We finally get the chance to know the “lost” McKay, Gavin and his daughter Sierra. I must say, I really love them both. As well as Rielle.

I’m going to start with Sierra. Although she’s not the heroine of this story, she’s an extremely important character. Gavin is a wonderful father, that doesn’t mean he hasn’t spoiled his daughter over the years. Especially because of the guilt he often would feel about the way her mom isn’t always a great parent. So everyone expected Sierra to be a stuck-up daddy’s girl. Just because Gavin did give into his daughter through the years doesn’t mean he didn’t give her some discipline though. Sierra is really quite well-adjusted. Sure, she has her moments of pure ego and her usual teen hissy fits. That’s really what I love about how the author wrote this character. She has a lot of dimensions, just like a real teenage girl would have. Sometimes Sierra was wise beyond her years. Other times she made extremely stupid decisions or lashed out before thinking. I really appreciated the thought that went into this character.

Rielle had quite an unconventional upbringing which put a somewhat large chip on her shoulder. Since Gavin is an outsider, so to speak, he never had any pre-conceived ideas about Rielle. Even after his brothers and cousins had a spat over her land, he really went with his gut and not the sway of family. Rielle is also one of the nicest people around, but she doesn’t take any bull from anyone. She is a hard worker, but stubborn so doesn’t ask for help. It’s this spirit that attracts Gavin.

Most of the McKay clan had some thoughts on what Gavin would be like since he didn’t grow up in the country. They didn’t really judge him, but the didn’t expect much out of him either. I’m glad the author chose to have Gavin keep his career and not try to become a cowboy overnight. While he enjoys helping out and the camaraderie overall, he is not a rancher and that’s okay.

The progression of the relationship between Gavin and Rielle is pretty natural. Sometimes I agreed with the decisions they made and sometimes I didn’t, but no matter how I felt about it their chemistry was off the charts. I love that they tried to hold back and what a gentleman Gavin was trying to be. The fact that they both were out of practice and not very experienced to begin with was a sweet detail and the way they spoke about that with their friends was adorable.

I’m going to circle back around to Sierra here. I was enamored with her and Boone. Those two have incredible heat for how innocent their relationship is throughout this book. The last scene with Boone had my heart in pieces and I was just so glad I already was in the know that they have their own story told in this author’s Rough Riders Legacy series. I’m looking forward to what kind of fire these two will have once they’re all grown up.

This is a wonderful story of people trying to find their way in life and their place in their family. There are actually quite a few stories interwoven in this book. The things happening with Rielle, Gavin, and Sierra touch so many other people in the McKay/West family. It was great to see Gavin start to settle into his role as a McKay son, brother, and cousin.

I’m still chomping at the bit to find out what happened between Dalton and Rielle’s daughter, Rory. That story has been being teased for a couple of books now.

This review can also be found at All In Good Time