A huge thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

Ryder and Samantha have been best friends for seventeen years. Ryder has always wanted more, but he buried those wants because he knew she wasn’t ready for them.

And then Sammy decides that she needs a baby to fill the empty places in her life and she recruits Ryder to help her find the perfect candidate. Ryder reluctantly agrees. But the moment Sammy starts showing an interest in someone, Ryder steps in.

It is uncharacteristic of him, and so is the intense heat in his eyes. Ryder has always been the strong, tall silent cowboy in the background that is her bulwark against the world. But Sammy doesn’t really believe in love. Her mother and father ignored and abused her, and relegated her to the fringes of their lives. She doesn’t think she’s cut out for long term relationships and unswerving devotion.

One night together, of opening his heart to Sammy, convinces Ryder that they were always meant to be more than friends. They have lived in each other’s pockets for years. They sense each other’s unspoken words and are the first person each turns to when they need encouragement and comfort. Convincing Sammy of their inevitability will be the hardest thing he has ever done.

I fell in love with this stoic cowboy, in his signature black hat. His quiet confidence doesn’t hide his swagger, and Sammy doesn’t stand a chance when he turns that bright, molten gaze on her. This friends to lovers story was tender and sweet and steamy. This is the perfect end-of-summer beach read!

This was my first Maisey Yates book but when I heard that she was an Oregon author I definitely wanted to check out her work, and the plot of this one sounded like something I would really enjoy. Though this is the 10th book in this series, I had no trouble jumping into the story and learning about the characters. I loved learning about Ryder and Sammy and their own personal scars. This really is a story about being shaped from one's past as well as growing from it. There were definitely some parts that were hard to go through since Sammy especially had some hang ups and emotional scars that held her back and made her react in less than wonderful ways. That being said I did really enjoy the journey these characters took on the way through their love story to get to their happiness at the end.

As a teenager Ryder’s life was forever changed when his parents passed away and keeping his family together was the only thing that mattered, and he has no regrets as it brought Sammy into his life. He has made the family ranch a success, his siblings are now adults and although he is attracted to Sammy that was a line he wasn’t prepared to cross.

As a child Sammy has witness the destructive side of love and wants no part of it. She and Ryder have been by each other’s sides through all the ups and downs so when she decides she wants a baby who better than her best friend Ryder to give her one.

Both Sammy and Ryder have adjustments to make when the parameters of their relationship changed. Sammy wanted a child but not necessarily a husband while Ryder thought his child raising days were in the past now that his siblings are grown. Neither counted on the love and chemistry between them that had been laying dormant to ignite and for them to realize that what they really need in their lives is each other.

Title: The Hero of Hope Springs
Author: Maisey Yates
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.5 out of 5

For as long as brooding cowboy Ryder Daniels has known Sammy Marshall, she has been his sunshine. Her free spirit and bright smile saved him after the devastating loss of his parents and gave him the strength to care for his orphaned family. Only Ryder knows how vulnerable Sammy is, so he’s kept his attraction for his best friend under wraps for years. But what Sammy’s asking for now might be a step too far.

Something has been missing from Sammy’s life, and she thinks she knows what it is. Deciding she wants a baby is easy; realizing she wants her best friend to be the father is…complicated. Especially when a new heat between them sparks to life! When Sammy discovers she’s pregnant, Ryder makes it clear he wants it all. But having suffered the fallout of her parents’ disastrous relationship, Sammy is wary of letting Ryder too close. This cowboy will have to prove he’s proposing out of more than just honor.

I haven’t read any of the Gold Valley series, but these are all stand-alones, so that was no problem. Solid writing here and vivid scenes, but the characters didn’t keep me engaged. Sammy is a very selfish person. She really doesn’t care how her behavior affects other people or if it affects them. She just wants to do and say what she wants and expects other people to just know that’s her free spirit. I didn’t care for her or her excuses and willful obliviousness at all.

Ryder was a lot more likable, but he’s just about as clueless as Sammy when it comes to a lot of things. Pretty rigid and inflexible when it comes to a lot of things, but he does try, so there’s that.

Maisey Yates is a bestselling author. The Hero of Hope Springs is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Harlequin/HQN in exchange for an honest review.)

Sweet, but also a little bit all over the place - a bit like Sammy herself? Easy to read with all the things we love in a cowboy woven into an entertaining take of love and friendship.

Sammy has had something missing from her life and hasn't been entirely sure what. The idea of having a baby sounds like the best solution, even if it's sudden and with a random man around town. Sammy's best friend, Ryder, is skeptical about this. For a while, he didn't like the idea in general... that is until he realized he would prefer to be the father of the baby instead of allowing another man to be the father. Ryder then makes it clear he wants it: the baby with her, her, the future, etc. He wants it all however, Sammy has quite the complicated past and things that are holding her back.

Maisey Yates' writing reminds me a bit of Sharon Sala's so I was excited to read this. I absolutely adored the writing and discussion Sammy was having with each of the characters when it came to different things (family, the baby, feelings, etc.) Having a baby is a big decision and does require a lot of talking, especially with the people that will be around the baby the most. They might even be the ones to change your mind for particular reasons. This gave me a taste of what it would be like to be making bigger decisions as an adult and having such a strong support system could be like.

The Hero of Hope Springs was a nice read. There is a lot of like about the book. The characters went through some hard times in their lives, and seventeen years later, they're trying to move forward and mend their soul. This is a friend-to-lover romance where the characters learn a lot about themselves. This story is a journey of healing and love, of family and hardship.

This book lost a star for me because some part of me could not connect with Sammy. I understood Ryder and his journey made sense. I really liked him actually. I guess Sammy felt immature at times and threw herself in schemes that I never quite understood. It was hard for me to understand what she was going through when I wasn't sure what she wanted or what her goal was.

I did connect with her when she talked about her family, that part was raw and relatable. I guess the disconnect was with the romance and what she wanted. I felt as lost as she was with what she wanted. Apart from that, I enjoyed each characters' development and how they seem to complement each other. Overall, it was a nice read.

Friends Finally Become Lovers

Sammy and Ryder has been friends since their teenage years. Sammy grew up in an abusive family. It got so bad that she finally moved to a trailer on Ryder’s family property next door. She loved being part of his family then tragedy struck. Ryder’s parents, aunt and uncle, and his mother’s best friend were killed in a plane crash. Ryder gave up his dreams of going to college on an athletic scholarship to take care of the family. Sammy became his support, but the romance was held a bay because Ryder didn’t want to hurt her.

Now Sammy needs something, and she thinks Ryder is the one to supply it. She wants to have a baby. She doesn't want the encumbrance of a traditional relationship, but Ryder isn’t sure he can live with that.

This is an unusual cowboy romance of unrequited love. Seeing the main characters recognize their feeling and come together is very satisfying. The descriptions of the setting are wonderful if you love the west.

My criticism is that the characters’ thoughts took predominance over the plot. They were always in their heads. It was rather annoying. Still, it’s a good romance.

I received this book from Harlequin for this review.

Who are Ryder Daniels and Sammy Marshall? Who are Colt, Jake, West, Pansy, Iris, and Rose? I like Logan a lot! We get to know a lot more about Sammy in this story, her background, and how she truly ended up at Hope Springs. What is it that she talks to Ryder about? Why and what caused her to get to this conclusion or decision of what she wants to do? Things suddenly took a strange/interesting turn of events 30% of the way into this story. This was due to some specific comments from Ryder. Wow, this was a roller coaster of a read!

Sammy decided she wants to have baby on her own, something she she love and fill whats missing in her life. Thing is she needs someone inorder to have that baby and tells her best friend Ryder about this. Maybe he could help her find a donor and maybe be the baby daddy himself. You can imagine what will become of this.

I loved this book, it was pretty predicable I must say but I loved how this author made this overused story line and make it hers. I loved getting to know the characters, you can't help but want to give them a hug and help them make everything better because their childhood was tough. But because of their childhood its easy to see where it shaped their characters now. If you love contemporary romance, you'll love this book I really enjoyed myself reading this.

Beautifully crafted characters, a wonderful setting, and a romance that will make your heart beat right out of your chest, and you've got THE HERO OF HOPE SPRINGS by Maisey Yates.

Sammy Marshall is spontaneous and bright, always jumping into situations and thinking later, and after her abusive childhood, she deserves to do things whatever way she wants to. So when she decides she wants to have a baby, it doesn't exactly shock those that love her, especially her best friend Ryder. Ryder has and always will be her protector and his family became her family many years ago, so it's only natural that she asks his help in finding a suitable man for her. But when the atmosphere shifts between them it may just open up their eyes to possibilities that could change everything ...

Ryder knows what it's like to lose someone you love and he has dedicated his life caring for his family, and Sammy whom he has always protected. But when Sammy suggests having a baby with a stranger it opens up the floodgates to the feelings he has buried deep inside for so many years. But can he convince Sammy that this heat between them could work long-term and that she can trust him with her heart?

Romantic, sweet, sexy, emotional, are all words that I would use to describe this enjoyable story. While it is part of a series, THE HERO OF HOPE SPRINGS can easily be read as a standalone novel, but trust me when I say that this book will leave you wanting to read them all!
Sammy is a wonderful character who is trying to come-to-terms with her past and is afraid to open herself up completely to what could be between her and Ryder. She is strong and independent but also vulnerable when it comes to believing in love, and I wanted her to trust herself and Ryder in their new relationship. Ryder is a solid character who has always put everyone else's needs before his own but letting his feelings show for Sammy is the first step in Ryder going after his own dreams and I wanted him to reach for the stars again.

THE HERO OF HOPE SPRINGS by Maisey Yates is a first-rate romance and I cannot wait to read everything that Maisey has written as I'm definitely a huge fan.

I've only read a few of the Gold Valley novels, so I wasn't familiar with the connection between Sammy and the Daniels family. Fortunately, Maisey Yates has managed to give us all these terrific characters in a connected series while still making the books work as standalones. Speaking of terrific characters, this book gives us Ryder and Sammy for a friends to lovers romance. Of course, the story has more angst than you can shake a stick at, but given everything Ryder and Sammy have been through in their lives, their story was pretty much guaranteed to be emotional. Sammy's idea that a baby will make her whole may not be popular in today's world of strong, independent women, but it's not uncommon, and for this couple, it's kind of the perfect vehicle for moving the relationship forward. I'll stop there so I don't give the whole story away, but suffice it to say that The Hero of Hope Springs is an engaging story with all the feels and characters you just can't help but root for.

I love books with cowboys and this one did not disappoint. I loved the chemistry between the main characters. This was enjoyable from the very start. Would definitely read more books from this author.

What a story The Hero of Hope Springs was. A little bit light, a little bit sexy, a little bit of drama and, in the end, a whole lot of love.

Sammy was a new age flower-child. Yes, I think that is the best way to describe her. She was a wee bit wild, told people exactly what she was thinking, stuck her nose in places it probably shouldn’t have been and came up with outrageous ideas. But, the one she’s come up with now … it’s beyond outrageous. She has her reasons for being the way she was. Her childhood was nowhere near normal and her saving grace was Hope Springs. Ryder was her hero and is now her best friend. What she proposes to him is off-the-wall and there is no way that she’ll get him to agree to it.

Ryder has been in love with Sammy from the first sugar cube. He wouldn’t allow his teenage self to act on anything. Now, he won’t allow his grown self to even think about her in any way but his friend. He doesn’t know now she would react, if she would leave or accept him for the man he is. But, her new plan has him reeling. How does he get himself into these predicaments? Find a man for her to have a baby with … right … he’ll get right on that. Until she proposes he be the baby-daddy. How he went from never wanting marriage or children to picturing Sammy in his life, round with his baby is beyond him. The heart wants what the heart wants and one taste of this woman didn’t satisfy him in the least.

Sammy and Ryder belonged together. Ryder knew that … Sammy needed some convincing. Ryder found his romantic side and Sammy couldn’t help but say yes. That was until she said stop and left a heart-broken man behind. She had issues she had to face and had to do them on her own. But, when push came to shove, she knew that there was no one in this world that would stand beside her, support her and love her the way Ryder always has.

To say I was a little taken aback with the storyline is an understatement. But, as you read about Sammy and the life she led, you understood. You also understood Ryder’s point of view in not wanting marriage or children. He felt like he’s been there, done that and had the headaches to prove it. But Sammy was always by his side through thick and thin and he would never let her down. You know this because Maisey Yates has a way of bringing her characters to life, of breathing life into them. They are complex characters that you honestly feel you know. The Hero of Hope Springs was an amazing story about love and acceptance and what you will and will not do to get that acceptance. Whoever is next in the Gold Valley series is truly lucky … they will be finding the woman or man of their dreams; they will find love and they will have not settled for anything but true happiness.

Y’all I believe this is the first contemporary cowboy romance I’ve read! I know the genre is incredibly popular and I think Maisey Yates was not a bad place to start!

This was extremely readable book. When reading romance I don’t want it to be work to figure out how to image the characters and settings. I want them easily digestible as a chocolate cake. Is it the absolute past for you… no probably not, but it will make you so happy as you enjoy it. That’s how I felt about this novel that I devoured in about 2 days!

I enjoyed this novel and would be interested in reading more of the series. The parts that sucked me in, included that our hero Ryder had to man up and take care of his siblings at a young age due to his parent’s untimely death when he was 18. Our heroine, Sammy, is seemingly a free spirit in need a of a radical life change.

I found the baby fever and finding a baby daddy amusing but very superficial. While the connection between the hero and heroine drew me in it definitely suffered from the “just talk like adults, goddammit”, which I suppose was part of the tension of the book. For me, after awhile this became tiresome. Additionally, there seemed to be a certain lack of depth when it came to the characters. Clearly both have baggage but I don’t feel like it was full addressed. Maybe this was because I jumped into the series fairly late.

Despite this issues with the book, I would highly recommend this to fans of romance, particularly if you like small town/cowboy romances!

If you’ve been following my book reviews for any length of time, you know I’m a huge fan of Maisey Yates. I was ecstatic when I was offered an ARC of this book, along with a chance to participate in a blog tour. This story is deeply emotional and it even made me cry. (I swear, she always makes me cry.) But I’ll have to be honest and say it’s one of my least favorite books by this author to date. A key element was missing, and that is laughter. While this author always makes me cry, she also always makes me laugh. At least up until now.

Trust me, I know not everything has to have humor. This story is actually very important and poignant. We met this family in the last book, The Bad Boy of Redemption Ranch, and I knew these characters would have a lot to say, and it wouldn’t all be comfortable. I was looking forward to the story of Sammy and Ryder. I can’t even say I was disappointed in their story, because I’m not. In fact, I know there are a lot of readers who are going to find this to be a 5 star story. I just couldn’t connect fully with the story or the characters.

When Ryder and Sammy are together and actually talking to one another, not in their own heads, I was all in. They gave me butterflies and heartache and joy. I love their connection and their history. These two know each other so much better than most couples who have been married for 50 years. They’ve been through a lot and have always stood with each other, good times and bad. To me, they spent way too much time in their thinking. Looking back, I realize there is a shockingly small amount of dialogue in this book. Not just between Sammy and Ryder, but overall. They’ve always played confidant for each other. And when they couldn’t talk to one another, Ryder’s siblings are always there for them both. But due to their situation, neither are comfortable talking to the family about their relationship. This leaves a gaping hole in the story because it leaves them to talk to themselves, over and over and over. Rehashing the same issues because they aren’t getting any feedback. In fact, one of my favorite parts of this story is a conversation between Ryder and West. That really cemented it for me that I was missing the interactions and dialogue between characters.

Look, I appreciate what the author is doing with this story and these characters. It just didn’t work for me. It’s still a wonderful tale and there’s no doubt in my mind these characters are meant to be together. I look forward to seeing them play a part in the future books that will follow the Daniels family in Gold Valley. I think, now that they’ve found their HEA, they will be free to be more themselves in the coming stories instead of holding all of their feelings inside.

Two of the things I most enjoy about Maisey Yates' books are her character development and dialogue. The two typically combine to create a deep connection with her characters and it isn't long before I become fully engaged with them and their journey. In The Hero of Hope Springs, the potential for that type of connection is strong. Ryder and Sammy have both been impacted by traumatic events which altered the course of their lives at young, impressionable ages. Because of those traumas, their ages, and their stages of emotional well-being at the time they met, roles were assumed by each of them and decisions made that defined them individually, as well as their friendship, and have carried with them into adulthood. When Sammy makes a decision that shifts that dynamic, it throws their well-established roles into disarray, causing each of them to reassess their lives and face flaws within themselves as well as the emotional barriers they've erected, creating wonderful opportunities for both growth as well as the emotional dialogue between characters that I enjoy so much in a Maisey Yates story.

The growth is there for both of the main characters in this book though it's a long and often painful process (be prepared for a whole lot of angst and emotion). Sammy, in particular, has a difficult time dealing with the physical and emotional trauma of her childhood and the impact it had, and still has, on her life. It takes pretty much the entire book for her to reach a point where she can confront her demons and finally begin the process of healing.

The book is well-written, and the main characters fully formed, but I still struggled to establish the connection with them that I've come to expect in a Yates book. I think one of the key reasons for that may be the lack of direct dialogue between Ryder and Sammy. Not that they don't have any, they do, but each spends an inordinate amount of time alone with their own (frequently repetitive) thoughts or in conversation with others. I understand the need for that, but I needed to see more conversation between the two of them, see them more actively working together to grow as a couple, in order to have that deep investment in their relationship that I so enjoy in Yates' other books.

That's not to say this isn't a good book. While it's not among my Gold Valley favorites, it's a solid read with layered characters, deep wells of emotion, and intriguing secondary characters that have me looking forward to more Gold Valley stories.

*ARC received for fair and unbiased review

Friends to lovers … and more! With book ten in her beloved Gold Valley series Maisey Yates delights her reader with the story we’ve all been waiting for. Ryder Daniels! He gave up his dreams and stepped up to take care of his siblings and friends when tragedy struck years ago and now it’s time for him to finally get his share of happiness. I enjoyed them getting together, but they felt a little flat in their emotions and dialogue and I found myself wanting a little more. I’m a big fan of the series, so I hope to see them again in the future.

Ryder Daniels has been a favorite character ever since the Daniels family stepped on the screen in this series and seeing him get to claim the woman he’s been in love with for years as his very own is really sweet. I always enjoy his connection with his family.

Sammy Marshall is sass all the way around and it was fulfilling to learn more of her past.

I recommend this book and the series as a whole to anyone who enjoys a close knit family always weighing in on each others lives as each member finds their own happily ever after.

Sammy Marshall has been living on the Hope Springs ranch for as long as she can remember. She ran away from her abusive family and took refuge at the ranch, the one place she has always felt safe. She has vowed to never be like her mother or father and now Sammy is out to prove it to herself.

Ryder Daniels had to grow up fast. When his parents died in a tragic accident he was left as a teenager to raise all his siblings and be both mother and father to them all. Sammy Marshall has been part of that family for years when she moved to the ranch as a teen. Ryder and Sammy have been best friends since the beginning and nothing can come between their friendship.

When Sammy announces that she wants to have a baby, she turns to Ryder and asks him to help her find her “baby daddy”. He being her best friend agrees to help and they go out to the local bar to start making a list. When Ryder thinks of Sammy with another man, his deep feeling for Sammy surface and he tells her no man is good enough. She looks at him and asks if he wants to be the father of her baby. This is where the story gets interesting. Will Ryder take Sammy up on her offer? Will Sammy agree to Ryder’s conditions? Can Sammy learn to trust someone with her heart?

This was such a sweet story of friendship, family, and love. Maisy Yates has an incredible gift for drawing the reader into the story from the very first page. Although this was the first book in the series that I read, I had no trouble catching up on the back story of the supporting characters. Thank you so much to the author Maisy Yates, Harlequin and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review. It was fabulous! All opinions expressed for this review are unbiased and entirely my own.

I wanted to like "The Hero of Hope Springs" by Maisey Yates a lot more than I actually did. I'm generally a fan of grumpy heroes and friends-to-lovers stories, so based on the synopsis, I thought for sure this book would be a perfect choice for me. I realized in advance that it was part of a series, but it was marketed as a standalone, so I didn't think it would be too much of a problem that I hadn't read any of the previous books. Instead, it felt like I had jumped into the middle of a story with more characters than I could easily keep straight at first. There seemed to be details missing that may have been provided in previous books, too. For example, the author never explained exactly what had happened to the male lead, Ryder's, parents. We know they died when he was only 18 and Ryder became his younger siblings' guardian, but how exactly did they die? Did his aunt and uncle die at the same time? If not, how did he also become his cousins' guardian? These events obviously had a huge impact on Ryder's life, but I didn't fully understand the chain of events that led to his present-day circumstances.

I also felt like I had missed something between Ryder and the female lead, Sammy, because for supposed best friends, they didn't much seem to like each other most of the time. I can't say for sure, but perhaps it was because the book launched directly into the conflict between them and we didn't have a chance to see them interact naturally first. On multiple occasions, Ryder described Sammy as his "sunshine," but he never seemed to be happy when he was around her; there was nothing playful or lighthearted about their relationship, aside from Sammy's weird obsession with sugar cubes. As a result, their relationship and the book itself seemed very intense and more angsty than it needed to be.

It took me a while to warm up to Ryder because he was just so set in his ways and stayed stuck in grumpy alpha hero mode for so long. He was obviously a good person and loved his family fiercely, but for the longest time, he had to have everything his way or no way at all. He eventually learned to compromise and he also let go of a lot of the grief he'd been carrying related to his parents' deaths, which made him seem like a completely different, much more likeable person. Unfortunately, I did not warm up to Sammy, even though I felt bad for her because of what she went through with her parents when she was a child. She was so flighty and immature, which made it easy for me to understand why everyone around her thought her plan to have a baby was a bad idea.

I wasn't really a fan of the book's writing style either. The story seemed to drag in several places because there were so many internal monologues. Both Ryder and Sammy had a lot of old hurts to work through so I understand that some introspection was necessary for character growth, but there was so much of that in this book that it became repetitive. I ended up skimming through a lot of it just so I could get to the end faster. In addition, it made some of the conversations confusing because there would be a line of dialogue followed by a lengthy internal monologue before another character would finally answer. Half the time I had forgotten what they were responding to and had to go back and find the previous line of dialogue again!

Overall, l don't think I can recommend "The Hero of Hope Springs" for anyone except existing fans of the Gold Valley series, who are already invested in these characters from previous stories and want to see them get their HEA. Based on some of the other reviews I've read, this book may not be the best example of the author's usual writing style or tone. For that reason, I will probably give Ms. Yates another chance in the future and hope that I connect with that book more than I did this one.

*ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are my own.