The Pines of Winder Ranch: An Anthology by RaeAnne Thayne is a good fit for those seeking heartwarming stories of second chances and redemption, set against the picturesque backdrop of a ranch in Idaho.

I am not up to date on this series unfortunately, I wish I had time to get caught up! I love RaeAnne Thayne books and I'm sure this series is amazing.

I don't like to spoiler the whole book. Second chance books always give me hope. Even after Laura breaks her engagement she is heartbroken. She tries to move on and does her best with the new relationship and family. When fate brings them back together is really is up to Taft to fix what was broken and start them over again.

This is a wonderful book. I recommend that you don't read it unless you can do it in one sitting because you will not want to put it down. I have it read any of the other cold creek books in this series. Reading this book I did not feel as if I was missing anything from the previous books.

You will really want to read this title. I quarentee you will fall in love with Taft, Laura and her children. It will make you laugh and cry and wish for more before you are done.

Thank you Netgalley and harlequin for allowing me to read tis title for an honest review.

It looks like The Pines of Winder Ranch contains two RaeAnne Thayne novellas but my review copy only had a A Cold Creek Reunion so that's what I am reviewing. This was classic RaeAnne Thayne in that everyone lives happily ever after which is exactly what I was looking for. Her cowboy, Taft Bowman, was tough but so sweet and I loved seeing his relationship with his family, the townspeople and Laura's kids. Laura was a little irritating for my taste but I appreciated the reasons why she irritated me. The romance was great and I thought Laura's kids provided some good comedic moments in addition to being the climax of the story. Cute story! 4 stars.

The Pines of Winder Ranch is an amazing second chance romance! I was unsure in the beginning if I would like it but after a couple pages the story took off running and I was unable to put it down. Quinn and Taft obviously still love each other. It's just getting them to admit it and let go. With hijinks and urgent situations the two can't seem to stay away from each other.
If you enjoy a wonderful second chance romance with a touch of suspense I highly recommend reading The Pines of Winder Ranch

RaeAnne Thayne is a wonderful story teller. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Her story of a second chance at love was well-written, realistic and compelling. The characters were loveable. I especially liked the children in this novel. So often the children in books are too perfect, but these kids seemed like real kids. I also liked that the little girl was dealing with down's syndrome. It was a good chance to educate the public about this condition and to show that this child still lead a normal, meaningful life. Well done, Ms. Thayne.

RaeAnne Thayne has created a second chance love story for two people who belong together. 10 years ago, they were engaged and all hell happened when his parents were murdered. Taft Bowman couldn’t handle his grief and shut his fiancé Laura Pendleton out. Laura didn’t handle it well either and broke off the engagement and moved to Spain. Laura is back in town with 2 young children and plans to start fresh after a disastrous marriage and the death of her husband. Taft and Laura both fought their feelings but their love couldn’t be denied this time around.

Grief can be experienced in so many ways and for Taft it was self-destructive. Taft wallowed in his despair and became somewhat of a player with the local ladies. He eventually realized the path he was on and changed his ways and became the fire chief for the town’s fire department. He was doing good until he saw Laura was back in town. He thought he got over his feelings but obviously there was something still there between them. Before they became lovers, they were good friends for years. He missed his friend Laura. I liked Taft. He was a good man and needed to show Laura he was a changed man and could be counted on. He was nothing like her dead husband and needed to show her how they could be good together. Taft was someone who could love her and her children and love them as if they were his own.

Laura was hard to understand in the beginning but eventually she won me over. I thought she took things to the extreme by moving to another country after she broke off her engagement instead of sticking it out a little longer for Taft. Dealing with her husband’s infidelities can shake anyone’s confidence. She didn’t know Taft well enough after being gone for 10 years to see if he had truly changed his ways. When she and Taft got together you can feel the heat between them coming off the pages. When they were alone and they start to kiss, you knew that feelings were being rekindled. To love someone means trusting and believing in that person. It took some time but Laura finally realized she could do that with Taft and have the love she’s always wanted.

Overall it was a well written, sweet story of reuniting two former lovers and a very nice happy ending. The author created very likable characters and 2 very adorable children you can’t help but fall in love with. She also developed some interesting secondary characters in which I’m looking forward to their stories as well. RaeAnne Thayne is a favorite author of mine and this was another enjoyable read.

Laura left Cold Creek 2 weeks before her wedding to Taft. Now she's back in town with her two children and helping her mom run the bed and breakfast. Taft is running his ranch and the chief of the local fire and rescue department. They have both grown and matured and are slowly rekindling their love. Both are worried and scared . Part of the Cowboys of Cold creek series, #10.

The Pines of Winder Ranch completely confused me. First, I was voluntarily reading an advance reader copy of this novel, the second title I've read in the Cold Creek series. I couldn't figure out what on earth the title had to do with the book I was reading--Winder Ranch was never mentioned, and I had no idea about what the pines had to do with it. It was only after I began to write my review, that I learned that the book I read was only half of a reprint of Ms. Thayne's tenth novel in the series, A Cold Creek Reunion, repackaged with A Cold Creek Homecoming, the fifth novel in the series, which was not included in the copy I received for review, which added to my confusion. Now that my confusion has been cleared up, I can honestly say that I had some problems with this novel and can only give it a 3-star rating.

The hero in this second chance at love novel is Taft Bowman, Chief of Cold Creek's volunteer fire department and EMT--strong, handsome, and brave. Ten years earlier, he was engaged to marry the love of his life, Laura Pendleton, and with their wedding only weeks away, apparently Taft's parents were murdered during an attempt to burglarize the valuable art collection in their home. Taft took it hard, and bottled up his anger and his grief, and in so doing, shut out his fiancee, choosing instead to hang out at a local bar, drowning his sorrows in alcohol, and gaining quite a reputation as a bimbo magnet. With the wedding only one week away, Laura broke off the engagement and moved to Spain, where she met a man, married him, and gave birth to two children, Alex and Maya. Ten years later, after her husband, Javier, dies unexpectedly, Laura returns to Cold Creek to help her widowed mother run and refurbish the Cold Creek Inn, which had fallen on hard times. A fire in one of the rooms, brings Taft and his fire company to the inn, where he sees Laura, the woman he never got over losing. Taft was a very easy character to like and admire.

I wish I could say the same thing about Laura, but I can't. From the outset, I found her to be prickly, rude, bitchy and abrasive. Since she was the one who broke off her engagement to Taft, it was hard to understand why she felt so much animosity toward him, and why she went out of her way to give him the cold shoulder. Granted, when he was devastated by the murder of his parents, and dealt with his grief by closing himself off and shutting her out, couldn't she understand that he needed her support and understanding, and that not everyone deals with grief by opening up and sharing--sometimes they just need to deal with it on their own? After all, he was only 24 years old at the time, and they'd been best friends before they became lovers. By the time Taft dealt with his devastating losses, he learned that Laura had met and married a man in Madrid, and was pregnant with his child.

A word about Laura's two children, who, in my opinion, stole the show. Alex is a charming chatterbox, and was responsible for the fire at the inn, since he was playing with a lighter he found in a vacant room, inadvertently setting the curtains on fire, but he's a sweet little guy nonetheless. I also completely fell in love with Laura's daughter, Maya, who has Down Syndrome, and who is beyond sweet and adorable, as are most children born with Down Syndrome. Kudos to Ms. Thayne for including a "not-perfect" child in her story and for portraying Maya so lovingly. I also appreciated how wonderful and kind Taft was to both of Laura's children, and how open he was about his feelings for them and for Laura as well. Yet every time he interacted with them, bent over backwards to help Laura and her mother repair and renovate the fire-damaged inn, she rebuffed him and his attempts to make amends and rekindle their friendship, if not their love. Sadly, although there is an HEA ending to this novel, I never really warmed up to Laura, and couldn't see what Taft found so appealing about her.

While this novel was well-written, as are most of the novels I've read by this author, the sudden turn-around of Laura's feelings for Taft at the end of the novel just didn't ring true for this reader, and quite frankly, I thought the only good thing about Laura was her charming children and that Taft deserved someone better, more understanding, and far less judgmental than Laura.

I love RaeAnne Thayne's books. I really do. I love her characters and the communities she creates and just everything. But... so even the best ball player has an off game and I kind of had that feel from this book. I mean it wasn't awful. It was completely readable and the pacing was good but the characters and dialogue felt a little wooden and it was lacking the magic I typically feel with a RaeAnne Thayne book. I didn't particularly care for Laura and while Taft seemed like a nice enough guy despite his demons he never made a big enough impression on my that I ever actually remembered his name. This is a second chance romance. Taft and Laura were engaged ten years before and were close to the wedding date when Taft's parents were murdered and his whole world fell apart. Laura not only left the little town but the country returning only after the death of her husband with her two small children. I like a second chance romance but there seemed like too much damage here to ever really recover from. As well I questioned how ready Laura really was to move on. She had a lot of very justified anger and resentment that never seemed fully worked through. I did enjoy the page time her children had and watching them interact with Taft was really sweet. It wasn't a bad book but it wasn't as good as what I usually expect from Thayne.

The Pines of Winder Ranch by RaeAnne Thayne
•Coming Home
Another amazing story by RaeAnne! What would you do if your ex-fiancé unexpectedly showed up back home? Taft need to figure out how to win her back. Laura knew coming back to town was the right thing to do. However she wasn't sure if she'd ever be ready to see Taft after they called off their own wedding, but in a small town it's pretty impossible to not run into them at some point..... Especially if he's the fire chief, and they're called to the inn for a fire. To find out if Taft and Laura finally get their wedding and happily ever after you'll have to read The Pines of Winder Ranch. You won't be disappointed! I cannot wait to go read another story from RaeAnne. ARC received from Netgalley for an honest voluntary review.

A sweet yet passion filled heart-wrenching story of an emotional homecoming and a reunion of young loves.
Ms. Thayne never disappoints. If you love sweet, clean, yet ardent romance stories with deep emotions and life like we know it in the small-town USA, you are going to love her books.
Taft Bowman and Laura Pendleton have so much history between them as best friends and first loves, but also there is a decade of pain, living, disappointments and hurt that is now firmly holding them apart.
Taft is a man of many talents, he is the fire chief, handyman carpenter, cowboy with talent and patience to teach the young. He is kind, sweet, and a good man with a reputation of a charmer who can win anyone on his side with just a smile. Ten years ago he made some young and foolish mistakes while trying to deal with the brutal murder of his parents. He lost the love of his life as a consequence, and the apparent second chance to win her over seems to go in vain no matter how much he tries.
Laura has felt an abundance of hurt in her heart over the years. Her difficult marriage was a burden she is not ready to open up about, losing her husband was a tragedy yet the way he went was an insult to his family. But it was nothing compares to the pain of losing Taft ten years ago and to even think about visiting that path again is completely out of question no matter how charming Taft is or how much her children cares about him.
And the relationship that Taft has with the adorable kiddos just melted my heart. This story is sorter in length (with the purchase of the book you actually get two shorter stories by the same author) yet there are deep feelings, there are emotions that went directly to the heart, and I am not ashamed to admit, this story had me in tears, a slobbering mess for the last quarter of the tale because of the beauty of the tale, the aching feels, the fear of losing everything, and the agony of falling in love.
Both Taft and Laura have gone through so much. They both have had a chance to grow and find themselves. Now back together in the same town, the old feelings are getting a new foundation, a new kind of flame that is mixed with the trust that you have for your best friend, the one you used to trust more than anything. But do you dare - after everything you have gone through - to take that step, to dare to be brave, to trust yourself and the other to make it this time around, and what does it take to not only make you realize your feelings and to accept them but act upon them?!
This is an amazingly beautiful story about love, life, and family, Ms. Thayne has left me in awe with this absolutely brilliantly poignant tale.
~ Five Spoons

I just adored this second chance romance! Even though Laura is the one who ended their engagement I felt her crushed heart more, because she loved Taft and he shut her out. Taft’s parents were murdered and instead of drawing comfort from Laura or confiding in her he spent more and more time at the local bar and hangout. Taft wouldn’t admit to there being problem or agree to postpone the wedding, so Laura did what she thought she had to. Since being in the same town with Taft and hearing of his exploits would shatter her further, Laura left the country and eventually married another.

Now Laura’s back in Cold Creek with her two young children after her husband’s death six months earlier, needing the emotional support of family to help raise her kids. It’s a mutually beneficial situation since the family’s inn is sorely in need of updates and repair, and Laura’s just the person for the job. Unfortunately, being back in her hometown means running into Taft again, dredging up all the hurt, but also all the memories of their love before everything went downhill. Laura is determined to protect her heart and the feelings of her children by keeping Taft at a distance, and I could understand why she wanted to do that, especially when I felt how badly it hurt for Laura to let Taft go. But life (and maybe a relative or two) had other plans.

By the time Taft realized what a monumental mistake it was to let Laura go, she was married to another. Having her back home presents a second chance to win her over again, and I appreciated his determination! He was so sweet with Laura, and especially her kids, and I think that made it just about impossible for her to shut him out. The fire they had between ignites all over again, and I just wanted them to sort things out and get on with their long-overdue HEA!

Sweet, sentimental horse rides, getting caught in a storm, a gorgeous setting, adorable kids and animals are just icing on the cake for this emotional second chance romance.

Review featured at www.books-n-kisses.com

What a sweet second chance romance. RaeAnne Thayne is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors but I missed this release 5 years ago before I really got into this author.

What I enjoyed most I think is Laura being so determined to keep Taft away. She doesn’t say “not again” and then a day later is back in love. She really fights herself and her feelings for Taft. She even makes it a “rule” to stay away from him but we all know rules are made to be broken.

Another great read from Thayne and one anyone who enjoys a romance about second chances in a small town will love this story.

Disclaimer:
I received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The copy I received from Netgalley only had A Cold Creek Reunion, it is a reissue. I had read it before but enjoyed it just as much this time. I would recommend it.

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review. My copy only contained A Cold Creek Reunion. I though it was a nice story but I kept wondering why the two really broke up ten years ago. The reason seemed a little contrived. Other than that there were cute kids, a nice dog and two people who belonged together but were having trouble trusting because of the past. I did like that one of the kids was special needs and this showed how loving she was.

The advanced copy I received from Netgalley only contains "A Cold Creek Reunion"; and this is a re-release version; originally released in 2012

Taft and Laura were engaged to be married when they were young. But then Taft's parents were murdered and he was going down in a black hole of grief and closed himself from Laura. Laura ended up breaking up the engagement and moved out of the country altogether. A decade later, Laura returns to Pine Gulch with her son and daughter after her husband died in an accident. Laura tries not to get herself involved again with Taft after he broke her heart years ago. Unfortunately, that's easier than done. Especially since Taft seems to still carry a torch for her as well

I loved this story. Laura might be a bit pricklier than other Thayne's heroines I have read before. She is very determined not to let Taft back in her life. But of course than plan goes down the drain when Taft seems to genuinely care for her children (including her daughter who also has Down syndrome) and they love him back. It was kind of entertaining to see that Laura didn't exactly successful in executing her "stay-away-from-Taft" rule *laugh*.

I also loved Taft... he's another great hero from Thayne. Taft's interaction with Laura's kids tugs my heartstrings. I could feel that he really is still in love with Laura and Taft realizes that he messed up all those years ago. When Taft says that Laura's staying away from him (and he thinks Laura despises him) I could also believe his hurt.

It's another RaeAnne Thayne's winning recipe that works so well for me. A Cold Creek Reunion is a sweet and wonderful second-chance holiday romance. Now I need to backtrack and read Caidy's story ... because her love interest is a VET (imagine all those animals!)

Ten years ago Taft Bowman was reeling from the murder of his parents. He was supposed to marry Laura but the wedding never happened. Now Laura is back in town, a widow with 2 young children. Laura is determined to stay away from Taft, she has 2 children to protect and Taft has developed quite the reputation over the last ten years.
Can they find their way back to each other?

This is a great second chance romance. The children were delightful. Taft and Laura were very sympathetic and vulnerable characters that you couldn’t help rooting for. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thank you to net galley for an advanced readers copy.

I was angry with the heroine most of the time. A little with the hero at the beginning. So much useless hurt and painful denial.
I know RaeAnne Thayne can do much better and it won’t prevent me from reading more.
Actually I think I want to know more about the other 3 Bowman siblings stories

This book is said to be an anthology of 2 previously released stories of the cowboys of cold creeks series but it contained only one.