Rebel Blue Ranch, Book 4
From the publisher:
She’s the one that got away. He’s the one that never let her go.
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the bestselling author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small-town romance in which past lovers get a second chance to rediscover what they lost.
Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small-town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right?
But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one problem: the neighbor.
Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like who: Cam Ashwood. But ever since he returned home last year, the girl who was his first, well, everything has become a woman seemingly determined to keep him at arm’s length. And he was okay with that—at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. She was getting married, after all. But now she’s single and living next door. Dusty wants to show her that they can be friends, and that he can stay put.
Despite her best attempts to stay far away from Dusty Tucker, Cam realizes that being close to him is like slipping into her favorite jeans. Easy. Comfortable. That is until past wounds start to open and feelings—both old and new—wreak havoc. Nearly ten years after they first met, Dusty and Cam begin to wonder if their first love can also be their last. And this time, will it be forever?“Nearly 10 years after being each other’s first everything, Cam and Dusty have a second chance—but adult baggage complicates their romance. This series finale returns to the Wyoming mountains with a Yellowstone-esque slow burn that leads to the perfect happy ending.”—People
This was my first read by this author, but this is the last book in a series, although it stands alone beautifully. Judging by a lot of the reviews, people loved this series and were seriously bummed that it ended, and since I really enjoyed this, I will be going back to find the earlier books.
Single mom Cam gets stood up at the altar, not an auspicious beginning to the rest of her life. But she’s strong enough to just move on by moving herself and her young daughter out of the house she shared with her former fiancé. She is thrilled to find that the house she’s always loved in town is now available for rent, and she snatches it up. She soon finds out that her neighbor is the man who broke her heart back in high school, Dusty. Dusty has been avoiding any kind of commitment for a long time, but seeing Cam stirs up the old feelings. She is not having it, though, and tries to keep her distance.
Cam is a real people pleaser, longing for perfectionism and satisfying everyone else at the cost of her own happiness. Dusty is finally able to admit to himself that he wants to put down roots, wants to feel tled down for the first time in his adult life. Dusty has never forgotten Cam, in fact, his heartbreaking yearning for her shows up in spades. They slowly find their way back to each other and realize why their timing was not right 15 years earlier.
This book hits a lot of the most popular romance tropes: childhood friends to lovers, second chance romance, slow burn, single mom, small town, and a new one for me – love letters. This was such a compelling story with characters that I really cared about, despite not having read the earlier books. Can’t wait to get started on those!
The series in order:
5/2025 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
WILD AND WRANGLED by Lyla Sage. Dial Press Trade Paperback (April 15, 2025). ISBN: 978-0593732472. 368p.
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