SECOND CHANCE COWBOY by A. J. Pine

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Crossroads Ranch Series, Book 1

From the publisher:

Ten years ago, Jack Everett left his family’s ranch without a backward glance. Now, what was supposed to be a quick trip home for his father’s funeral has suddenly become more complicated. The ranch Jack can handle—he might be a lawyer, but he still remembers how to work with his hands. But turning around the failing vineyard he’s also inherited? That requires working with the one woman he never expected to see again.

Ava Ellis broke her own heart the night she let Jack go. She was young and scared—and secretly pregnant with Jack’s baby. Now that he’s back and asking for her help, Ava sees her opportunity to right the wrongs of the past. But how will he feel about the son he’s never known? Could this be their second chance—or their final heartbreak?

I’m including an excerpt from my review of Hard Loving Cowboy, book 3 in the series, the why of which will become clear in a moment.

I read the third book in this series, Tough Luck Cowboy, which I mistook for the second book, but somehow missed the first (not unusual for me!) and the actual second book. Maybe. Apparently Amazon is as confused as I am about the order of this series! I am going to have to backtrack and find them because I know there are holes in the background that I’m missing.

So first things first, as my mother used to say, do as I say, not as I do, and read this series in order! I am investigating. Because of my little bit of confusion, I skipped reading the bonus novella but I’m sure I will get to that eventually.

So I found this book, the first book in the series, at my library. Yay, libraries! Which reminds me, do you all know about the Google Chrome and Firefox library extension? This is the coolest thing ever! I tweeted about it and facebooked and then CNET wrote about it:

This browser extension shows you which Amazon books are available free at your local library. Available for Chrome and Firefox, the insanely great Library Extension saves you time and money.

I don’t know about you all, but I am all about saving time and money. I work full time as a librarian and do this blog and I’m working on a book as well and I read about a book a day so time is definitely precious. As for saving money, well, here is one of my favorite librarian “jokes,” in quotes because, well, maybe more true than funny?

What’s the difference between a large pizza and a librarian?

A large pizza can feed a family of four.

And after all those digressions, back to my review of the first book in this terrific series.

Having read the later books, I sort of knew what was going to happen, mostly because these characters are so memorable. Nonetheless, it was fun seeing how it all got started. Why Jack, an attorney, is primarily running a winery. Why all the brothers are so close. Why they are all attracted to strong women. Well, pretty much every romance written in the past few years has strong women protagonists. The helpless female being rescued by the strong male is no longer. He may save her a time or two, but he knows damn well that she could probably have saved herself.

So great characters here. Ava is a frustrated artist who had to make a living instead of making art but she’s never given up her dream. The surprise child, a popular trope in romance, works which probably explains its popularity. The chemistry between Jack and Ava is strong and fiery, and a treat to observe. All in all, I’m very glad I hunted down this book and will stick to my assertion that this is a series that is best read in order. But do read it, especially if you like cowboys, because it is a really fun and sexy series.

Crossroads Ranch Series, in order according to Amazon, sometimes:

  1. Second Chance Cowboy (Crossroads Ranch Book 1) Feb 27, 2018
  2. Saved by the Cowboy (Crossroads Ranch Book 2) Aug 7, 2018 (according to the author’s website, this is book 1.5 so maybe a novella?)
  3. Tough Luck Cowboy (Crossroads Ranch Book 3) Aug 28, 2018 (according to the author’s website, this is book 2)
  4. Hard Loving Cowboy (Crossroads Ranch Book 4) Mar 26, 2019 (according to the author’s website, this is book 3)

So according to the author, I’ve now read books 1, 2, and 3 and there is no book 4. I can’t borrow “Saved by the Cowboy” from my library so I guess I’ll have to cough up a few bucks and buy it for my Kindle. Stay tuned…

4/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

SECOND CHANCE COWBOY by A. J. Pine. Forever (February 27, 2018). ISBN 978-1538727065.  320p.

Kindle

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 27th, 2019 at 6:00 AM and is filed under Book Reviews, Fiction, Romance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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