UNTAMED COWBOY – Maisey Yates
A Gold Valley  Novel
HQN
ISBN: 978-1-335-90070-8
June 2018
Contemporary Romance

Gold Valley, Oregon – Present Day

Bennett Dodge and Kaylee Capshaw have been best friends since childhood and now run a veterinary practice together in Gold Valley. When Bennett is shocked to find out he has a fifteen-year-old son, it's Kaylee that he contacts first with the news. His son, Dallas, has a pretty big chip on his shoulder after being abandoned by his mother and thinks Bennett is only taking him in because he feels obligated. It's Kaylee who helps guide Bennett to forge a fledgling relationship with his son. The shock of fatherhood has him looking at Kaylee in a new light. They may be best friends now, but does he want more?

Kaylee watched Bennett romance his now ex, Olivia, jealous of the fact that he didn't look her way. She's always been attracted to him even though he only thinks of her as a “buddy.” With his previously unknown son from a teenage romance now living with him, Bennett has a lot on his plate and leans even more heavily on her. But now he suddenly wants her as a woman and not just as a friend. Should Kaylee let things move from friends to lovers? Or is he just looking for sex on the rebound?

Readers will remember Bennett and Kaylee from SMOOTH-TALKING COWBOY (Luke and Olivia's story) and UNTAMED COWBOY perfectly segues from one tale into the other. Bennett dated Olivia yet wouldn't give her what she wanted: a ring on her finger. After they broke up, he shrugged it off but his pride was a bit wounded. By his side—always—has been Kaylee. For the first time in his life, he's looking at her differently. She is a vital part of his life that he's never taken seriously as a desirable woman. Would having sex with her destroy their friendship?

Kaylee didn't have the best of childhoods, but Bennett and his family were instrumental in helping her work through it. She has kept her feelings for Bennett locked inside. After all, she values him as a friend even as she wishes he'd look at her as someone desirable. In UNTAMED COWBOY, she gets her wish…but she still isn't happy. Is Bennett on the rebound after losing Olivia and because his life is in an upheaval after Dallas moves in? Kaylee has too much pride and a lack of self-esteem to see herself as someone he'd make a future with. Is she selling herself too short?  

Besides the romance between Bennett and Kaylee, there's plenty of father-son interaction going on in UNTAMED COWBOY as they work out the kinks in their relationship. Dallas has bounced from one foster home to another, so readers can understand his trepidation in believing Bennett is really invested in being his dad. Their growth as father and son will bring a smile or two to readers.

UNTAMED COWBOY is part of Maisey Yates's ongoing  Gold Valley  series and can be read as a standalone without too much difficulty even though there are a lot of characters that both Bennett and Kaylee interact with who might be familiar to readers of the series. But this romance is all about our couple…and watching them find love.

An engaging tale that I thoroughly enjoyed, be sure to put UNTAMED COWBOY on your book buying list.

Patti Fischer