A Haunting Love Story
Rae Trujillo runs the family floral business and has moved back to her family home, suffering her mother and grandmother’s quarrels with impossible patience.
Riley Kittredge, the ultimate cowboy horse whisperer, has been in love with Rae since they were in high school. They marry and he builds a house for her on family land. A few years later, Rae leaves the marriage and Riley and moves out. Then comes back. Then moves out again. Until she moves into her parents’ home. Now she wants a divorce.
Rae is hiding a secret-the reason why she moves out-and this burden weighs heavily on her. She feels guilty about not sharing this secret with Riley. The dark secret is mentioned numerous times throughout the book and it made me edgy. I was enjoying the deep and dark vibes between Rae and Riley and I was afraid Caitlin Crews was going to blow it with some innocuous detail.
But she comes through and, though predictable, Crews reveals it with utmost delicacy and class. The narration flows beautifully with the right combination of revelation and anticipation.
While she endures her grandmother’s silent treatment for nine years, her decision to move out of her parents’ home is quick. I was impatient to see her stand up to her vicious grandmother and was deeply satisfied with the manner in which Crews depicted it.
Every time Rae shows up at his door late at night, Riley cannot be anything but passionate for she’s his weakness until she spills the secret. He’s considerate and forthcoming yet strong and distant. Riley is unforgettable and stalwart in his love and devotion to Rae who wavers with her guilt but never with her feelings for Riley.
The dynamics between the Kittredge brothers is fascinating and Crews keeps my interest in the story right till the end.

Coming back to Cold River is like visiting with old friends that you haven't seen in a while. The story of Rae and Riley took me on a roller coaster ride of what was happening with them, and why it was happening. It very easy to get invested in Rae and Riley, as well as the others - if you've read the other books in the series. While each book can be read as a stand alone, it does help understand some of the periphery characters, and why they behave and say the things they do.

The world building is great, and character descriptions have just the right amount of information to pull you in and create the visuals in your mind. Your heart will go out to both Rae and Riley, and you'll find them rooting for them all they way.

It's a fun read!

Humor, heat and a heck of a lot of chemistry! Caitlin Crews’ SECRET NIGHTS WITH A COWBOY is a passionate tale of second chances, unfinished love and two souls meant for each other who never seem to get things right, unless they are between the sheets.

Don’t they say love is the closest thing to hate? Riley and Rae married right out of high school, but maybe they were just too young, too self-absorbed to learn what it took to make a marriage work. Rae moved back home, but they never divorced, but now she is ready to move on, to grow up, find a mature relationship and have a family. Is Riley ready to let her go? Is he satisfied with the status quo or will they both realize they both deserve more?

Sizzling with passionate emotions, there is heartbreak, heartache and enough angst to shred your romantic side to bits. Fear not, there are moments of humor that seem to balance things out as these two muddle their way through growing up and learning what is really important in life! The problem, do they truly want the same thing?

A quick read that will have readers’ hearts pumping, cheering Riley and Rae on! Besides, who doesn’t love a good cowboy romance?

I received a complimentary ARC edition from St. Martin's Paperbacks! This is my honest and voluntary review.

I’ll start off saying, that I love all the previous books by Caitlin Crews. Having said that, I didn’t care for this book as well. It was sluggish and it felt like it said the same thing over and over while not getting anywhere until the very end. However, there was a novella about Conner Kettridge and I thought that was very good. I won’t stop reading Caitlin’s books because overall I really like her books, just not this one.

“Keeping a huge secret can cause more trouble then you think”
When I found out what the secret was, it was one scenario I hadn’t come up with. I kept imagining all kinds of horrible things. Keeping lines of communication open is the key to any relationship. This story shows the importance of no secrets from each other.
Secret Nights with a Cowboy is definitely a nice, fun but, certainly an intense read. Sometimes you need this kind of story to just take you away from real life issues.
Many thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the opportunity to read and give my honest review of this book.

2.5 stars.
“Secret Nights with a Cowboy”, by Caitlin Crews (St. Martin’s Press) centers around a tempestuous passion and a romance full of desire and angst between two very strong personalities, and a secret dividing them.
Riley and Rae are an original fictional couple, with good back stories, and the way they experience their marriage is unusual. As individuals they didn’t appeal to me as other Caitlin Crews’ protagonists.
As much as I like an intense relationship and tortured characters, I found there was too much anger and fighting; the passion between the leading characters was too explosive and conflictive and the fighting within the families made the reading process a bit grueling sometimes. It was just too excessive.
The dynamics between the Kittredge siblings was lively and I found the eldest brother (a former Marine), Matias, an alluring character. Connor and Missy are interesting, too. But the family drama was a bit annoying.
I also think that there was too much conversation, characters and melodrama in this story. The story dragged out for me, especially in the beginning, because of a secret not powerful enough to base the plot and whose revelation, in my opinion, should have been anticipated.
I liked the setting and the relation the characters have with the land and the community.

"Secret Nights with a Cowboy" by Caitlin Crews
I loved this contemporary romance story, so clean and so addictive, that I didn't skip a single word. Are we destined to follow the patterns we witnessed our family members living, even patterns we did/do not like? Can we change our patterns? Can love rule the day? Patience and courage can be virtues. This is a worthy read, for sure. Happy Reading ! !
P.S. there was a novella story included in the ARC… Conner & Missy's story which was just as delicious as Riley & Rae's, but shorter.
Note: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher with the expectation that an honest review will be posted.

I received this ARC for an honest review. This is my favorite book by Caitlin Crews. You find yourself getting lost in this book. The story just flowed.
This story is about Riley and Rae. They were childhood sweet hearts, and had a tumultuous past. They married when Rae was 18. Rae left Riley after a few years and moved back into her parents house, but she would visit Riley almost every night. They were stuck in an endless cycle of arguing and having angry sex. Rae would leave feeling hollow. Rae runs the family flower shop and Riley works on his family ranch helping with difficult horses. Rae is trying to change her life, but she doesn’t know how. All she has ever known is fighting and arguing. She has seen it all her life, especially between her mother and grandmother. Riley also only knows about fighting and arguing because all his life he watch his mother and father.
Can they change? You need to read the book to find out. I enjoyed this story. It made you think about your life and what changes you can do to make things better.

I didn’t finish this book. I read about half the book and nothing really happened. The story dragged on and most of it was just what was going through Rae’s mind and it didn’t hold my interest. When I read the description of the book, I thought it could be interested but as I was reading the first half of the book, I was given the impression of how unhealthy their relationship was and I was kind of wanting them to simply end it or go to a therapist. I couldn’t follow them.

Caitlin Crews has taken an ordinary yet devastating occurrence in a woman's life and lobbed it like a bomb at Riley and Rae. When talented writers like Crews do this, what happens is a deeper understanding of the characters--what makes them tick, what makes them unique, etc. When talented ROMANCE authors do this, it makes the ending so much more worthwhile because the characters have earned their happily ever after, not just grabbed it like it was theirs to begin with. The result is a much more satisfying experience for the reader.

My experiences with Cold River have all been excellent. I can't say enough about all of these characters, but I was particularly looking forward to Riley and Rae's story because I KNEW there was a story there, despite Rae and Riley's insistence to the contrary. Second chance romances don't get any better than this.

Rae and Riley married young, were in love, until something terribly went wrong in their marriage. Yet even through they separated, they still cannot stay away from each other. Riley is kept in the dark as to why they had separated until Rae reveals a secret she had kept from him.

This is a well-written, emotional, sexy read of love which grows stronger as they grow closer together. Keeps you turning the pages until Rae and Riley reaches their happily ever after.

I received an advance reader copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Secret Nights with a Cowboy was an enjoyable read with some humor and plenty of heat. There were some parts of the story that tend to drag on that Good extension to boredom but then it picked up and turned into a delightful chapter. Nice comfy read.

I received a copy of Secret Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews from St. Martin's Press and Net Galley in exchange for a honest review. My opinions are mine own.

Second chance cowboy romance that has a lot of feels. This time in Cold River, the focus is on the Kittredge family, specifically Riley and his relationship with Rae. They have an undying love for each other and strong passion, but communication isn’t their greatest strength. When they finally decide to talk, they get their happily ever after.


Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins for the arc.

I received my copy as an ARC from Netgalley. I really enjoyed Rae and Riley's story. They fell in love as teens and married shortly after Rae graduated from high school. They both came from dysfunctional families and believed that love was all about fighting and making up. After being married a few years Rae moved out and came back until one day she didn't come back. She stayed at her parents, but still returned in the night and was gone before daylight. They both grow up some until Rae finally decided they needed to divorce and be done with each other. Riley doesn't fight with her, but decided to be her friend. It was a very good story and was very interesting to watch them finally work things out.

This was quite an angsty read but laced with some healthy doses of humor and sizzling moments of heat, and I absolutely loved it!

I’ve only read a couple of romances where the hero and heroine are married before the book begins. Sometimes they’ve won me over completely, but mostly they leave me unhappy with so much of how their story unfolded. With Rae and Riley I was captivated from the beginning and with a hint here and a clue there, I was determined to find out what had happened to make this couple that couldn’t keep their hands off of each other, disintegrated.

From the first chapter, it was apparent that Rae had some real issues, that she was damaged and carried quite a load on her shoulders. As the story progresses this author begins to unveil the situations that have created the young woman that Rae is today as compared to the girl she was when she first fell in love with Riley. I admit there were times I wanted to shout at her to just come out with it - it being what had caused their separation. Ultimately, I allowed these characters to torment me until the end, and what an angsty but sweet torment it was.

Riley was wonderful! He had a plan to win and keep Rae and his reactions were perfect for what I love in a book hero. He also learned a good bit about himself in his attempts. I initially felt that Riley was the strongest between him and Rae, but once more Ms. Crews surprised me by showing me another side to him that I didn’t see on my own.

While this isn’t a long book, there were times where it felt like it was dragging a bit. It seemed a bit too wordy in places and while I prefer a faster paced read, this was still engaging. There are several secondary characters and I can see where this might be the beginning of a series, but I’m also curious to find if there were previous books as well.

I recommend this to anyone who enjoys romance between a husband and wife with plenty of angst along the way to their happy ever after.

**I received a copy of Secret Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews from St. Martin's Press and Net Galley in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. My opinions are mine alone and not solicited.**

Secret Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews is the first book in her Kittredge Ranch series it's also part of the Cold River Ranch as well. I have to say it's wasn't one of my favorites but was definitely worth 4 stars I've given it. However please note it ends at 80% and there is a bonus novella of Connor Kittredge and Missy Minton.

Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujillo have always loved each other and married right after high school. But something happened to them causing a rift but Rae can't seem to stay away at night or away from Riley. Rae works in the family flower business running the shop with aspiration of showing her beautiful arrangements, if she can get her Abuela Inez convinced of her talent. The book flirts between Riley and Rae but also Hope and her BFF Hope and Abby who runs Cold Rive Coffee. However, once Riley and Rae start to really date again perhaps there will be a reconciliation in their future if they can get past the one ghost that broke apart before.

Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujillo got married right out of school, in a small town that usually only means one thing but they proved the gossips wrong. Then one day Rae moved out of Riley's house and back in with her parents where she has stayed ever since. The whole town thinks they are divorced, only Riley and Rae know they are still very much married, and not averse to sneaking around behind everyone's backs.

Then Rae realises she is stuck in a perpetual teenager mode: working for the family business; living with her judgemental family; no home of her own; and no chance of a family while she's still in a friends-with-benefits arrangement with her husband.

When Rae announces to Riley that she wants a divorce and she wants to move on he thinks he's heard it all before. After all, that's what they do, shout and scream at each other then rip one another's clothes off. When he realises she is serious Riley has some serious thinking to do, can he win back the woman he still madly loves? How far is he willing to go?

I don't know what it was about this novel that tugged so hard on my heartstrings, maybe it was the tragedy of two people madly in love who just can't find their way back to one another. Maybe it was because Riley had no idea why Rae left him. All I know is that I literally dripped tears practically the entire time I was reading this book (and I devoured it in a single day), I just couldn't stop. The way in which their split had broken apart friendships between the families was so sad.

Second-chance cowboy romance that sweeps you along on an emotional rollercoaster.

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

Secrets have a way of biting you in the butt sometimes. But once they come out how you handle them makes all the difference in the world. And love really can overcome everything.

I'm not usually a fan of secrets and lack of communication as a plot device - Rae left Riley without explanation and wouldn't tell Riley anything, but then they continued to have (angry) sexual relationship while maintaining in public that they were divorced - but I gotta say I enjoyed the resulting angst.

In terms of the overall book, this isn't my favourite book in the series, but it was still entertaining enough for me because I am a fan of pain and marriage in trouble.

Wish that Hope would get together with Rae's brother Matias, or even Riley's brother Zack. Anyway I read this too fast and now I have to wait for the next one. I also wish that Caitlin would write a book on the elusive Tate Bishop.

This was an emotional story that also had some humor but also a lot of pain for the main characters. They both had huge personalities with a lot of passion and some unhealthy ways of relating to each other. Oh, there was love there but they just couldn't seem to make it work. It was also one that after a while I felt like it went on too long. Several times it caused a sense of dragging down for me as I was reading.
I did like both of Rae's close friends, Hope and Abby. They couldn't be more different in personality and style. One thing they did have in common was having Rae's back even without knowing all the facts about her life.
They live in a small, semi-isolated town. But there sure were a lot of people thinking that they had the right to be up in Riley and Rae's business.
It took a while for both Riley and Rae to realize that they were bringing into their marriage, dysfunction that they learned from their childhood. It was a big deal and so was the secret that Rae has been carrying (which I had guessed).
Thankfully there is a H.E.A. and a look into the story about another brother (Connor).

"I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”