When I think of romance, think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect books to snuggle up with on any day. This one took by surprise!

Janessa is pretty surprised when she finds out that her estranged father left her the ranch after his passing. Everyone expected Brody to get it, I mean he was the one running things. But the ranch as well as the other things Janessa inherited comes with some rules she and her mother will stay there for a duration of time and if not they would loose everything as well as the knowledge at it will be impacting many other lives as well. As if Janessa needed any more issues Janessa will be taking in a foster child until the child's family member can adopt them but the biological father seems to be stirring things up. There are lots to think about for the next three months of her stay.

This was a slow read for me but a really good one. There was lots to unpack with this one romance, family secrets, problematic baby daddy. I loved seeing that romance simmer between Janessa and Brody and I couldn't help but root for the two. I loved getting to know them and seeing things reveal themselves as time went on. Then there was the pregnant teen and her partner who just wouldn't leave things be and becoming more and more hostile. I kept wondering if and when he would pop up to stir things up. Then there was the whole thing where Janessa had to look up her fathers history and learn more about him and it was pretty interesting seeing how everything played out. Overall great book I really enjoyed it.

Loved this holiday tale! This is my second book by Delores and not my last. A great addition to your holiday reading list!

Complex family dynamics and a second-chance romance

Janessa is back in Last Ride for one reason - to bury the father she barely knew. Until his will and a quirky town tradition force her to fill in the blanks on the man she thought she knew.

Brody is the only one who misses the late Abe Parkman, and he wonders how he was able to see a different side of the man who was universally loathed by all. Nor does he know what to do with all this simmering chemistry he still has with Janessa, but then the secrets start bubbling to the top and it's soon clear that they still have a truckload of unfinished business.

This story is about so much more than the star-crossed love story between Janessa and Brody. There's so much family drama that shows just how intricately everyone was connected by secrets, lies, and passion and maybe even a little bit of love. It was a spellbinding story that kept me enthralled from start to finish.

If you like a little mystery with your dysfunctional family dramas, this book is what you're looking for. Brody and Janessa get a solid HEA that permeates their entire family network. I loved every bit, and I'm looking forward to the next book in this terrific series. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

By the time 33-year-old Janessa Parkman gets a letter from her estranged father, Abe, with whom she spent only one summer when she was in her teens, telling her he needs her to come home to Last Ride, Texas, it's too late. While she was away on a business trip, he died, taking whatever secrets he had to the grave. She manages to get there just as his funeral is beginning. Shortly thereafter, when his will is read, Janessa is shocked by its contents--she is the sole beneficiary of his multi-million dollar estate, his ranch and his businesses, but there are a few stipulations, the primary ones being that she and her mother, Abe's ex-wife, live in his mansion on the ranch for 3 months. Janessa doubts her mother will agree--she hasn't returned to Last Ride she she left Abe after discovering that he was cheating on her, and swore that she'd never set foot in his house again.

Janessa lives in Dallas, where she and her ex-husband, Kyle, run Bright Hope House, a place where battered, abused and often pregnant teenagers can get counseling, and feel safe. It's work she loves, not money, and it's not work she wants to give up. She has another reason for not wanting to stay in Last Ride, Abe's ranch manager, Brody Harrell, to whom she lost her virginity as a teenager, and who she never quite got over after all these years. Janessa feels outraged that Brody, who'd managed the ranch for decades was left with nothing, not even the home he built on 5 acres of ranch property he bought from Abe, not to mention the hundreds of other ranch employees who will lose their jobs if Janessa and her mother fail to stay for 3 months. And that's just for starters.

This is a complicated novel, with many other characters, like Abe's other ex-wives, who were also left with nothing, Brody's younger adopted brother, Rowan, a pregnant teen from Bright Hope House who is terrified of the man who impregnated and abused her, and who now wants custody of her unborn child, even though she doesn't even want to see her baby when it's born, planning to give it up for adoption, the enmity among Abe's exes, and more. As the novel unfolds, we learn that almost every character in the novel has issues, a stake in the ranch, and a bone to pick with Abe.

While I enjoyed the complexity of this novel, and the slow reveal of details, what I didn't like was the way the relationship between Brody and Janessa was handled. While I enjoy the second chance at love trope, for most of the novel, the aforementioned characters appear to merely have a sexual fling. Janessa plans to head back to Dallas after 3 months, and Body just accepts it, both of them happy to have sex with each other whenever possible, but neither of them planning on any kind of relationship, and this is supposed to be a romance novel.

Yes, of course, there's sort of an HEA ending for all concerned, but it was given such short shrift at the end of the novel, that I was left unsure about how this couple would fare long-term. If ever a novel needed an epilogue, it's this one, which is the main reason for my giving it a 3-star rating. It simply could have been a much better read had the author spent less time on secondary characters and subplots, and more time and emotional development on the main ones.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.

If you like a book about cowboys and horses then this is a book for you. The two main characters are Janessa and Brody. They have known each other since they were teenagers. This books has a baby, private investigator, galas, lies, death, last will and testament, love.