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New York Times bestselling author Kate Pearce is back with a delightful new romance about a gutsy cowboy who learns that he’ll gamble it all for the woman he loves . . . Cowboy Max Romero is a married man—even if he hasn’t seen his bride since their impulsive Reno wedding. When the seriously sexy Brit Phoebe Creighton-Smith suddenly shows up in his life again, the last thing he expects is a request to play man-and-wife in front of her family. But it sounds like a challenge to the mischievous Max, who offers Phoebe one in return—give up proper English etiquette for riding the range like a real rancher’s woman. Phoebe is willing to rope a stallion, if it means she can convince her grandmother to release the trust fund she’s entitled to after marriage. She’ll just have to pretend that her deliciously brawny “husband” isn’t tempting her to total abandon every minute of every day—and night. But just when the heat between them crackles into a blaze, Phoebe’s snobby clan forces Max to make a choice, he knows he’ll risk everything to convince her that with them, true love is a sure thing . . .
Publication Year: 2024
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Max has always been a bit of a live wire. You never knew what to expect from him. It was good to see him come back with a bit more direction in his life and the knowledge that he had to try harder and think before speaking and/or acting. It was time for him to grow up and he did. In some ways, I couldn’t blame his friends for doubting his intentions when it came to Phoebe. Yet there came a time when I thought they were being a bit too hard on him and not seeing how hard he was trying. It made me sad for him.
As Phoebe’s story unfolded, I couldn’t help but sympathize with her. She has been married to Max for four years, all of which they’ve been out of contact, so she’s still a virtual stranger to him. But Max and his found family are more in tune with Phoebe and her personality than her own family that she sees almost daily. They take advantage of her and make her feel guilty for wanting to live her own life. She doesn’t seek Max out to force a relationship, but these two understand each other and are drawn to each other. It muddied the waters and they don’t speak their truths to each other which made it worse.
While Max and Pheobe are great together, I wish there would have been fewer misunderstandings. They got tedious after a while. They cared about one another so much but kept hurting each other. Then, when they both finally seemed to get a clue, the ending wrapped up quite quickly.
I’m not going to lie, I have struggled with this series. It’s not bad at all. It just doesn’t live up to what I’ve come to expect from a Kate Pearce contemporary. (I haven’t really read her historicals, so I can’t speak to that.) This final book in the series is much better than the last one. Again, they are not bad. Yet something was missing. Possibly a connection among the characters that wasn’t as deep as I wanted.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
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