Series: Ryder Ranch, #1
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐💫
Steam: 🔥🔥🔥
Release Date: June 10th, 2021
Summer Paige was lost, alone, and a mess… just like her nearly totaled car. After a glass of whiskey and a promise to keep her safe, I convinced her to stay while she got back on her feet.
It wasn’t long before the innocent beauty turned my life upside down, and I realized she was everything I didn’t know I wanted.
Life was perfect. Until the day I woke up and found her gone.
Her letter was supposed to explain why she left, but it did the opposite and made me want her even more. I had to prove that her past didn’t matter to me because all I wanted was her future. And I intended to do just that… as soon as I found her.
Hunter has a big city girl meeting a hot as hell cowboy in a small town – so obviously I needed it in my life! A quick read, Hunter is my first Anna Brooks book and I enjoyed it! Small town romances are my kryptonite and bonus when the small town gets involved in everyone’s life, even if they are absolutely annoying. And in this story, they are totally up in everyone else’s business and it’s entertaining. Hunter also has a hint of suspense, but nothing too dramatic and it won’t ruin the reading experience if you’re not a fan of romantic suspense.
Summer is driving from Chicago to Texas with a broken heart and a frustrated mind, when she’s run off the road by an adorable cow named Celine. She crashes her car, and is in an absolute panic when a cowboy shows up to lasso Celine and help Summer. Hunter is the cowboy and he’s one of the sons running the Ryder Ranch. Summer and Hunter are drawn to each other like magnets and it’s all kinds of hot and heavy. But he saves her and takes her back to his place where he lets her shower and rest while getting her car fixed. And what starts out as a week of waiting for her car to be sorted so she can leave, turns into Summer staying for more than just her car, but for the heart of a cowboy she’s not sure she deserves.
Summer and Hunter have crazy chemistry, no doubt about it and the more time they spend together, the more they want each other. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, insta-lust/insta-love is something that I don’t particularly like. I appreciate it when the author does it well and Anna Brooks does a pretty decent job. Hunter wants Summer, Summer wants to get out of town and get back to her original plan. But like any of us in her situation, when facing a hot cowboy, you just sit back and let him spoil you a little.
I liked watching Summer settle into the town of Warrenville, making friends and connecting with Hunter’s brothers (they’re all going to get their own books). I also loved her scenes with Hunter’s dad, aunt and sister – because that shows that she’s more than just interested in him. Summer made the most of being stuck in the small town by taking a job and making friends with the locals, but she knows that her time there is limited.
“Everything with Summer seemed to be joyous, and I didn’t realize how much of that was missing from my life until she crashed into it.”
These two are hot. It’s an incredibly steamy read and everywhere that Hunter can have Summer, he does. Have a fan ready and a tall glass of your favourite cold beverage, because you’re going to need it. Their relationship – as implied by the insta-lust/-love – happened too fast for me. There’s even a moment when Summer calls Hunter out on having feelings for her after one day, which made me chuckle. I would have liked to see their connection, friendship and eventual relationship develop a little slower. It was almost like Hunter wanted to fend off his ex, so he rushed into something with Summer.
While I did enjoy this and I read it in two sittings, there were some things that I did not enjoy about Hunter. For one, his ex is a piece of work and she’s not a great character. She had the potential to be one, but she felt too disruptive and for no real good reason. Secondly, I like alpha males, but I don’t like it when they get super overprotective and basically tell their women what to do. Please sir, don’t take away their independence! Third, Summer’s life away from Warrenville and trying to make it work with her mom and aunt felt a little too forced and I think we could have done without that part.
Thanks to Anna Brooks and Wildfire Marketing Solutions for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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