THE MAVERICK COWBOY – Kate Pearce
The Morgan Brothers Ranch , Book 2
Zebra
ISBN: 978-1-4201-4002-6
February 2017
Contemporary Romance

Morgantown, California – Present Day

After being injured while serving as a Marine, Blue Morgan is enjoying military leave at his family's ranch in Northern California. He discovers he loves the hard work and fresh air on the ranch, and especially enjoys getting to know local veterinarian Jenna McDonald. Sparks fly between them, even though neither is looking for a relationship. Jenna is trying to keep her relationship with Blue at a professional level, but he proves hard to resist. If she gets involved with him, will the people in the town think she's trying to use a romance with him to gain favor with the Morgan family, one that is well respected in the community?

Blue has spent his adulthood flitting from one woman to another, but Jenna has him rethinking his plan. She's smart, beautiful, and someone he gets along with. But just as things begin to heat up between them, a ten-year-old child is dropped in Blue's lap. Turns out the little girl may be his daughter. Suddenly Blue is having to act mature and think about someone other than the woman he's falling for. Blue is also preparing for his future as he steps away from the Marines. Meanwhile, Jenna begins to have serious doubts as to whether working as a small-town veterinarian is her future.

After a devastating childhood that saw Blue's mother and baby sister disappear and his father become an alcoholic, he joined the Marines at the tender age of eighteen to get away from the trauma at home. Grandma Ruth kept the family ranch going, but with her getting older she has called upon her four grandsons to return home to help her out. Chase, the oldest, recently returned and has decided to keep it going. Chase's story is found in the first book in the series, THE RELUCTANT COWBOY. Their father, Billy, has also returned, sober and ready to help work at the ranch. The big mystery is what happened to the boys' mother and sister. In THE MAVERICK COWBOY, that topic is touched on several times and provides for the continuing thread of The Morgan Brothers Ranch series.

Blue is about to leave the Marines, but he didn't expect he'd like working on the ranch again. Of course, it helps that Jenna is always around. Like Blue, she is a hard worker, but she has problems gaining acceptance by some of the people in Morgantown because the other vets are established and she is seen by townsfolk as an interloper. Add in that Jenna's family is pressuring her to return to Los Angeles and get a real job , rather than working at the one she loves.  As the attraction builds between Blue and Jenna, the resistance to giving in to the passion proves hard. When Maria, the motherless little girl who may be Blue's daughter, arrives, Jenna steps back to allow them to develop their relationship. But Blue misses Jenna, and soon realizes he wants her in his life…permanently.

The passion is hot between Jenna and Blue in THE MAVERICK COWBOY, but it's the emotional journey they both experience that will pull readers in. By the end of this enjoyable and heartwarming tale, both have to make a decision on their futures…individually and together. Grab a comfy chair and be prepared to not want to put down THE MAVERICK COWBOY.

Patti Fischer