

Bo Porter had worked hard in partnership Whispering Creek Ranch to make the Thoroughbred Farm a profitable venture and he’s just about to break even when the blow comes. He’s been fired and he has to terminate everyone, sell the horses and close the farm. Something about Mr. Cole’s daughter intrigues him though and he refuses her termination. He negotiates for six months in hopes that maybe she’ll change her mind.

The last thing either of them anticipated was falling in love and the complexities that would ensue. Throw a sociopathic ex-husband into the mix and Oil “royalty” and you have one major adventure! With Bo’s job on the line and their relationship hanging in the balance, Meg seeks God’s guidance as to how to juggle the career she despises with the opportunities it provides. Danger lurks as Meg pursues her passions and finds that helping others puts her at risk.

Undeniably Yours is a well-crafted romance with beautifully drawn out characters will keep you reading and rooting for Meg and Bo and Becky Wade doesn’t leave you wanting with her happy ending. This is a book I hope to read again.