Having read Chase and loved not only the story, but the whole Merrick clan, I found The Rancher's Secret Son and Eli in particular, very hard to take. This character came across as a bully and really had very little in the way of enduring qualities. I also struggled with the family love triangle, as the Merricks just didn’t come across that way in the first book.

Then there were the mother and son; Piper’s character was weak and indecisive, with no determination or drive, and basically a poor example of a parent. And Tristan; OMG, what a perfect example of today’s lack of basic parenting skills. This kid needed a good slap around the ears and a kick in the behind. He was rude, disrespectful, obnoxious and unlikeable.

The only redeeming factor and the reason I gave this book 3 Stars; Wyatt and Amelia. So while I usually love Ms Dunlop’s books, I really hope she rethinks her direction before we get the next instalment of The Montana Merricks.

Isn’t it true how secrets can be discovered and change everything? This is especially true when the secret involves an unknown son sixteen years old. Piper Beauregard has kept her son, Tristen, a secret form El Merrick. She had never had any intention of telling him but fate has finally caught up with her. To confuse the issue more, she was Eli’s brother’s girlfriend just hours before her night with Eli.
Eli does not take the news lightly and moves Tristen (and Piper) to the family home in Montana. His desire to to get to know, to bond and to form a relationship with his son. Underneath it all is the simmering to boiling attraction between Piper and Eli that they both try desperately to contain, pushing and pulling against each others’ wants and needs.

Sad that they are losing their house.

Erm, the whole "I slept with your girlfriend" thing never came up?

Are you crazy, man? You can't just announce that you're basically kidnapping the kid!

Beer, Tristen?

No custody battle here.

Yeah, she didn't have a good reason for not telling Eli.

Bad parenting, meet Eli.

Aww, I love this moment, and how natural it is.

Ooh, Wyatt's got a girlfriend for sure.

Who doesn't love babies?

This is scary.

She forgave him easily.

Throw together romance with angst, tension, an edge of the seat senerios and you have the makings of a story to get lost in. Ms Dunlop has continued this intriguing series with another hard to put down story about the first of the four Merrick men, Eli.

With combustible history between Eli and Pipper, their story brings out how the element of forgiveness contibutes to the power of healing grace. With the palpable chemistry this couple has between them you can definitely understand their draw to each other. The author has provided quite the perfect mixture of love and tension between these two to keep the story interesting and engaging from beginning to end.

This ARC book was complimentary provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

Loved this book, the first chapter had me hooked. What I really enjoyed about the story was Eli getting to know his son and teaching him some life lessons also a lot of the teenage stuff Tristen was going through touched me and even all Piper’s angst was so heartfelt.
Though this book can be read as a stand alone I highly recommend reading The Bull Rider’s Redemption by the same author, first it was a wonderful read and let’s you know even more about some of the characters in this book.

The Rancher's Secret Son by Barbara Dunlop, book two in the Montana Merrick series. A heart warming story of family. Barbara Dunlop knows how to bring a wonderful story together. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

I struggled with The Rancher's Secret Son by Barbara Dunlop, mostly because of the two main characters. The secret child trope was not a problem but just didn’t see Eli as any kind of a hero. The whole brother’s girlfriend bothered me, too, but that is a different issue. Still it did not excuse Eli from ever trying to see Piper again.

While I liked and admired the characters in Chase, American Extreme Bull Rider Series, I did not care for Eli at all. He came across as an arrogant, bully of a man in chapter one. It was difficult for me to ever reconcile that first impression of him into a better one. I though Pipe was just too weak. If I had been her I would have gone straight to a lawyer, no one can suddenly come in 16 years later and take a child from a mother, especially with nothing to say that she is not a good mother. She should have stood her ground instead of going to Montana, just because Eli declared it.

After getting off to a bad start with me, I could never identity with these characters. Usually I love any book published by Tule Publishing, but The Rancher's Secret Son just did not do it for me. Would I read others in the series? Most likely since the other brothers seem better natured than Eli. I can also recommend Eli’s sister story, Chase now retitled The Bull Rider's Redemption by Barbara Dunlop. Now there is a man who can be admired. Eli should take lessons.

3 Stars- I happen to a Barbara Dunlap fan. She has done excellent work with Tule Publications, recently her addition to the Extreme Bull Riders series. She would create multidimensional characters. Unfortunately, with this book, the essence of the love story was difficult for me to relate to... It could be a me thing as the writing as always was strong and the secondary characters were interesting.

Loved this story! Although I wasn't a fan of Eli in the beginning I must say he grew on me as the story went on. Eli hasn't seen Piper Beauregard in 16 years so seeing her now is shocking. That shock is nothing compared with what he feels when he sees the teenage boy standing next to her. The kid is the spitting image of Eli so there is no doubt the boy is his. To add to the drama Piper had been Eli's brother's girlfriend prior to their night of passion. Needless to say there is quite a bit of angst at the beginning of the story but the author did a great job of laying out their story and helping us understand these characters and the events of the past.

This is a wonderfully written story and one I definitely recommend.

The description of this book is why I decided to read it. The man on the cover didn’t hurt either. 
This is the story of Eli and Piper. 16 years ago they had one night together after her and his brother broke up. Eli didn’t know that night made him a son. A son Piper didn’t tell him about. Eli is extremely upset over this and forces her (himself) to tell him son he is his dad and that he wasn’t dead like Piper had told him. He then tells Piper his son is moving to Montana with him and she is welcome to come. So that’s where this story starts and slowly but surely this becomes a love story between the two of them.
This is my first book by this author and I look forward to reading additional books by her.

I received an arc from Netgalley. This book was a touching, heartfelt romance. I love old reunions and especially old flames renewed. This is definitely a book to add to everyone’s summer reading list.

Oh gracious me! Eli and Piper made me want to bash their heads in on a regular basis. The Merricks are a close-knit family of mostly brothers who have bought the old Douglas ranch (yes, that Douglas ranch) near Marietta. When Eli discovers that one night (and a mistake of a night at that) with Piper (his secret crush) meant that they have a son together, he loses his mind.

Hello autocratic douchebag Eli. "I'm taking my son. You can come too if you want." Just what the ever-loving dickens did Eli think he was doing? As for their son, Tristen, good grief. If Eli won't tell Piper she's a bad mother, I will. That kid is a whiny, disrespectful douche - a lot like his dad.

And Piper, apparently she has no backbone, no sense of self-preservation, and no desire to do the hard things. As for her ideas on standing up for yourself and fighting - I was appalled. She's soft alright. She apparently has a job, but she doesn't seem to do it often so that was a bit hard to see and believe.

The bulk of this book is about the "love triangle" between Lucas, Eli, and Piper. Oh, you know, Lucas and Eli who are brothers, about a year apart in age. That "love triangle". Ugh! Neither Lucas nor Eli have a lick of sense; both get all jealous and stupid. The level of jealousy and stupidity goes way over the top, as in, get away from him over the top. And in the middle is Piper bewailing her distress over having done so horrible a thing - both sleeping with Eli and not telling him about the baby, oh and coming between the brothers - and how it's all her fault. It's not until a "horrible thing" happens that it all gets sorted.

So why did I like this book? I'm not sure, but somehow Tristen who made me laugh and Wyatt and Amelia who I want to read about pronto saved this book.

Another winner in the Montana Merricks series! Eli finds out he has a teenage son when Piper moves back into the area. She kept the boy a secret and Eli is having a hard time forgiving her. He missed 16 years with the boy and those are years he can never get back. Piper had her reasons but they seem unimportant now. Great second chance at love romance!

Three and a half stars.

Oddly the second secret baby/ second chance romance I have read in two days, albeit the previous novel was an historical.

I first came across Barbara Dunlop when reading the American Extreme Bull Riders series so when I saw her name on NetGalley I requested the book, even though I am a bit ambivalent about cowboy romances - the Extreme Bull Riders made me change my mind.

Eli Merrick is the older brother of Maddie, heroine of Chase. The Merrick siblings have reluctantly realised they can't afford to save their family farm/ home and so they are packing up and moving to a much cheaper farm in Marietta, Montana. When Eli and his brothers arrive at the old family home to finish packing, 24 hours than they had originally planned, Eli is astonished to see a young teenage boy helping with the packing, a boy who bears a striking resemblance to him and his brothers. When it is revealed that the boy, Tristen, is the son of Piper Beauregard, Eli's brother Lucas' childhood girlfriend Eli realises that old secrets have come back to haunt him.

Eli had always had a crush on Piper, even before she started dating Lucas, so when he saw her walking home crying he stopped to help her, one thing led to another and they spent a passionate night together. But never in a million years did he expect to have a teenage son. Incensed by Piper keeping their son a secret from him Eli decides to take Tristen with him to Montana.

While Eli tries to connect with his son he fights his ongoing attraction to Piper, especially since there seem to be unresolved feelings between Piper and Lucas but as family dramas engulf them can he and Piper admit their true feelings - even to themselves?

I really liked the story, I'm a sucker for a big family home/ business. I liked Piper and Tristen and I liked the other members of the family. The person I liked least (not hated, just had reservations) was Eli. Eli was a big alpha male and he was too fond of laying down the law and ho boy did he hold onto a grudge.

Nevertheless, Eli endeared himself to me in the end. I am definitely looking out for the next book in the series? Which brother is next? Wyatt? Lucas? Or the youngest, Kane?

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.