My One True Cowboy
By Soraya Lane
Release Date: March 31, 2020
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Book #4 in the River Ranch series
Number of pages: 304
Kindle Edition
Source: ARC from Net Galley
Contemporary Romance/Military M/F
Rating: NC-17
Read 3/24/20 to 3/27/20
HOME IS WHERE…
Angelina Ford is heading back to Texas hiding the biggest secret of her life: bankruptcy. The business she created in L.A. is shuttered, as are her hopes and dreams. Facing her family with her big, bad news isn’t going to be easy. Which is why bumping into Logan Brody is an unexpected gift. Instead of facing her failure—and future—she can play catch-up with her old childhood friend. . .who happens to have grown up to be a strong, gorgeous man.…THE HOPE IS
Logan was always a responsible boy. It’s no surprise that the brawny ex-soldier has decided to return from active duty to run his family’s ranch. Still, Angelina can’t help noticing the changes in Logan, from the haunted look in his eyes to the retired military dog who never leaves his side. He puts up a good front, acting as Texas-tough as can be. But Logan is carrying a secret of his own—one that could bring him closer than ever to his tried-and-true Angelina. . .or tear them both apart.
Throughout this series, this author has (with good reason) made readers not really like Angelina too terribly much. She’s quite rigid and cold in the other books. And, quite honestly, Ange is a bit uptight compared to her siblings. That’s her nature and that’s okay. But she’s far from unfeeling, which is quickly discovered in this story. She has a certain persona that she wears as armor. Angelina has spent her life trying to prove herself to her father and those around her when she has absolutely nothing to prove. Her father is very proud of her, and would be no matter what.
Logan is the perfect mix of brooding and caring; closed off and overwhelmingly generous. He’s had so much happen to him in the last year it’s hard for him to grasp what he wants and needs from life at this point in time. He lives each day on auto pilot; keeping to himself, running his parents’ ranch, eating the same meals day in and day out. The only things that even begin to get him out of his own head are his dog and his best-friend’s wife and daughter.
The fateful day Logan and Angelina run into each other at the grocery store, they hadn’t seen each other in well over 10 years. Although they were best friends in high school and kept in touch for a long time, the last few years that contact had even petered out. Now, they are both back in their hometown at the same time. It’s obvious from that first interaction that the “just friends” mantra they fed to everyone back in high school was a cover, there are some major sparks. Plus, there’s a kind of comfort between the two that seems to settle them both.
Of course, there are many ups and downs and a myriad of issues these two must tackle before finding their HEA. For much of it, I was right on board. Logan’s story, especially, touched my heart. While I understood Ange’s issues, I found it harder to connect with her. My life and world view are drastically different than hers. I enjoy that because how boring would reading be if all the characters were just like me? But I just didn’t sympathize with her the way I did with Logan. And I have to add, I enjoy that she didn’t go to her small town from the big city and “discover” she hated the city life. The author used the more realistic approach that Angelina loves things about her hometown and loves people in her hometown, but still thrives on her city life.
As for Logan, after a time he started to lose me. There was a cycle with him and it went on one too many times for me. I would think things were getting resolved, and this couple would throw me for a loop again. Unfortunately, the last bit of this book seemed to drag because of this repetitive conflict. And then the conclusion totally threw me for a loop and seemed pretty out in left field.
So, the first ¾ of this story were a homerun. It just lost steam toward the end. But it still has a beautiful HEA and is definitely worth the read.
3.5 stars
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
All In Good Time 