COWBOY FOR HIRE
by Victoria James
Publication Date: March 31, 2020
Genres: Adult, Entangled: Amara, Contemporary, Cowboys, Overcoming Odds, Romance
Amazon: https://amzn.to/
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Kobo: https://bit.ly/3dDia5U
Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/39noQl2
Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/39qdpJr
Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2xwm3bW
SYNOPSIS
When a shy woman inherits a ranch, she’ll have to find an inner strength to succeed—and open herself up to love—in this heartwarming novel from New York Times bestselling author Victoria James.
Sarah Turner has led a very sheltered life. So when her parents pass away tragically, suddenly she’s left in charge of the family ranch with little know-how but plenty of will to keep it afloat. Determined not to lose her parents’ legacy or her newfound independence, she needs a hero fast—not to save her, but to show her how to save herself. But she’s unprepared for the ruggedly handsome cowboy who answers her ad.
“Cowboy for Hire,” the ad said, and Cade Walker is quick to respond. Betrayed as ranch manager by his former boss, he’s looking for a new place to put down roots—without the pressure to prove himself again. Except when he meets his new boss, it’s clear he’s not only there to run a ranch but to also teach Miss Independent how to run it. But as they struggle to make the ranch flourish, they’ll both need courage if they hope to find a family…together.
My Review:
Cowboy for Hire by Victoria JamesMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Cade and Sarah are both dealing with complex pasts. Sarah has lost all her family and is now the owner of the ranch. She is working very hard to break out of her past, the shelter her parents placed around her after her brother died when she was 10. She hires Cade as the ranch foreman with the stipulation he has to teach her how to run the ranch. Cade works to keep a place for himself after growing up in a world where no one wanted him, which built the foundation of how he views himself and his place in life. The one thing neither expects is the spark between them. To me it spoke to a kindred spirit even though their childhoods were very different, deep down there are similarities with feeling abandoned or lost. Sarah is bold in her fears as she works to rebuild a life for herself, making friends and embracing things she loved that she stopped doing after Josh died. Her courage really is the catalyst for Cade to conquer his fears and acknowledge that love is possible for him to have. I love the town of Wishing River which provides a safe place to land for both Sarah and Cade. I was treated to a beautiful journey for Sarah and Cade. I voluntarily read an ARC of this book and this is my honest review.
EXCERPT
Her hand clutched his shoulder, and he was shocked because they didn’t usually touch. Or, as
little as possible, anyway. The feel of her hand on him reminded him of why he shouldn’t put
himself in positions where it was just the two of them. It would only fuel the attraction he felt for
her, especially with these conversations that told him more and more about her. “Don’t take me
home. I don’t want to go back,” she said, her voice whisper-thin, her eyes glued to the road.
Cade gripped the steering wheel tightly, and she dropped her hand. Hell. He kept telling
himself he couldn’t get involved with Sarah, but the more time he spent with her, the more he
wanted to know her. “Why don’t you want to go back home?”
“I’ve never been anywhere or done anything in the last fifteen years. I haven’t lived. All those
people at that party had real lives. I’m the same age, and I felt like an outsider tonight. I didn’t
know what to say, what to do. I was more comfortable on the sidelines. I… Don’t drive me
home. Take me anywhere but there. Please, Cade.”
He clenched his teeth and knew he couldn’t take her home. It couldn’t be him to take her back
there. Things he’d suspected about her, all those pieces were coming together. Her desperation
clung to her words like fresh dew on the grass at dawn. “Okay. So where are we going?”
She turned to him and gave him a smile as though she’d just won the lottery. Her green eyes
sparkled, and damn if her happiness didn’t punch him in the gut. “Anywhere! The city! Billings.
Where do people my age go? Where did you go when you were my age?”
His brows snapped together. “Oh, well, back in my day, we rode our horses to the saloon and
made sure we were home before dark, since there was no electricity.”
She burst out laughing, and he found himself smiling despite the fact that she thought he was
from a different era. “I didn’t mean it like that. So where should we go?”
“All right, let’s head into the city.”
“Road trip!”
He had no idea who the woman beside him was. Layer by layer, she was coming alive. The night
she’d taken out that horse, it was as though something had snapped, shifted, and now she was
trying to become someone new. Or maybe she was just trying to be the person she always
wanted to be. “When are you planning on going back?”
“Well, you have the weekend off. It’s only Friday. So how about tomorrow? That way you
still have Sunday to relax and do whatever.”
He ran a hand over his jaw. “I’m not sure that’s going to look great,” he said, trying to choose his
words carefully.
“Who cares? I don’t. I don’t care what anyone thinks of me anymore. I have spent my entire life
living by rules made up by well-meaning but horribly flawed people. They are gone now. I’m
the only living person in my family. Do you care what people think of you?”
He cleared his throat. “Not particularly, no. But I wasn’t thinking of me. I was thinking of you
and the guys at the ranch.” He was also thinking Edna was going to hang him on her wash line if
he stayed away overnight with Sarah.
“No one is paying attention to what I’m doing, and everyone knows you aren’t working. They’ll
assume you went away. I’ll text Edna and tell her that I’m going away for the weekend with a
friend and that I’ll be back tomorrow.”
“Sweetheart, you have no friends.” Dammit, he hadn’t meant to use that endearment. That was
reserved for…well, it wasn’t something you said to a woman you were trying to keep your
distance from, certainly not one you worked for. Then again, going on a road trip with that
person wasn’t exactly his smartest move, either.
ABOUT VICTORIA JAMES
Victoria James is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance.
Victoria always knew she wanted to be a writer and in grade five, she penned her first story, bound it (with staples and a cardboard cover) and did all the illustrations herself. Luckily, this book will never see the light of day again.
In high school she fell in love with historical romance and then contemporary romance. After graduating University with an English Literature degree, Victoria pursued a degree in Interior Design and then opened her own business. After her first child, Victoria knew it was time to fulfill her dream of writing romantic fiction.
Victoria is a hopeless romantic who is living her dream, penning happily-ever-after’s for her characters in between managing kids and the family business. Writing on a laptop in the middle of the country in a rambling old Victorian house would be ideal, but she’s quite content living in suburbia with her husband, their two young children, and very bad cat.
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