I’m torn in the middle on this one guys! While it did have a main character and aspects that I loved, Grant is the reason why I couldn’t love it. I know, I know. Honestly, I did it to myself. I read a topic that I don’t normally like (widowed) because I love the Dodge family so much.

Mckenna Y’all, I loved her so damn much! Even with everything that she went through, this girl had the biggest heart. She was smart and knew what she wanted. The thing I loved the most about her is that she wouldn’t take less than she deserved. From anyone, even Grant.

“If she could love, after all this time, if she could want something other than the small, attempted cynicism she had tried to make for herself and call it a life, then why couldn’t he change, too?”

Grant. Oh, Grant. When I heard that the next book in the series would be about Grant I was excited. His story was more on the A Walk to Remember side. He's known in town as the guy who married his girlfriend at 18 even knowing that she was going to die. I needed to know his backstory and about the man, he became to be. However, we meet Grant YEARS after his wife died. He was really getting to me with the amount that he pulled Mckenna in only to push her away again. Ya’ll this was bothering me so much. Don’t do one thing and then another and expect someone to be there when you decided to get your crap together! I get where he was coming from, but it seemed like he was set on being miserable!

We did get a lot of inner monologue than dialogue here and that made the book feel a little slow at times to me. I did like the message of the book as a whole. No matter your past, you can’t give up on your future. You never know what’s around the corner.

Next up is Bea’s story, and to say I’m excited is an understatement!

It's not a secret that I absolutely adore Hallmark Christmas movies. Two people finding love... Discovering new friendships... Families fighting the odds to come together... To me, there is something special about them and I'll watch as many as I can each year.

Reading A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas was like stepping into a Christmas movie. This book had everything I love. Grant and McKenna falling in love despite their wounded pasts. McKenna finding friends and family in the small town of Gold Valley. Classic holiday romance themes.

Growing up in the foster system, McKenna Tate always felt unwanted. Her mother left her when she was two years old. She doesn't know who her father is. So when she turned 18, McKenna was left to survive on her own. Years later, she arrives in Gold Valley in hopes of finally having a family. She didn't expect to find Grant and his family. They welcome her into their arms with no hesitation. However, Grant is a difficult nut to crack and it takes longer for him to welcome her.

After the death of his mom, Grant Dodge went on a downward spiral. In school he turned into a bully. He started flunking classes and generally couldn't care less. That all changed the day he met Lindsay and she changed his world. After losing her years later, Grant regressed into his darkness than developed him as a teenager. Merely going through the motions until he finds McKenna sleeping in one of the Dodge's unused cabins. Little does he know that she's about to open his world to the possibility of love again.

I loved A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas. I'm still new to Maisey Yates and I'm having fun meeting her characters. I love her writing style. She made me swoon and tear up in the matter of a few chapters. Something personal happened to me while I was finishing up the book. Watching McKenna overcome everything stacked against her to find family and love made me cry. During my tough couple of days and reading A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas, it definitely reminded me what is most important during this time of the year. Be with the ones you love and live every moment to the fullest. And if I take anything away from this book, it's that. Thank you, Maisey.

3.5 Stars

I’ve been waiting for Grant’s story for some time. I always felt bad for the sullen cowboy who married and lost his high school sweetheart, but that’s exactly the kind of feelings of pity Grant hated.

Mckenna comes along and doesn’t know anything about his past, and she’s got her own sad story and troubles to deal with. Kindness on the part of Dodges is unexpected as McKenna has never experiencing a big loving family. McKenna yearns to fit in, belong, and be loved. Yet, it’s the brusque, sexy Grant that captures her heart. She can tell he cares even if he doesn’t want to, and they start forming a close friendship. Of course, when Grant feels it getting too close he pulls away, but never for very long.

Maisey Yates writes emotional and complex romances, she gets to the heart of her characters and makes me feel for them every time! My heart went out to Grant, but he frustrated me a bit too. McKenna made him happy and then he’d push her away, obviously afraid of another emotional commitment that had the potential to hurt him again. McKenna was very honest with her feelings, and I felt like she let Grant off a little too easily sometimes, but maybe that’s what he needed. Still, I enjoyed their romance and was tickled that McKenna got her heart’s desire in so many ways.

I look forward to Bea and Dane’s story! Bea is such a sweetheart! All I have to say Dane better be good to her!

A copy was kindly provided by Harelquin via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

With no ties and no family, McKenna is searching for the birth father she’s never known. Her journey takes her to Gold Valley, in this fourth of the series, where she meets rancher Grant Dodge, a confirmed bachelor who discovers McKenna trespassing on his family’s land and starts to think he might have a Merry Christmas, after all. Slowly, they begin to build something more substantial than a winter fling, with McKenna’s optimism contagious and lovable. McKenna is a treat here, a wandering heroine with a sunny disposition, even in the most dire of circumstances. Another winner from Maisey Yates, who continues to impress with her tales of love curing all. – Clara Shipman

4 1/2 stars.

This review appears in Romantic Intentions Quarterly #3 - October 2018

McKenna Tate isn't looking for a handout. She's looking for her family. That's the only reason she's in Gold Valley. Her mother died when she was young, McKenna grew up in foster homes. She's recently found her birth certificate and it seems that she might have some blood relatives in the Valley.

Grant Dodge is known for one thing. He married his high school sweetheart even knowing that she was going to die. He loved; he lost and on one lets him forget it. Except that McKenna doesn't know who he is. The look in her eyes is different. It may be a fling... but it may be something more.

This one was not my favorite Yates book and the short story with this one (Chloe's and Tanner, step siblings decided to take their family relationship to the next level) was about two and a half stars for me.

I am ready for Beatrix and Dane to get together but I have to admit I am a little nervous about it as well. Will be interesting to see how it happens.



Three stars

This book came out September 25

ARC kindly provided by NetGalley

A heartbreakingly beautiful, deeply emotional, wonderful story of hope and love, a story that not only had me in tears at the 5% mark but kept me at the roll-a-coaster of feelings throughout the unputdownable tale.
I mean, it wasn't a surprise to me that Grant Dodge's story would bring me to tears, or that it would be a wild ride through some deep emotional waters. Also, I expected the lady to finally catch his eye to be something spectacular and nothing short of amazing. And then walks in McKenna Tate, and yes, she is a spectacular and amazing woman, she is strong, she is fierce, she is an independent woman who knows what she wants. And she is as broken inside as Grant is. Yes, the tears are still coming as I write this because I do not know if I have ever loved book characters as much as I love Grant and McKenna. I have read thousands of books, yet these two just walked right into my heart like no one else, and I wanted them to find peace, trust, love, home, family, and all the happiness that they deserve.
While no one had ever claimed McKenna as their family or loved her, Grant had loved greatly, been loved deeply yet lost it to all to cancer. Their stories are the opposite yet the same. There is that golden line that goes through both of their stories, that need to be loved, learning to trust those feelings, and daring to take the risk even with the possibility of losing it all.
McKenna and Grant's tale is a delicate and delightful love story, it is as fragile as it fierce, as ardent as it is alluring, and it does take a bit of the magic of the season to bring them the full circle back to the old, abandoned cabin again.
What brought McKenna into the town of Gold Valley is the search of belonging, an attempt to find her father and a family to belong to. That secondary storyline is no less touching as the romance developing between her and Grant, as turbulent, and much in need of a Christmas miracle as well.
Allround a poignant, passionate, and moving story. A captivating tale of love, family, and hope set to play out during the most special time of the year.
~ Five Spoons!

Life had been tough for McKenna and she had set out to look for her birth father. Grant isn't doing so hot when it comes to his life hating the pitying look the the towns people give him after the death of his wife a while back. Imagine his surprise when he finds a women in a cabin on his family ranch, and for once he's come across someone who doesn't look at him like everyone else dose with that sad look. McKenna isn't a fan of Grant at first but slowly warms up to him as they start to get a connection. Thing is both have reasons for distance and its hard after a while to keep that distance when the heart gets into it.

I thought that this was a pretty great book, its a seasonal book so if you are looking for a good book to read during the holiday season then pick this book out. But I will tell you if you are looking for a flood of holiday cheer your not going to get that in this book the holiday that is going on was subtle but enough to set the tone if you know what I mean. I loved the connection between McKenna and Grant and how they worked together. There were plenty of steamy scenes to keep this book interesting if your into that sorta thing. I loved getting to know their backgrounds that helped shaped them into the current characters that they were and I loved getting the dual point of view to see where they were coming from at time. This was a pretty great book and you can't help but root for the best when it comes to these interesting characters. I really enjoyed this book!

If there was ever a situation that proves the futility of rating books by a star (or in my case, butterfly) system, then this novel, A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas by Maisey Yates, would be it. I gave the first novel I read by her, Smooth Talking Cowboy, five butterflies, but A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas is so much better, it pulls on the heartstrings; it made me smirk and, okay, giggle; it made me cry; and it made me FEEL all the feels. So, what do I do then? Say, well the first butterflies were swallowtails, but these are monarchs? Yep, a dilemma.

We’ve known Grant Dodge through three novels of the Gold Valley series. He’s the middle brother, the functional, almost-alcoholic drinking his pain away, the widower whom everyone pities, which drives him practically insane. He’s been quiet. He’s been moody. And, come on, if you’ve been following the series, you couldn’t wait to read his story because you knew it was going to be something else.

Enter McKenna Tate. She’s sleeping on the floor of a ramshackle, abandoned cabin on the Dodge ranch. She’s homeless and has come to town in hopes of finding her real family. She’s part of the foster system. She’s tough, no one’s fool or victim, but she also has a heart a mile wide. And that’s how Grant comes upon her, cowering, afraid of what’s going to happen to her. Grant’s family takes her in.

"Sometimes she wondered if the reason she had hope in her heart was because of all the books she’d read. Because they had often depicted bleak things, and sometimes had shown her things she didn’t like. But they had also taught her things about herself, and things about the world. The terrible things people believed and did, and the wonderful things, too. And the ways in which people could triumph as long as they always believed in something."

And, she has hope, even when she tries not to because she knows better than anyone that hope can sometimes lead to unhappiness. And, perhaps that’s the best description for McKenna Tate: she’s always hopeful.

The two wounded souls, Grant and McKenna are drawn to each other time and time again, even when they decide not to be.

Because this is a romance, you know how the tide is going to turn. But it’s what Yates does in the meantime that makes this novel so sublime. She has written two wonderful characters who have known pain but find healing and joy in each other. An understanding place.

So, I’d like to say this can be read as a standalone, because if you love romance novels, you would love this, but I’m not sure it’s fair. I’ve read the preceding novels and those characters populate this novel. I know how I react when a novel is inundated with characters I know nothing of nor care about. Perhaps, unlike me, that doesn’t bother you. I’ll just say that this is the Christmas romance of the season from all that I’ve read so far, so it’s up to you.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

'She wasn’t sure if they locked together in place perfectly, or if they could ever be fully healed. But at least they weren’t alone in being broken. Their pieces were all mixed together, and somehow, somehow that worked.

Hands down, my new favorite Maisey Yates book. I don’t think I could have loved A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas more.

I knew Grant’s story would be a tough one—if you’ve read the earlier Dodge family books in Ms. Yates’ Gold Valley series, I suspect you’d agree. If not, never fear, because this is a stand-alone. (Though, the other books in this series are a LOT of fun, so give them a chance if you haven’t already. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.)

A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas doesn’t shy from the aforementioned toughness, and as such, it’s excellent. I loved the way Ms. Yates balanced Grant’s heartbreaking past with his desire to move on—and inability to do so. It was refreshing to see his attitude toward his loss, and how that affected the choices he was making in his life. Refreshing, too, was the way McKenna approached Grant and his past—the way she viewed in comparison to her own—also heartbreaking—past, the way she opened up to it and was similarly affected by it.'

This book is chock-full of emotion that ranges from heartbreaking, to sweet and swoony, to steamy hotness, and every page had something that made me want to hold on tight to the feels. Because it had all of them.

Yep, A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas is an all the feels kind of book—and that’s why it’s my new favorite from one of my go-to authors.

'She had become like water, like air, so quickly.
But the fact that he was somehow singular to her? That was a damned miracle.'

Psst! This book comes with a short novella in the back—Snowed In With the Cowboy—and it’s a really good read. It’s quick but sexy, and really quite charming. Definitely worth checking out, my friends!!

I found this book to be a little bit slow at times but I did still enjoy it very much .

This book is such a fantastic Christmas love story that will melt your heart.

I give this 4 out of 5

It’s hard to believe that anyone would actually WANT to win a gold medal in the “Life Sucks” Marathon, but when Grant Dodge and McKenna Tate meet they are both serious contenders for that “grand” prize.

Possibly it’s a grand prize in the joke sense that first prize is one week in Hell and second prize is two weeks – although the way they both have been chasing this particular goal, that might actually be the other way around.

We’ve met Grant Dodge in the previous books in the Gold Valley series as his brothers have discovered their own happy ever afters. But Grant is a special case. He already found his happy, and knew perfectly well at the time that there was no “ever after” attached. Grant is semi-famous for having married his high school sweetheart knowing that she had terminal cancer, and caring for her for the eight years she managed to survive.

But he’s also been a widower for eight years, and is more than tired of all the pitying looks he gets from everyone in town and everyone he meets. His tragedy was so touching that it became fodder for one of the morning quasi-news shows, so no one ever lets him forget.

He’s wrapped his misery around him like a well-worn but scratchy blanket and doesn’t let anyone get close – not even his family – even though they are all working on the ranch together.

While Grant should be the first place finisher in that misery marathon, McKenna Tate is still in the running. He finds McKenna camped out in one of the ranch’s few remaining dilapidated (unheated and uninsulated) remote cabins. In December. In Oregon.

He claims he doesn’t want to be bothered, but he still takes her into the ranch house, where his brother and sister-in-law promptly offer McKenna a job and a cabin. She doesn’t want to take the charity, but she NEEDS it. She’s broke and homeless and out of options.

And she needs to be in Gold Valley. Her mother gave up her parental rights back when McKenna was only two, so she was raised in, or survived, foster care. Now she’s 24 and has come to Gold Valley to discover if the man listed on her birth certificate as her father is willing to give her a hand up.

She’s afraid to acknowledge, even to herself, that what she really wants is to belong. To someone. To be part of something. To finally have a place.

But while she tries to figure out how to approach her possible father, who turns out to be “rodeo royalty”, she becomes part of the mixed family of birth and choice that centers around the Get Out of Dodge Ranch.

And just maybe, she and Grant might manage to stop racing towards that first place in the misery marathon and reach for each other instead.

Escape Rating B+: In my review of Good Time Cowboy I called Maisey Yates the cowgirl queen of angsty western romance. The story in A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas certainly adds more sparkle to that crown.

Both Grant and McKenna begin the story in a serious bad way. But the bad way they’ve found themselves in, and the equally bad ways that they feel about it, feel like exactly the way a person would feel under their individual circumstances. It’s not manufactured angst or self-inflicted angst. They’ve had terrible things happen to them and they feel terrible because of those things.

Grant, in particular, has been living so much on the periphery of life at the ranch that it is more than possibly to read this book without having read the other books in the series first – not that they aren’t terrific reads. But Grant has done his best to not let other people in, to the point where he only plays a very minor role in his brothers’ lives – and is only willing to let them a tiny way into his.

McKenna has certainly had a lifetime of hard knocks that led her to Gold Valley. But she also has one attribute that draws Grant in like a magnet – she doesn’t know anything about his history. She doesn’t pity him or feel sorry for him. And she doesn’t want either of those things from him. She just thinks he’s hot. And she gets him hot and bothered in a way that he’s never allowed himself to feel.

The begin what becomes their relationship by finally giving into their amazing chemistry. They both think that’s all they have. But as much as Grant tries to stick to a rule of “no talking”, they can’t. McKenna can’t stop herself from talking under any circumstances, and Grant has spent so many years locked inside his own head that once he opens up at all he can’t make himself stop.

There is so much heartbreak in this story. Both Grant and McKenna begin the story as very broken people, and it’s tough reading their emotional turmoil. Watching them slowly heal each other is lovely, especially with their acknowledgement that it’s the hurts that they’ve each suffered that has made them the people they need to be for each other.

McKenna and Grant’s stories are both very emotional. This book takes you on an emotional roller coaster and tugs at your heart strings . The Christmas theme just adds that much more to the whole story .
I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and Harlequin in exchange for my honest review.

I knew as soon as I met grouchy, closed off, emotionally wounded Grant Dodge in an earlier book that I wanted to read his story. I also knew that the woman to bring him back to life would need to be strong, sassy, and unwilling to take his crap. McKenna Tate is all that and so much more.

I loved these two together. Life hasn't been kind to either of them though the experiences that brought them to this point in their lives were very different. Those experiences have toughened them but they have also left them vulnerable and hesitant to reach for happiness. McKenna is prickly and defensive while Grant has become an emotional hermit, finding solace in a bottle all too frequently. McKenna's inability to give up hope in the face of too many rejections endeared her to me while Grant's struggle to find an identity apart from the sympathy and pity tied to his past struck a chord of realism in light of my own life experiences. The attraction between Grant and McKenna is potent yet both resist its emotional pull initially and Grant, for much longer. Yates does an outstanding job of guiding them along their sizzling sexual and heart-tugging, emotional journey and I was with them every step of the way.

Maisey Yates has created an intriguing community of characters within her Gold Valley series of books, many of whom weave in and out of this story. The book is written in such a way that a new reader shouldn't be lost but I do think readers will have a deeper understanding of all characters, and their actions, if they have read the three previous Gold Valley books. I loved each and every one of them. The books, in order, are: Smooth-Talking Cowboy, Untamed Cowboy, Good Time Cowboy, and A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas.

A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas was a good 4 star read.

Grant is a widower and hasn’t been able to move forward after his wife's death. When he discovers McKenna sleeping in a cabin on his families property he wasn’t sure what to think. He ends up offering her some help.
McKenna came to town to see her birth father, with no money she ended up finding an abandoned cabin, where she ends up meeting Grant. She isn’t sure how to approach her birth father and is a little uneasy about it.

McKenna ends up working for Grants brother on the ranch. We discover that these two have a lot of things in common. They both have things from their past they are trying to move forward from. My heart really went out to McKenna and her struggles, all she wanted was to be a part of a family. When Grant met McKenna there was something about her that pulled him in, he was feeling things that he hasn’t felt in a long time.

When these two connect we get some very hot and steamy scenes. I loved the story but at times it seemed to drag on a little bit. These two had such a great connection and chemistry. I was happy to read their story and see them finally find the happiness they both deserved. If your looking for a great read that tugs at the heart strings 1-click and get started today. This is my first read from Maisey Yates and I look forward to reading more from her.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. Reviewed by MAustin from Alpha Book Club

Completely engaging, emotionally invested in the outcome, I couldn't help but love A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas.

Yates crafted an emotionally jarring tale of two people deeply scarred by life circumstances...but they still manage to have hope for the future. I loved how they managed to heal each other without all this unnecessary angst but focusing on change, making their lives better and not settling for anything less.

A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas will put you through the gambit of emotions and leaving you wanting more when it ends.

I received this ARC copy of A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas from HARLEQUIN - Romance (U.S. & Canada) - HQN. This is my honest and voluntary review. A Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas is set for publication 25 Sept 2018.

My Rating: 5 stars
Written by Maisey Yates
Series: A Gold Valley Novel
Mass Market Paperback: 496 pages
Publisher: HQN
Publication Date: September 25, 2018
ISBN-10: 1335474625
ISBN-13: 978-1335474629
Genre: Holiday Romance

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4 likes

I found this to be a very good read. This holiday romance provides two emotionally wounded people a shot at love. I liked McKenna and Grant and truly felt for them do to the suffering and heartbreak that they had endured. That being said, I would have preferred a bit less of the constant rehashing of their troubles. For me this really toned down the joy and warmth of what should have been a sweet story of love healing past hurts. Still I recommend the book because it is an enjoyable, emotional read.

Will be soon appearing on Romance Reviews Today : http://romrevtoday.com/

A TALL, DARK COWBOY CHRISTMAS – Maisey Yates

A Gold Valley Novel #4

HQN

ISBN: 978-1-335-47462-9

September 25, 2018

Contemporary Romance



Gold Valley, Oregon – Present Day



Grant Dodge married his high school sweetheart knowing that she was dying from cancer. Now a widower, he has remained single and uncommitted to any woman. His family thinks his surly attitude is just normal for him, but could it be because he needs a woman in his life? One night while out checking the property on his family’s dude ranch, he comes across McKenna Tate “squatting” in one of the cabins. Grant could’ve called the sheriff to have her arrested, but instead he offers her a job on their ranch.



McKenna is homeless and penniless and had no place to go when she arrived in Gold Valley looking for the father she never knew. Stunned by the job offer from the tall, dark, and handsome cowboy, she accepts. To McKenna’s surprise, the whole Dodge family embraces her by giving her a place to stay, food, and friendship. For someone who grew up in foster homes, it’s almost overwhelming. As her boss, Grant is always around. He acts like he doesn’t trust her, yet there is this sizzling desire simmering between them. Attracted to him, McKenna decides to offer sex as a way to thank Grant for helping her and a way to scratch the itch that burns between them. He accepts, but after one round of making love, it’s clear there’s more that they want from each other.



Christmas is on the horizon as A TALL, DARK COWBOY CHRISTMAS opens, but neither Grant nor McKenna look forward to the holiday. Grant loved his late wife, but their entire marriage had a shadow over it—her looming death from cancer. Everyone in town knows about Grant’s dedication to a dying woman, and he’s not too happy about it. He could have any woman in Gold Valley, but would they bed him because they feel sorry for him? McKenna is the “new girl in town” and she’s also not afraid to tell Grant exactly how she feels. McKenna turns out to be a hard worker and slowly gains Grant’s respect. She doesn’t tell anyone at first about her quest for her father, though during one of their “scratch the itch” sessions with Grant, she confesses. Will she get up the nerve to face the man who fathered her?



The connection between McKenna and Grant is fraught with emotion, and their relationship is a roller coaster ride. He doesn’t want anyone to care for him, and she doesn’t want anyone to feel sorry for her. They’ve both put up strong fronts to hide their true emotions, but their lovemaking opens the dam as they talk to each other. In A TALL, DARK COWBOY CHRISTMAS, readers will see the intense connection between McKenna and Grant and soon will be rooting for them to make it all work out. Neither wants to admit they care for each other, yet when they break things off, they can’t wait to be together again. Their romance is a rocky road that is both sweet and infuriating for readers. By the end of this tale, will things work out? While this is the fourth book in the Gold Valley series, it can be read as a standalone as the story is about Grant and McKenna.



A TALL, DARK COWBOY CHRISTMAS is a fabulous read that will capture the heart of readers as love rises from the ashes of hopelessness. In finding each other, will Grant and McKenna embark on a new life together? Find out the answer by grabbing a copy of A TALL, DARK COWBOY CHRISTMAS.

Patti Fischer

Tall, Dark Cowboy Christmas by Maisey Yates is a fantastic story about a young woman's search for her birth father, after a life in foster care.

Grant had a rough go at life, he lost his mother at a young age and his wife died of cancer... His heart has never been the same, until he found a woman sleeping away in an old cabin. Then his life started to change. McKenna & Grant take us on an emotional journey, that hot and sexy!

This novel was perfectly written, The characters were all easy to follow and I loved the flow of the story. A perfect mix of family, love, and hope. So many lessons in life, you can take from this story.

I would say one of my favorite books, I have read in awhile!

I was given a ARC in exchange for an honest review-Netgalley

3.5 Stars- Whenever i want a true Cowboy fix, I know Maisey Yates will deliver. Add in the seasons and Christmas coming...and bam, we have the latest must read from Yates, A Tall Dark Cowboy Christmas.

We get a woman who is strong as steel and hopeful to finally get the family she so deserves. McKenna ends up in a deserted cabin belonging to Grant. Grant, one of the walking wounded is surprised by his feelings for this woman. Both of them are not the most user-friendly as they have learned how to survive by staying away from others.

Instead, McKenna lands a job on the ranch and the close contact with Grant causes all sorts of feelings for the both of them., When the feelings erupt, watch out... sizzle.

This is anther solid entry to the list of stories by Maisey Yates. Please keep them coming.

Another excellent book by Maisey Yates. Readers know Grant from earlier books in the series and know his backstory. But, of course, not all of it. The snark between McKenna and Grant is great. She thinks he is such a good looking guy and it's such a contrast to how he sees himself, which reoccurs throughout the book. When his brother and sister in law offer her a job and a place to stay, he is very weary of her and becoming involved because he does supervise her at times. This is very well handled in the book, as they make it clear they're both interested.

A lot of this book focuses on how they see themselves and how it's been reflected by those around them. There is a great deal of personal growth before they can admit they're in love and may want more than a sexual relationship. One thing of note: Grant is a widower, as mentioned, but he's not determined never to love again because Lindsay was his one true love. He just feels burnt out after his wife died after eight years of cancer relapses and pain, like he's maxxed out his ability to take care of others. Lindsay helped him with the rage he had after his mother died and he feels like she made him a good person again (not due to her illness, but because she loved him). I thought the background here - which is so important to both characters and their developing relationship - was really well done. The backstory is smoothly woven throughout the book and doesn't feel like info dump.

McKenna's in town because she had discovered that there was a typo in her birth records that she received at age 18 and her father is actually Hank Dalton. She's not sure how to approach and she desperately wants to be part of a family; part of it is she also wants support as she's been on her own since her mother left her in foster care when she was two. Her dad attempts to buy her off to not upset his wife (who knew he cheated multiple times, but they reconciled a decade ago and he doesn't want to lose her again). She meets one of her half-brothers, Gabe, who definitely has some history (and maybe a future) with Grant's sister Jamie.

Ultimately, a deeply satisfying book. I look forward to seeing more of their HEA - as we see Lindy and West's in this book - in future books.