Love of a Cowboy (McGrath #2)

by Jennifer Ryan

Blurb:

Skye Kennedy has always loved the close-knit community of Sunrise Fellowship—but when she witnesses the commune’s new leader commit a terrible crime, she flees…and finds herself in Montana, on the McGrath ranch, and drawn to the stoic yet kind man determined to help her.

Declan McGrath has always handled things himself and focused more on work than his love life. With his newlywed brothers distracted by their beautiful wives, Declan has even more work on his hands. But when Skye arrives at the ranch starving and desperate for work, his loner days are over.

Skye wants to keep her distance and protect Declan from the deadly threats facing her, but soon their relationship morphs into something much more than either of them expected. When she fights back against those out to destroy Sunrise Fellowship, Skye and Declan will have to do everything to protect not just Skye's community, but also their new love...

Themes: Contemporary

Rating: 4 stars

Heat Rating:

Review:

This fun spinoff series has become more and more interesting with each addition to the McGrath family and I’m thrilled to have had the opportunity to read it and share my opinion. Jennifer Ryan is one of the few authors that I enjoy reading that focuses her stories around the lives of ranchers in the west without making it hokey or too “old west”. This series touches on so many huge issues on both a micro and macro level with her characters and her stories and I enjoy reading each of her stories wondering what she will touch on next. This story takes us into the murky world of a commune that has morphed into essentially a cult and the escape of a woman that has decided enough is enough. Skye Kennedy has made her home at the fellowship most of her life and she loves her community, but she knows that something has gone wrong with the leadership. When she witness a murder she gathers the evidence she can of his misdeeds and makes a run for it, but a single woman on the run from a powerful leader of many men sometimes needs the help of just as powerful a family. She happens to hit luck and stumble into the McGrath farm and offers her help on the far, in exchange for room and board, knowing that the only way she will survive through the night is with someone opening their hand for her. Declan is amazed by the beautiful and spirited woman that has stumbled into his life, and his feelings for her just continue to become more and more entangled as he learns more about her. Soon his heart is caught and he can’t let her go, even though she is in mortal danger and determined to put herself in more to save her family and put things right with the fellowship. Can these two very different people find a way to be together across worlds and with so many people depending on them or will they be destined to be two ships passing in the night despite their love? Skye was an interesting character; in the beginning we assume she is only slightly smarter than the others in her commune, but definitely naïve to the world, but as we see her on the run and learn more about her, the determination, cleverness and dedicated she displays show she is much more than first impressions. Watching her find her way in the world with Declan, allowing herself to open her heart, and then allowing their friendship to deepen, was a fun enterprise and the way she offered herself whole to him despite her misgivings was perfect. She is witty, sassy, sweet, and strong in ways that even she didn’t realize right away and knowing that Declan was the catalyst to her seeing that was amazing. Declan certainly has his issues, but after watching his brothers fall in love, he wants a partner in life and its obvious he’s willing to put in the time and offer his heart to the perfect woman, who just happens to be Skye. His strength is just what she needed to bring her out of her shell, his unwillingness to let her go it alone make him her perfect match, and despite a few moments of despair and fear, Declan was the perfect guy. The passion between Skye and Declan was like and irresistible flaw to a moth, pulling them together even as they fought it and there was no way they were going to be able to stay apart. I loved every moment of this book and cannot wait for the nest story for sure.