Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

Cain Donnelly and his 16-year-old daughter, Violet, have pulled up stakes from their home in Texas to make a new start near his brothers in Copper Ridge, Oregon. After his wife walked out on them, he's had no use for women and, especially has no desire to put his heart on the line for one of them. All he wants is a home for his daughter that has no ghosts of his ex-wife. Then, he meets Alison Davis, owner of the local bakery and his daughter's boss. Figures that the only woman in town who is off-limits, is the one he wants.

Alison Davis has spent years piecing her life back together after her ex-husband broke her, physically, mentally and almost every other way he could. She does not see herself putting her heart in any man's hands ever again. Her body, though, that's a different story. When her first sight of Cain Donnelly raises her temperature alarmingly, she thinks it's a one time thing. When their next meeting ends with her pressed against her pantry shelves, she knows their connection isn't a fluke.

When Alison offers Cain a no-strings proposition, can these two keep their damaged hearts from yearning for more?

I loved this book! Maisey Yates had me cheering for Cain as he began re-connecting with his daughter and again, as he began his relationship with Alison. Gotta say, though, I was pretty ticked at Alison but very thankful for her friends who weren't afraid to get in her face - because that's what I wanted to do! This whole series has been great.

Maisey Yates does it again. I love this book. I love this series. I could not put it down. Cain is a divorced father of a 16 year old. Violet's mother walked out never to be heard from again. So Cain is very leery of another relationship. Allison comes from an abusive relationship. The next thing they know they are in a relationship.
This is a wonderful series if you have not read any of the books read them you will be glad you did.

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin for allowing me to read this book for an honest review.

This was a great romance book. I shouldn't be surprised because I don't think Maisey Yates has disappointed me once. She writes romance so well and always includes a lot of heart. What I really love about her work is how it isn't all about the romance. There is always a plot in her stories. In this case dealing with being a single father to a teenage girl. It was those moments that I enjoyed the most. The relationship between Cain and his daughter Violet is arguably the most important in the book. They don't know how to communicate or deal with each other and I really enjoyed the journey they took to correct this.

The romance was also great. There was tonnes of chemistry between Cain and Alison and the sex scenes where pretty damn hot.

Down Home Cowboy is another great novel from Maisey Yates.

I think this has been one of my favorites from Yates multiple Copper Ridge Books. I've got to admit, I fell a bit in love with the Stetson wearing bearded grumpy Cain. Ahhh, if all men aged so well. I've read most of the books in this series and had often wondered how I'd missed the backstory on this one. While I felt sorry for Cain's daughter, Violet, I did feel like Cain should have dealt earlier with her and his issues on the subject of his ex-wife abandonment. Luckily, local baker, Alison is eager to help both Violet and her Dad. Though this is part of a multi-arc series it can easily be enjoyed as a standalone. I love the humor and romance that Yates has in her books and this one is full of both. I actually didn't realize how many arcs there were till listing the series below.

Down Home Cowboy was an excellent romance with characters who learn to love again despite their heartbreaking pasts and I really enjoyed it!

Cain Donnelly never expected to return to Copper Ridge, but after his wife abandoned them, he and his daughter Violet are in need of a change. So when Cain is attracted to his daughter’s new boss, Alison Davis, he sets those feelings aside to focus on his relationship with Violet. Alison has worked hard to rebuild her life after her disaster of a marriage and she won’t let anything jeopardize that. However, Cain pulls at her in a way she hasn’t felt in a long time, so she offers up a no-strings deal believing it will only ever be physical. Soon, Alison and Cain are in deeper than either of them planned and will have to decide if they can let the past go to move forward to a better future together.

Cain has trouble putting how he feels into words and believes his actions should show that he cares. His inability to talk about things has put a strain on his relationship with his daughter and with his brothers as well. His actions clearly show how much he loves his daughter, but I definitely understood how she might not see that after her mother walked out. Like the rest of the Donnellys, he didn’t have the easiest time growing up, which likely contributed to his difficulty talking about things.

Alison has been one of my favorite side characters up to this point. I admire how she was able to make a life for herself when everyone in town doubted she could. I loved that she uses her bakery to help women who come from situations similar to her own gain experience to rejoin the workforce. Alison’s experience at the bakery definitely helped her work with Violet through her issues and I enjoyed the scenes where they got to bond.

Cain and Alison had great chemistry right from the beginning. Their attraction to one another blindsided them both and I liked watching them initially try to resist one another. Once they do get together, it’s incredibly sexy and the scenes were very enjoyable. On the non-physical side of things, Alison definitely helped Cain in his relationship with Violet and was a very positive influence when it came to his relationships in general. Cain also helped Alison see that taking on a new relationship didn’t necessarily mean giving up all of her hard won freedom.

I definitely think you could pick up the Donnelly portion of the Copper Ridge series without reading the other books, but as always I think you get more out of the books by reading all of them. Down Home Cowboy has definitely helped cement the Donnelly family as my favorite in this series and I look forward to the last two brothers’ books.

This was my first ever Maisey Yates read, but it won't be my last. I'm also someone who has staunchly said that cowboys are not my thing, but Yates has also gone and changed my mind on that too. This book was hot, hot, hot and also deliciously tender and romantic. This is a book about two very complicated and hurt people coming together to triumph over their past, and move forward with a revelatory relationship. I was silly and thought that this would be a throw-away sizzle, but actually Yates writes really thoughtful and sensual romance and I will 100% be coming back for more!

Maisey Yates’ Copper Ridge series has been a bit of a mixed bag for me. I adored Last Chance Rebel, but let’s just say that I did not feel much love for Slow Burn Cowboy. On my other hand, my Guest Reviewer Amy clearly enjoyed Hold Me, Cowboy. So we were two out of three coming into Down Home Cowboy.

And we have another winner.

Neither Cain Donnelly nor Alison Davis are looking for a relationship. But they are both looking for sex. Four years is a long dry spell for anyone in their early-to-middle 30s, even coming out of their completely different but equally bad relationships.

Maybe not quite equally bad. Alison was abused by her ex-husband for eight years, and her four years post-divorce have been a journey of self-discovery and self-fulfillment. But her baggage is huge and painful, and she’s just reached the point where she is willing to dip her toe back into the waters of sex. But she is unwilling to cede an inch of her hard-won independence to any man for any reason. And it’s impossible to blame her.

Cain’s ex-wife left him four years ago, running off and leaving him with sole custody of their daughter Violet. Dealing with the fallout from that disaster, along with being a single father, has left Cain with little time, energy or inclination to get involved with anyone, until he meets Alison.

But they definitely start out on the same page. They both want sex, but neither of them is interested in the complication of a relationship. Things are already complicated enough – Alison is Violet’s boss at her bakery, and it seems like working for Alison is the first thing that Violet has even half enjoyed since Cain uprooted them from Texas and moved in with his half-brothers in the ranch they all inherited from their grandfather.

(The details of that particular SNAFU are in Slow Burn Cowboy. And while the romance in that book was a bit of a disappointment, the messy drama of the Donnelly boys making themselves into a functionally dysfunctional family was a load of fun. I’m happy to see more of them! Possibly not quite as happy as Alison is to see ALL of Cain, but that’s part of what makes Down Home Cowboy work.)

The problem that Cain and Alison have is that it is difficult to make love without feeling at least a little love (Which was also one of Finn’s issues in Slow Burn Cowboy. This may be a trend.) And no matter what fibs they told themselves about what they were expecting from their liaison, it’s pretty clear from the beginning that they are, quite definitely, making love and not just getting their ashes hauled. Not that they aren’t doing that, quite well, too.

But when Cain challenges Alison to admit that they both feel more for each other than they planned on, Alison lets her past fears ruin her present hopes. Unless she can finally drop the baggage that’s weighing her down for good.

Escape Rating B+: This one was fun. And it was way, way, way more fun than Slow Burn Cowboy, without quite rising to the level of angsty goodness that was Last Chance Rebel.

This is a story where everyone has baggage, and everyone needs to drop it. Or learn to carry it. Or both. And it’s a story where everyone is afraid, and with good reason.
Both Violet and Cain fear abandonment. His father abandoned him, his mother was an alcoholic, and her mother abandoned both her and Cain. Those fears are all real. Alison is afraid of losing herself again, the way she did in her abusive marriage. She’s not certain her new found strength and independence is strong enough to let her love someone without letting them take her over, even though she knows that her ex’s need to take her over and grind her down had way more to do with him than with her. That she let it happen haunts her to the point of preventing her from moving all the way forward, and we understand why.

Watching them all overcome the worst of what’s holding them back and learning to cope with the rest in a healthy and not destructive fashion is what makes this story work. At least, that’s what made the story work for this reader, and I hope for lots of others.

Enjoyed the story and the continuation of the series. I love how all of her books intertwine.

Reviews have been posted on Goodreads and online retailers.

I enjoy the Copper Ridger series, but this slight spin-off series of the Donnelly brothers is hitting all my buttons! Cain Donnelly is one hot cowboy. He wears a Stetson, he has a beard, he wears tight black t-shirts. He knows how to charm the ladies by tipping his hat. His wife abandoned him and his daughter and for the past four years he has been a single dad. He hasn’t even had sex! Oh Cain. He moved back to Copper Ridge to help his brothers run their family ranch. And honestly – because his sixteen year old daughter is pulling away from him and he doesn’t know what to do. His brothers aren’t too much help with her – but they are family and he feels like this is where he belongs.

Alison is divorced and had an abusive husband. She has moved on from him, but she has not dated for four years either. She owns the local bakery in town and is known for bringing in women to work for her who are having a hard time in life. Paying the town back for taking her in after getting away from her abusive ex. She has a good group of girlfriends and offers to help Violet, Cain’s daughter, by giving her a job to hopefully give her something to do in her new town. The problem is – Violet’s dad is super hot and Alison gets all flustered around him. Cain stares back at her with lust in his eyes and before you know it, they are having sex in the bakery. Oopsie. They have a very strong attraction – but they don’t want complications. So just fun sex – and no feelings. Right? *wink*

Maisey Yates writes such fun books. Just really sexy heroes and heroines – with great chemistry, all the while giving us a nice family atmosphere and a lovely small town. She makes Cain broody and grumpy and darn it, I fall for a grumpy hero every time! He has no idea how to relate or talk to his sixteen year old daughter and I thought this came across really well. Violet is written well for a teenager too – she definitely felt sixteen. While he still has some room to get closer with his brothers (they didn’t grow up together) their banter made me smile in this one. Alison has a great group of girlfriends too and I love girlfriend time in romance books.

“I mean, physically, he would be a lot of fun.”

“You’re a bunch of perverts,” Alison said. “Anyway, my life is full. I’m fulfilled. My business is going well, and I’m making a difference. I don’t need to be distracted.”

“I make a difference in a man’s life every night,” Lane said, looking very smug indeed.

Cain and Alison have a fun, sexy relationship – trying to figure things out after four years of loneliness and before that, rotten marriages. Love wins in the end and these two are good together.

“Backseat,” he growled against her mouth.

“You mean you don’t just want to kiss?” she asked, her tone far too innocent to be genuine.

“You should know better than to go parking with men like me.”

“You seemed so nice back there when I was baking the cake.”

“That’s how we get you.”

This can be read as a stand alone but I also really liked the first Donnelly book, Slow Burn Cowboy. Ready for brother Alex next!

Grade: B+

A wonderful installment of Maisey Yates Coopers Ridge series which I wanted to so desperately finish in one sitting!

Caine Donnelly has a fair bit on his good looking shoulders. His family (The Donnelly Brothers); moving ranches from Texas to Oregon; his 16 year old daughter Violet, as well Violet's boss, the first woman he's actually been attracted to in a looooooong time, Alison Davis.

With the incredible skill of making me hooked before I knew it, I was in a world of love, laughter, pain, warmth and second chances and I didn't want it to end. If you imagine being curled up in front of a warm fire on a cold winters evening, this is how I felt reading Down Home Cowboy! I love how the picture is painted brilliantly so my imagination can land me right there, be it the barn Cain finds Violet in, or Alison's bakery or the town itself.

I loved that characters as familiar as family made appearances. I loved the realistic discussions about Violet. I understood both point of views and I really liked the way Alison's story was approached and handled. I felt Cain's pain with his story and I laughed whenever the brothers became involved in anything. I also liked the subtle set up for the next book.

A wonderful story of love, laughter and second chances which had me engaged until the end.

Another fantastic book in the Cooper Ridge series. I can hardly wait to see what will happen next with the Donelly boys!

I'll admit it at the outset, I'm a Maisey Yates fan and have thoroughly enjoyed every Copper Ridge novel I've read so far, and this one is no exception--it gets 5 stars from this reader.

Cain and Allison spot each other across a crowded barroom, and the electricity is there, but what we learn early on in this novel is that both of these characters come with lots of emotional baggage. Both of these characters were damaged to begin with, and both came from homes where their parents were cold, distant and/or disapproving. When Cain's girlfriend became pregnant, he married her, but it wasn't a love match and after 13 years of marriage, Cain's wife walked out the door one day and never came back, leaving him and his daughter Violet without so much as a word of explanation. He was more angry for his daughter's sake than heartbroken. That happened 4 years ago, and left Cain a bitter, angry man but with one goal--to live for his daughter and to make sure she never feels unloved, but having no great example of fatherhood to follow, his tendency to keep his feelings to himself and not communicate has turned 16 year old Violet into a moody, unhappy teenager. The move from Dallas to Oregon was his attempt to start fresh and leave the bad memories behind, but Violet doesn't quite see it that way. Cain is also trying to navigate the relationship between himself and his half-brothers, some of whom we've met in previous novels, where we learned that their father didn't much care how many illegitimate children he fathered.

Allison owns a bakery in Copper Ridge, her home town. She too is hauling around plenty of baggage. Her family never showed her either their approval or love, and when she met and fell in love with Jared, she thought her life would be rosy and she couldn't have been more wrong. He turned out to be physically abusive, and after 8 years of marriage to him, Allison finally managed to find the strength of purpose to get away from him and try to undo the emotional wreckage he left behind. She's now managing her own bakery, has made good friends who help and care about her, and she likes herself a lot more than she did during her dreadful marriage. She doesn't want a relationship, but her years of celibacy are starting to get to her.

Cain's not looking for a relationship either--his main focus is getting through to his daughter, and when Violet gets a summer job at a bakery, he's surprised that the woman he spotted at the bar is Violet's boss, and one of her missions is to help save and support other damaged women by hiring and training them, teaching them to stand on their own two feet and regain their feelings of worth. When Cain, who's also been celibate since his wife walked out, asks Allison to help him understand his daughter's angst, she's certainly willing to help, but the attraction between these two cannot be ignored and they eventually agree to a sex-only relationship.

As a Maisey Yates fan, this reader was well aware that this relationship wouldn't stay a sex-only relationship for long. This is, perhaps, one of Ms. Yates deepest and most emotionally profound novels, one that digs deep into a number of issues--parental abandonment, false expectations, domestic abuse, the trauma of divorce, lack of communication, teenage angst, starting over, the fear of making the same mistake twice, and, of course, love, and Ms. Yates delivers on every count. Yes, I haven't mentioned that there's a lot of steam in this novel, but it's certainly there too, as is Ms. Yates' signature sense of humor, and the line that had me laughing out loud in what was most definitely not a romantic comedy, was, "It's Schroedinger's sex table." Have no fear, you'll understand it when you get there.

This was one well-written, well plotted and emotionally charged romance novel. It covered a lot of territory and covered it well. If this is your first Copper Ridge novel, I can guarantee that it won't be your last. I simply cannot recommend this series or this author highly enough.

I read and reviewed an advance reader copy of this book and received no compensation for doing so. The opinions expressed are my own.

I have been following the people at the Copper Ridge since the beginning and enjoyed the visit there. They have always been entertaining, steamy, and fun reads with charming characters finding their destinies. I am at the point that when I see 'Copper Ridge' I get excited.
Both Cain and Allison have appeared in previous stories, so I was super excited to see them finding their happily forever after with each other, those two really deserve it, if anyone. I just didn't expect them to break my heart in the process.
Allison, Cain, and Cain's teenage daughter Violet all touched my heart with their brokenness, their hope for the better tomorrows, willingness to work on themselves to achieve the better days, to open up, to learn to communicate, to learn to love and trust again.
The story touches many issues most of us have struggled at one point or another, making it easy to relate to the characters and to their situation, to their feelings. There is the teenage angst, finding yourself, feeling that you are not enough, accepted, or loved. The problems of parenting and with our parents, the ever so fragile balance on those parental relationships as we grow and mature and rebel against the authority. There is the aftermath Allison has to go through after living years with an abusive husband. The whole process with Allison is dealt with tender yet honest way, respecting the victim as a true survivor that she is.
All this just resonated with me so that I was holding my breath, just wishing and hoping that they find their balance, their happiness, and acceptance, feel the love that surrounds them. Yet it was Cain, his loneliness, his history of being abandoned, not feeling loved, his fear of intimacy and rejection that stood out. The utter devastation of his feelings, the raw honesty of them, his struggle to connect with Violet, and Allison, even with his brothers, his willingness to do the hard things, have the difficult conversations and put himself out there open and vulnerable just hit me hard. His growth to be the man he wanted to be, the best version of himself, to be the man his loved ones needed and wanted him to be, knew that he could be, the author lays all the fragile emotions there, and let me feel each and every one of them as the story progress.
Yes, there is all the fun banter, the warm family connections, and the friends who would do anything for you that are some of the trademarks of the series. There are the passion-filled moments that steam the windows, and cake baking that could be considered foreplay. There are moments with the brothers that had me chuckling, and teenage angst that had me groaning, but it is the deep emotions that cut me to the core, that still makes me tear up as I write this review, that makes this story stand out for me, that makes it one of the treasured ones that will stay with me, that puts it into the thin folder of 'My Favorites from 2017'.
A must-read book, in my opinion.
~ Five Spoons

Down Home Cowboy talks frankly about abuse and how the victim of abuse in a marriage leaves and recovers. It also looks at another serious problem in our society today - what happens when teens try to kill themselves. For all that it looks at two serious problems it is not a depressing book. All of that is wrapped up in a very nice love story between two people who do not trust and try to make the attraction they feel about just the physical. Cain, his daughter Violet and Alison are really great characters who move the story along at a brisk pace. While both problems are tackled in the story line it is done in a very sensitive manner and shows that with work there can be a happy ending.

I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.

His kiss was like oxygen. As if she had been drowning for years and this was her first sip of salvation.
It woke her up.

I've read every book in Maisey Yates’ Copper Ridge series (even the spin-off titles), and there's a reason I keep coming back to this small coastal town—aside from the sexy cowboys, that is.

Maisey Yates is a smart writer. Her books have heart and humor—two very important elements when it comes to romance—and they also manage to delve into some pretty touchy subjects in a way that doesn't feel in your face. In Down Home Cowboy, Alison is dealing with the aftermath of an abusive husband, while Cain is recovering from his own failed marriage, which resulted in the abandonment of his daughter by her mother.

Sounds heavy, and yes, at times it was enough to make me want to cry, but actually, this is a pretty hopeful story about finding, catching and keep a second chance. It might have taken Cain and Alison time, but for the most part, their growth from sexual relationship to more felt realistic. They were both immensely likable—Cain in that grumpy grr kind of way, and Alison because she was simply a good person. Together, they had delicious chemistry, and heat enough to burn. And aside from all of that, they had something else—communication. They talked, they fought, they acted like real humans.

And it was refreshing. Interesting, if not perfect. Down Home Cowboy was certainly enough to ensure that, once again, I'll be back for more of this series. Especially since Cain’s brother, Alex is up next, and the foundation laid for that has piqued my interest, not just for another sexy cowboy, but for the Wild Ride.

She wanted this man. This strong, uncompromising man. She didn’t fear him. She wanted him. That was good in a million indescribable ways.

~ 4.5 Pie in the Sky STARS ~

Maisey Yates has outdone herself with this tale of second chances! We’re familiar with the characters from previous books in the Copper Ridge series, and watching Cain & Alison overcome their own issues to finally meet in the middle is giving us all the feels!

Single dad Cain Donnelly can’t seem to get through to his snarky teenage daughter Violet. He knows she’s unhappy, but he thought this fresh start in Copper Ridge would be a positive move for them. They both were drowning in memories of the wife/mother that walked out on them in Texas. Here’s hoping a new job will get her centered!

Bakery owner Alison Davis is enjoying the freedom her new life is giving her. She’s worked hard to overcome her past and to become the strong woman she is today. She’s enjoying mentoring and guiding her employees to give them a brighter path for the future, and her latest new hire is coming along well. Little does she know the sexy cowboy she made eyes at down at the bar the other night is Violet’s father though!

Will setting out on a no-strings fling with his daughter’s boss come back to haunt Cain or will they eventually have to admit they can’t walk away?

This book was ok. Usually I don't like single parent romance (especially with angsty teens) but I felt violet really was helped by Alison. Although It seemed odd that violet loved will have so many family members and they weren't really in the picture with helping her. I didn't like how quick the resolution was (12 hrs!) Especially after we knew how bad Alison's former relationship was.

Both Alison and Cain are familiar to regular Copper Ridge readers but I don't think you'd need to have read the whole series to dive into this book.
Alison was introduced as having been helped out of an abusive relationship by some of our previous H/H in the series. In subsequent books, we learned about her opening a bakery and reaching out to help other women in similar circumstances. This time, she's helping out the daughter of one of the Donnelly brothers. Violet's mother left her and Cain without a word and Cain then moved his daughter from Texas to Oregon. She's been sullen and withdrawn (few teenagers aren't) but Cain is only just starting to realize how much she's acting out.
Even though Cain and Alison agreed to have a no-strings affair, Violet and their own emotions are getting in the way. Can they
I didn't love the ending and there were some other plot points that bothered me but I really appreciated the adult conversations (the main characters talked to each other? No way!)

Four stars
This book comes out June 27