Magnetic chemistry. Emotional romance. Irresistible storytelling. Yates has a way with words and a keen sense of emotion. Wren and Creed are a hot mess in need of a bit of TLC. Claiming the Rancher's Heir masters the gift of being alluringly, unpredictable with a grace that is exciting to watch.

Maxfield and Creed are the pair that love to hate each other. The surprising result of a one night stand forces them together much to their dismay. This was a well written story of a familiar trope. I especially enjoy looking forward to the next book about their siblings.

This is a cowboy romance, and this is the 2nd book in the Gold Valley Vineyards series. I have also read and review the first book in this series https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2978228985?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1 This is about two people that where broken finding each other and learning to love. It is a short and fast read. I really enjoyed this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Harlequin Desire) or author (Maisey Yates) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review about how I feel about this book, and I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Claiming the Rancher’s Heir (Gold Valley Vineyards #2). By Maisey Yates. 2020. Harlequin Desire (ARC eBook).

Wren Maxfield and Creed Cooper have a lot of animosity between them. The two are competitors involved in their families wineries, but there is also a secret attraction playing between them as well. When the two families come together on a project to promote their products together, Wren and Creed succumb to their chemistry. But their single encounter results in an unexpected pregnancy. Now Creed will do anything to make sure he is involved in his child’s life, even if that means a marriage in name only.

Creed has been carrying a deep hurt since he was a teenager. It is what makes him both adamant for parental rights but also cynical in accepting that he and Wren can have a true happily ever after. The second Gold Valley Vineyards book is an enjoyable enemies to lovers romance, but 9 months go by real fast and a few or twenty more bonding experiences between Creed and Wren would’ve been welcomed.

Maisey Yates does enemies to lovers so, so well. It’s just a fact! This book was about rival vineyard owners, Wren and Creed. Wren’s family business has just gone through total upheaval after her father’s misdeeds came to light. To continue developing the company brand, Wren needs to partner with Creed’s family vineyard, which has a much more laid back vibe. Wren and Creed have never gotten along; the banter is CUTTING. Of course, under all the animosity is sizzling sexual chemistry, which explodes into a one night stand… and ends in pregnancy for Wren.

First, this book was HOT. Yates did not hold back with this one, and it was super fun to read. Serious steam, right off the bat! Secondly, I really enjoyed the family dynamics and Wren as a heroine. She was unapologetic about her desires and went after what she wanted. Her character development was fantastic. For a short book, Yates really manages to pack in the feels. I thought Creed was a little less developed as a character, I understood his angst around Wren’s pregnancy, but his solution seemed undercooked to say the least. He was closed off to Wren and the reader.

In an enemies to lovers book, I want the hate to burn bright and the love to burn bright. While I felt the heat, the love was more of a simmer. I didn’t really understand why Wren came to love Creed. Did it take away from my enjoyment of the book? Not really, I just wanted a little more of them falling!

Overall, this was a well done accidental pregnancy Harlequin Desire. Yates weaves emotions into each page and really invests the reader in her characters. This book is a quick and fun read that packs an emotional punch. I can’t wait to read the other sisters’ books!

**I received a free copy of this book in order to provide an honest review**

A lovely romance between heartbreaking people! I love Maisey Yates. Thank you for letting me read this early.

Yates delivers a Christmas story with lots of strife. When the trope of enemies to lovers is used, Yates really delivered. These two are awful to each other, but the spark really fly. This is a quick read, but probably not one to read in front of the family!

This is a story which goes to show that the line between hate and love is very thin! Whenever Wren Maxfield and Creed Cooper meet the sparks fly. Initially both assume it is hatred but maybe it is really fear as both dream of each other and those dreams definitely don’t include fighting! When business bring the two together to work on a joint project neither can resist . . . and neither takes precautions! Because of what happened when he was sixteen, Creed is determined they’ll marry, he’s not letting this child grow up without him. Will this really be a marriage in name only or will love find a way to bring them together?

This is a steamy read with great families, secrets galore, plenty of drama and unexpected twists. There are hints about historical relationships that I really want to learn more about and both main characters have siblings who may well feature in future stories. That epilogue at the end is brilliant and I can’t wait to read more in this series in future!

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for my copy of this book which I have voluntarily read and honestly reviewed.

4 1/2 STARS!

Enemies to lovers ... and soon to be parents! With the book two in her Gold Valley Vineyards series, Maisey Yates has two rival families collide when Wren and Creed can no longer fight the temptation when they're in the same room with each other. Both characters have strong back stories, but Wren's is easier understood if you have read the first book in the series before reading this one. I enjoyed their connection and am looking forward to more in the series.

Wren is fit to be tied when a stupid night of passion with her sworn enemy leaves her pregnant and having to decide if she will give in to Creed's demand of marriage. She's headstrong and loyal and an easy to like character.

Creed is super easy to understand once his past is unraveled and brought into the storyline. I adored him.

I recommend this book and the series as a whole to anyone who enjoys a family owned winery taking center stage as the siblings find their happily ever afters.

I did like this book very much. I loved the characters and the story so much.

I do recommend it.

Who is Creed Cooper? Where is he from? Who is Wren Maxfield? How do they know one another? Why the animosity between the pair? I loved it when something was stated about Creed's family and Wren's family that had me having an, "Oh yeah! I remember that!" moment. Oh, the hate between these two ends up steamy, for lack of a better word. Oh, I think that a phrase such as "bodice ripper" seemed to /me/ to be more appropriate in spots. Hehehe, oh, post-sex regret makes me shake my head with these two. The conversation between Jackson and Creed at Creed's house was funny. Wow, I truly want to read more of this series. They are hard, romantic, soul-searching, passionate, and self-realizing romances.

Another great book by Maisey Yates. I really enjoyed Cowboy Christmas Redemption last year and so I was pleased to find another Maisey Yates book offered to me by Harlequin and I had no doubts whatsoever that I had to download it.

Well-formed characters, a quick pace and lots of chemistry. Just one thing though: Wren was mentioned as having dark hair yet the woman on the cover is blonde.

Other than that, Claiming the Rancher's Heir is sweet, romantic and highly recommended.

Thanks to Maisey Yates and Harlequin Desire for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

5 stars. I cannot wait for more books from Maisey Yates as well as the first one in this series but still felt this was good on its own too. I like to fill in the gaps and get the full story so I will be searching out book 1.

This book was a really good cowboy romance. I loved the enemies to lovers trope and the sexual tension between Wren and Creed was amazing. I typically am not a fan of accidental pregnancies in romances, but I thought this one was done really well and didn't cause any unnecessary drama (like she didn't try and keep it from Creed or anything). Wren was also a successful independent woman who despite looking like having it all was going through stuff emotionally, and I appreciated the realistic aspect of her character. Overall I would definitely recommend this romance to any cowboy lovers, however I think it has a book before it so check that one out first!

Claiming the Rancher’s Heir is the second book in the Gold Valley Vineyards series by Maisey Yates. This story takes place in the beautiful wine country of Gold Valley, Oregon.

Wren Maxfield works at Maxfield Vineyards, boasting a showroom that is sleek and high-end, all steel and glass. She works at her family business as the hospitality and marketing specialist. She was brought up in their family’s large Italian villa-style home, attended exclusive boarding schools and college on the East coast and has travelled extensively. From the outside looking in, it appears to be ideal. However, every aspect of her life was dictated by her father, including the expectation that she would work at the family’s vineyard. When her father leaves town following a scandal, Wren finds herself questioning the direction of her life.

Creed Cooper runs his own ranch and works at his family’s vineyard doing promotional work. Cowboy Wines, the Cooper family vineyard, is very successful. Their vineyard reflects the family’s laid-back attitude with rustic barns styled into showrooms and event spaces. When he was a teenager, Creed thought he was in love, but when the girl he was dating became pregnant, she named her old boyfriend as the father, taking away Creed’s parental rights. This broke Creed’s heart. He mourned not being able to be a father to his son and it has caused him to vow to never father another child. Since he refuses to fall in love and start a family, Creed is content to keep himself busy with his work.

Creed and Wren detest one another. Wren’s father always hated the Coopers and had instilled that feeling in Wren. Creed responded to those feelings with mutual hatred. Despite their not liking one another, they are greatly attracted to each other. With Wren’s father gone and no longer influencing their business, her sister, who oversees their broader brand, wants to change the perception of their winery. She does not think the rivalry between the two wineries is good, so she suggests a wine festival event to promote all the wineries in the area. To show the public Maxfield Vineyards and Cowboy wines are not rivals, Wren suggests they first have a smaller scale event focusing on their two wineries. During their first meeting to work together on promotional items for the event, Creed and Wren give in to the mutual lust they feel. This results in an unexpected pregnancy. The story continues with how they handle this situation.

The author wove an interesting tale around the classic hate-to-lovers trope along with the thrown in unplanned pregnancy dilemma. The characters were quite likable. However, the story felt rushed. The characters moved through emotions and life altering decisions at lightening speed. While it all made sense, and the author did not ramble on tirelessly, it seemed implausible for the characters to rationally work through their emotional baggage and take on their new lives so quickly and do so relatively seamlessly. I enjoyed this book and recommend it, and will look for more stories in this series.

~ Andrea

Good enemies to lovers story. Wren Maxfield and Creed Cooper are co-owners of competing wineries. Maxfield Wines tend toward a more posh clientele, while Creed's Cowboy Wines have a more down-home reputation. When Wren's sister proposes a joint venture between the two wineries to promote their products, Wren and Creed must work together to make it happen. The difficulty is that Wren and Creed are like oil and water. Whenever they are in the same room, the sniping and bickering are nearly constant, each insisting that they don't like the other.

I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Wren and Creed. They both proclaim out loud that they hate each other, but the sparks that fly say otherwise. They use their antagonism to keep each other at a distance, as mentally they admit to intense attraction. When a fierce argument explodes into passion neither one can resist. Wren ends up pregnant, and Creed insists that they marry to ensure that he has a role in the baby's life. Wren is reluctant but agrees to a temporary marriage to soothe Creed's fears.

While Wren and Creed's attraction is undeniable, they quickly realize that they don't know each other. It was fun to watch them get to know each other's likes and dislikes and begin to believe they can make a go of the marriage even without the dreaded L-word. Both Wren and Creed have issues from their pasts that affect their willingness to allow their emotions to be part of their marriage. As Creed's support of Wren causes her to look at her life and her dreams, she realizes that her feelings for him have changed. I ached for her when she confessed those feelings to Creed, and he pulled away. It took some straight talk from one of his brothers to open Creed's eyes to his feelings for Wren and why he pushed her away. I liked the ending and seeing him finally let go of his guilt and believe in a happy future with Wren. The epilogue was terrific and had a nice twist at the end.

Maisey Yates continues her fabulous Gold Valley vineyards series with a red-hot contemporary romance full of spark, sass and sizzle: Claiming the Rancher’s Heir.

The Coopers and the Maxfields might both be in the wine business, but that is where the similarities end. While the Maxfield family’s wines are all about luxury and sophistication, the Cooper clan have always pitched their products to a more earthy and down to earth clientele. Still, this hasn’t stopped the two families from being sworn enemies who do not have a good word to say about the other, but when Wren Maxfield realizes that she needs Creed Cooper to collaborate with her for the good of both their businesses, it looks like the ambitious businesswoman will have to go behind enemy lines and down a path of passion and peril!

Creed hates everything the Maxfield family stands for – so why can’t he stop fantasizing about taking sexy Wren into his arms and kissing her senseless? When she struts into his office and suggests that they join forces together, Creed’s every instinct is telling him to show Wren the door – even if another part of his body is telling him something completely different. As refusing Wren proves easier said than done, Creed decides – against his better judgement – to acquiesce to her request even if it means spending days working far too closely together…

When irresistible temptation leads to a sizzling night of love, Wren and Creed think that theirs will only be a one-night affair – until Wren realises that she is pregnant with her enemy’s baby. Creed is not about to let Wren bring up his heir alone, so he proposes a marriage of convenience. Creed will do whatever it takes for his child – except falling for his convenient wife. But Creed soon realizes that that is easier said than done…

Will Creed and Wren ever find the courage to admit the truth about the depth of their feelings for one another? Or will they let their pride get in the way of a love of a lifetime?

Maisey Yates is on top form with Claiming the Rancher’s Heir. A terrific contemporary romance full of witty banter, sharp humor and sizzling passion, Claiming the Rancher’s Heir is an absorbing tale of high stakes, heart-pounding emotion and off the charts sensuality that continues to cement Maisey Yates’ standing as one of the genre’s most gifted and most talented writers.

I’ve really enjoyed the few Maisey Yates’ books featuring the fictional Gold Valley area that I’ve read, and Claiming the Rancher’s Heir was another fun, sexy, enemies-turned-lovers romp within the vineyards.

Wren Maxfield and Creed Cooper work for their families competing vineyards with completely different styles and customer bases, and they’ve never gotten along. But under that animosity is an attraction that they’ve both stuffed down, and when they have to work together on an event that will benefit both of their wineries, a moment of reckless, passion-filled abandon has unintended consequences.

With Wren now pregnant and Creed insisting that they get married, Claiming the Rancher’s Heir gets passionate, a bit angsty as both Wren and Creed must deal with their past hurts and drama to come together for the good of their baby, and quite enjoyable as they bicker their way towards love–kicking and screaming the entire way.

I give Claiming the Rancher’s Heir a four out of five. I loved the Gold Valley setting and how familiar characters pop in from other books, but you needn’t have read them to be able to enjoy this book. The baby is not a secret to their families, and that is so refreshing. Their baby is not treated as a problem; it was just something to bring these two characters together finally and I loved that. This was a quick, enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading more in this series.

3.5 Stars!

CLAIMING THE RANCHER’S HEIR by Maisey Yates is an enemies to lovers romance with the added bonus of the accidental pregnancy trope. It is an entertaining read with well-defined characters. This is the second book from the GOLD VALLEY VINEYARDS series and it can be read as a standalone.

Wren Maxfield, along with her two sisters, run the Maxfield winery. Their wines cater to the sophisticated palate, and Wren’s marketing programs are always successful. However, as happy as Wren is with her job, she has always dreamed about a career in architectural engineering, which her controlling father did not support. She is in the process of reevaluating her life choices and, thanks to Creed Cooper, her sworn nemesis, she is able to pursue a new forever.

Creed and his family own Cowboy Wines, a down-to-earth winery. Creed is a successful cowboy and rancher, but an incident from the past is constantly wreaking havoc with his psyche. He and Wren are competitors and have always despised each other. Now they are working together to build their respective brands, and the heat between them has become undeniable. Their lust results in a pregnancy, which evolves into friendship and finally love.

Wren and Creed are an interesting couple. At the beginning of the book, they are at each other’s throats, and their hate for each other is palpable. Once they become intimate, they are able to open up and share their history, dreams, and fears. Wren and Creed are perfect together, because they challenge each other. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Complimentary copy provided by RJ, romancejunkies.com.

CLAIMING THE RANCHER’S HEIR (Gold Valley Vineyards Book #2) by Maisey Yates is a new enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance featuring the second sister in the Maxfield winemaking family and the sexy cowboy/vineyard owner from the Cooper family. Although this is the second book in the Gold Valley Vineyards series is can be easily be read as a standalone.

Wren Maxfield cannot believe her sister, Emerson, wants to do joint events with their biggest winery rivals, the Cooper’s to increase tourism in the Gold Valley. For years, Wren has been butting heads with Creed Cooper and now they have to work together. Wren hates Creed and his laid-back cowboy persona, but she also cannot stop having very steamy dreams featuring the man she supposedly hates.

Creed Cooper runs his family’s winery and enjoys his sparring with the uppity Wren Maxfield. Creed has no interest in a relationship after being wounded in his past, but his dreams all feature the feisty Wren and now they are thrown together.

After an explosive sexual episode in a wine cellar, Wren is pregnant. Creed vows to marry Wren and take care of her and the baby, but it is a marriage in name only. But Wren has other plans.

I really enjoyed this Harlequin Desire quick read. I did read the first book, but it is not necessary to enjoy this one. I find enemies-to-lovers stories very entertaining and I believe Ms. Yates did an excellent job of bringing all the verbal tension to a head and turning it into believable sexual tension. Wren and Creed were both dealing with emotional baggage that I felt was handled realistically. The sex scenes are explicit, but not gratuitous.

I can recommend this contemporary romance for a quick, satisfying read and I am looking forward to Cricket’s story next.

Title: Claiming the Rancher's Heir
Author: Maisey Yates
Genre: Romance
Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0

Wren Maxfield hates Creed Cooper, but now she’s working with the wealthy rancher over the holidays! Those strong feelings hide undeniable chemistry…and one wild night results in pregnancy. Now Creed vows to claim his heir. That means proposing a marriage in name only. But as desire takes over, is that a deal they can keep?

This was a quick read, but that’s about the only truly redeeming quality I found. There wasn’t any explanation for the Hatfields-and-Mccoys style feud/hatred the Coopers and the Maxfields had for each other. Wren’s main personality trait seemed to be confusion/being erratic, and Creed’s was being an alpha male. Everything here seemed strictly superficial, without getting close to the characters or examining why they did things.

Maisey Yates is a bestselling author. Claiming the Rancher’s Heir is her newest novel.

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

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