SLOW BURN COWBOY – Maisey Yates
Copper Ridge: The Donnellys , Book 1
HQN
ISBN: 978-0-373-80194-7
April 2017
Contemporary Romance

Copper Ridge, Oregon – Present Day

After being abandoned as a child by his father, and then his mother, Finn Donnelly moved in with his grandfather and helped run the family ranch. After the old man dies, the ranch is left jointly to Finn and his three half-brothers, much to Finn's annoyance. One by one, his half-brothers show up, and suddenly Finn has a full house. Luckily for Finn, his best friend's sister, Lane Jensen, is there to help provide meals and moral support. Since Lane moved to Copper Ridge ten years ago, she and Finn have been best buddies, and he'll do just about anything for her. But with the upheaval in Finn's life, he is thrown off-balance, and they grow even closer. He also begins to become aware of Lane as more than just friends. But should they break up a friendship and become lovers?

Lane moved to Copper Ridge to escape the turmoil in her life and has settled in nicely, running a gift store. She values her friendship with Finn, and getting romantically involved with him has to be wrong. Yet, she's looking at him differently—as a desirable man—and it's scaring her. After what happened to her in her teens, which led her to flee and come to Copper Ridge, she's afraid of commitment. It doesn't help that the reason for her teenage turmoil happens to be in the news all the time. Lane and Finn are two troubled souls who just might need to trust each other. But passion comes first . . . .

A best friends to lovers tale that slowly builds into a searing romance, SLOW BURN COWBOY will have readers rooting for Lane and Finn to give into the fiery passion that simmers just below the surface. Finn had a troubled childhood, but all that changed when he moved in with his grandfather. He thought the ranch would be his once the old man died, but instead it's divided four ways to include half-brothers Finn barely knows. He's angry, and it's Lane he can talk to about his feelings. They have been each other's rock through the years and neither wants to change things. With Finn's upheaval in his life it rocks the boat between him and Lane. Suddenly, they're very aware of each other in a sexual way.

Because of the abandonment by his parents, Finn is reluctant to trust falling in love. What if the woman he marries decides to walk out, like his parents? Lane has deep secrets that she hasn't shared with Finn or anyone else, but that someone from her past keeps popping up in the news to haunt her memories. Lane will need to share with Finn the truth . . . and trust him to be there for her. Finn must accept that Lane won't walk out of his life if he gives her his heart. As you can see, SLOW BURN COWBOY has a “been burned and don't want to deal with it” couple at its core.

If you haven't read the Copper Ridge books before, then you might be curious about some of the other characters who pop in and out of scenes with Finn and Lane. However, SLOW BURN COWBOY can be read as a standalone without too much difficulty. This book starts a new series within the Copper Ridge “family” and features the Donnelly brothers—Finn, Cain, Alex, and Liam.

Finn and Lane thought that friendship was the only thing they wanted from each other, but as they discover in SLOW BURN COWBOY, falling in love is even better. Give yourself a treat by picking up and reading SLOW BURN COWBOY.

Patti Fischer