McGrath Series, Book 1
From the publisher:
Meet New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ryan’s McGraths: a family as untamed as the land they call home.
Tate McGrath just didn’t get it. Why was Liz Scott, his best friend—and the person he relied on and trusted most—suddenly avoiding him! When he finally tracks her down, he finds her with a man he knows nothing about and she’s been dating for weeks. Suddenly, he can’t make himself ignore her tempting curves and deep green eyes, and all he wants to do is keep her all to himself. What was going on? Could he possibly be…jealous?
Liz had made the decision: stop carrying a torch for Tate and find a guy who wants to be her everything. Tate had always seen her as honest, dependable, smart, kind…Best friend, not girlfriend! And she needed to give up the dream of marrying the man she’d loved since preschool and move on.
But when Liz’s boyfriend turns dangerous, Tate steps up to help and soon realizes he’s the cowboy hero she’s been waiting for him to be all along.
Ryan writes some of the best cowboy romances, so I was very happy to see a new series in the works. Look at me, starting with the first book! There is some connection to her Wild Rose series, but you don’t have to have read that series to enjoy this book. It is a really good series though!
This story revolves around lifelong friends Liz and Tate. Liz knew she was in love with Tate when she was pretty young, but Tate is a player who has kept Liz firmly in the friend zone. She finally decides to give up and see who else is out there for her.
Liz meets Clint, who seems like a really good guy and she is determined to try and make the relationship work. But fairly quickly his true colors start to show. He becomes abusive and controlling, and Liz is troubled.
Tate slowly realizes that he hasn’t seen Liz in a while. Then he hears she has a boyfriend but he knows nothing about it. They are best friends, and he can’t figure out why Liz is avoiding him. But when Tate sees what’s going on with Clint, it is the wake up call he needed. His protective side rears up, and he starts to realize that he is also feeling jealous. He eventually figures out that Liz is the love of his life.
Meanwhile, there is a lot of suspense and tension around Clint and his stalker tendencies, which helped make the pages fly by. I really liked how serious problems are addressed here, but no worries, the happily ever after is guaranteed. A great start to a new series!
Just a personal note: I actually read this book back in the summer. Right now I have a list of about 15 books I’ve read that need reviewing. If you didn’t notice, great, but I was having a hard time updating my website for a month or two. Not for any real reason other than the stress of life. I was also having a hard time reading, I couldn’t focus. 2020 can’t be over soon enough for me. So thanks for sticking around anyway, and lots more reviews to come.
11/2020 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™
TOUGH TALKING COWBOY by Jennifer Ryan. Avon (August 18, 2020). ISBN 978-0062851932. 384p.
Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™ 