4.5 stars

I’m so happy to get another story from the Sullivan sisters. They fascinate me. Don’t worry if you haven’t read the other books in this series, this can be read as a standalone. But if you’ve been reading the whole series you know this family is a bit different from the other families at Four Corners Ranch. The Sullivan sisters have gone in a different direction with what they are doing with their land over the years since their father left and it’s all about to come to fruition with their new store.

Quinn has always assumed there was no real basis for Levi’s dislike of her family and the ranching collective of Four Corners Ranch. She knew he had some business dealings with her dad back in the day, but she never truly knew the extent of that partnership. Levi was left to raise his younger siblings before he could even complete high school. His parents died within a year of each other and he took on his family’s ranch as well as the upbringing of the three younger kids. Turns out, Quinn’s dad took advantage of an 18-year-old who was buried in grief and treading water to keep things going.

Levi and Quinn have an interesting dynamic. She is super smart and is one of the few people in their community who went to college. As things progress it is obvious Levi always struggled in school but is extremely smart himself. I love the representation of learning disabilities and how they are often overlooked or ignored. Levi had been told all through school he didn’t apply himself enough and that he just didn’t have the brains to go far with his education and those childhood seeds of doubt grew into adulthood beliefs. Quinn eventually sees beyond the way Levi plays things up and after quite a few dust-ups these two find a good rhythm to working together.

As much as I enjoyed their chemistry, I wish things had moved a bit faster in the beginning. I know there was a lot of work to set up the situation that needed to be done, but the first kiss isn’t until 2/3 of the way into the book. Although I was happy with the relationship Quinn and Levi had built by that point. They may not have been calling each other friends yet, but they weren’t enemies any longer either.

This relationship between Quinn and Levi looks like it will help build a bridge between the people living at Four Corners Ranch and the people in town. Quinn’s eyes were opened to how the community looked at the ranching cooperative and how the cooperative was detrimental to many of the surrounding ranches without meaning to be. Levi was able to see that the people at the co-op weren’t the uncaring snobs he imagined them to be. Working together they can convince others to work better together for the good of all.

Even with a slow start and a lot of work being done for the overall series in this one book, I greatly enjoyed the story. The connection between Quinn and Levi is amazing. Some things about the Sullivans are still a mystery, but I felt the relationship between the sisters was deepened in this book. I’m hoping their bond continues to grow as each of their stories are told.

**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**

Arc. This one's a slow burn.