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Sunday, July 2, 2017

ARC Review: Rocky Mountain Home (Six Pack Ranch #11)

Rocky Mountain Home (Six Pack Ranch #11)

by Vivian Arend 

Blurb:
The FINAL NOVEL in the bestselling SIX PACK RANCH series by New York Times Bestselling Author Vivian Arend.
There’s no distance you can run to escape the past.
Too stubborn to face his sins, Jesse Coleman bolted from the Six Pack Ranch, only to fall straight into the arms of a beautiful stranger. Twelve hours later, the seductive firebrand is nothing but a whiskey-laced memory—but one powerful enough to convince Jesse tracking down his elusive lover is worth the effort.
Darilyn Hayes figured it was her lucky night when the sexiest cowboy in Alberta interrupted her annual drink-until-I-fall-over wake. At least until four weeks later when she discovers she’s pregnant and her one-night-stand is nowhere to be found. Still, as she’s shared with her devoted blog readers, Dare has dealt with life’s not-so-gentle surprises before. She’ll make it on her own.
When an internet picture gone viral leads to their reunion, Jesse’s floored by Dare’s news. She’s very clear she’s not looking for a commitment, but screw that. He’s going to do the right thing by her and his unborn kid. The fact they lit the sheets on fire is a bonus, but with a baby on the way, both their lives are gonna change.
Jesse’s got a ton of family to reconnect with, including his estranged twin. Dare holds family loosely—even though she loves them—because she knows too well how fragile life can be. Between her and Jesse, they’ve got enough baggage to open a store.
But they still have a shot at forever—if they’re willing to fight for it.
Themes:  Erotica
Rating: 4.5 stars
Heat Rating:  
Review:
 The final Coleman has finally found his way home and his story brings us around full circle to this amazing family and the small town they have sort of overrun. Having been a fan of this series from the very beginning I was so sad to see the way Jesse began to struggle to find his happiness, pushing his family away, and leaving himself needing to leave them behind in order to find a way to become his own man and find his true place in the world. But it turns out that the love of a good woman is all that he really needed to set him on the straight and narrow, and maybe a little secret that would remind him how crucial having family support really is.  The plot for this story might seem a tried and true trope to some, man meets woman, has a crazy passionate night and then finds her missing the next morning only to find out many months later that she is carrying his child.  But thankfully the magic of Vivian Arend keeps the story from becoming staid and clichéd. I loved the story and was a bit sad to see the end of the Six-Pack Coleman’s stories, but there are a few singles left and I hope to continue to catch glimpses of them in those stories.  The most important thing about this story is that a woman and man have finally found their future together and given each other the love and stability they have been looking for during the many long and lonely nights.
Jess and Dare were especially exciting because they were both such story and passionate individuals and when they come together the sparks fly and are hot enough to cause a full-fledged forest fire.  Dare has been fighting loneliness and wondering where her place in the world really is and having Jesse show up in her life made her wonder if possibly she could have a mate in her life.  Being pregnant wasn’t on her list of things to do, but when she finds out she is carrying Jesse’s child she doesn’t for a single moment doubt that she will be a good mother to her baby.  Dare has the type of strong and dedicated personality that makes her independent streak less about ego and more about her own ability to care for herself.  I was thrilled to get to know her and see how she might be able to find her place in the Coleman Clan, even though watching her struggle with the traumas of her own past and Jesse’s as well was a truly heart wrenching experience.  Jesse himself was breaking my heart every moment of the story that he was revving my engine.  There are so many deep and varied sides to this cowboy that I never expected and when he finally had to share his failures with his family and dare, the only way he could truly heal from those past problems, I was in tears and wishing I was nearby to hug him close.  Though we had watched him grow through the entire series, seeing Jesse become a father and husband was a truly sweet experience. Jesse proved to be the strong and loving man that all his brothers and cousins were, though he of course has his own problems and quirks to get over before he truly became the man he was meant to be.
Rocky Mountain Home is truly a story of a man finding his way home and bringing with him the woman that has been in need of a true home and finally found it with the Colemans.  If you have been a fan of this series then you can understand why this story was so emotional for me, even though I knew his story would tear me up even before the first word was read.  I have loved the Colemans for many years now and watched each member of the family go through their growing pains and finally find their paths and their mates. The truth is that these strong and sweet men and women are what everyone wants to find in their mate, with the added something extra of being the totally sexy and out of this world cowboys and cowgirls. Dare was a woman that embraced her life fully, even as it threw changes at her again and again, showing the ingenuity and bravery that makes a woman willing to give up just about anything for the man she loves.  Jesse finally steps up and becomes the man he was always destined to become, showing us that while he has certainly made some questionable decisions in the recent past, he is a Coleman through and through and will always step up for those that depend on him. Dare and Jesse together made for a fiery and sensual story, even as they came to grips with her pregnancy and the looming truth of parenthood, slowly falling in love as they embrace the lust that brought them together in the first place. I was thrilled to read their story and see them find their place together and in the Coleman clan, though I was sad too that they has some much against them from the beginning, making their journey that much more difficult.  In the end this story might have been one that ripped out my heart, brought me to tears, and reminded me the true value and benefit of a mate in life, not just a hot man to warm my bed at night.  I am thrilled to see where this family might go next and what Vivi will have coming our way in the near future and highly recommend that if you haven’t found a place on your bookshelves for the Coleman family, you run out right now and grab the entire amazing series, because there truly is very little that is more magical than these stories of love, redemption, family, and the ultimate belonging in this world. I was blown away by the love and magic of this story and reminded of why I fell in love with romance novels over almost two decades ago.

*eARC provided by publisher (via netgalley) for the purpose of an honest and unbiased review.  No compensation was provided.

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