❤ "A MELT YOUR HEART ROMANCE" 5* ❤He fiercely protects his secrets. She's wary of his distance... A puppy, snowstorm, and matchmaking boss have other ideas.When fire ravages Wyoming land, fireweed is among the first plants to return, brightening the blighted area with the joy of its blooms. Small-town lawyer Taylor Anne Larsen faces the challenge of doing the same for the pain-ravaged heart and disbelieving soul of ranch foreman Cal Ruskoff. Armed with the same grace and grit as the wildflower fireweed, Taylor also has allies – a matchmaking friend, a harsh western blizzard, high-octane mutual attraction, and a rescued puppy who slips past the defenses of this tough cowboy.While they're snowbound together, Cal might give in to passion temporarily, but from behind the wall he's built around his past and his secrets, he's certain Taylor is everything he can't let himself have. And he'll use all his weapons to keep her out."Heartwarming!"What fellow readers "These characters -- their dialogue, their fears, their complex personalities -- are very real. As a reader, I couldn't help fall under Cal's spell -- a good, troubled, mixed-up man who forces Taylor to confront some of her own demons, even as he refuses to face his own . . . There's a lot of subtle -- and not so subtle -- humor here, the love scenes are at once tender and sizzling, and the emotions and fears of both characters wrap themselves around the reader's heart and don't let go." – Karen Templeton, Amazon review"Page turner, cute, funny. Can't wait to get the next in line" - 5*"This is a great western story and would recommend you to read it. The author has great stories and I haven't found one of her books I don't like." - 5*"Melt your heart romance" -- Old Book Barn GazetteWildflowers have to be strong and resilient to bloom amid the rugged western beauty of Wyoming - and so do the women.Wyoming Wildflowers seriesWyoming The Beginning (Prequel) (Snowberry)Almost a Bride (Indian Paintbrush)Match Made in Wyoming (Fireweed)My Heart Remembers (Bur Marigold)A New WorldJack’s Heart (Yellow Monkeyflower)Rodeo NightsWhere Love Lives (Threadleaf Phacelia)A Cowboy Wedding (Mixed bouquet)Making Christmas (Pasque Flower)Author's The collie puppy in Match Made in Wyoming is the alter ego of my much-loved rescue collie Riley ... right down to the inconvenient penchant for opening doors at the wrong moment. Although for Taylor and Cal, it turns out to be the right moment. :- )If you especially enjoy western romance series, also try these other collections by A Place Called Home seriesLost and Found GroomAt the Heart's CommandHidden in a HeartbeatBardville, Wyoming seriesA Stranger in the FamilyA Stranger to LoveThe Rancher Meets His MatchRomantic suspenseRide the Rodeo KnightsNEW! The Wyoming Marriage Association
USA Today bestselling author Patricia McLinn’s novels—cited by reviewers for warmth, wit and vivid characterization – have won numerous regional and national awards and been on national bestseller lists.
In addition to her romance and women’s fiction books, Patricia is the author of the Caught Dead in Wyoming mystery series, which adds a touch of humor and romance to figuring out whodunit.
Patricia received BA and MSJ degrees from Northwestern University. She was a sports writer (Rockford, Ill.), assistant sports editor (Charlotte, N.C.) and—for 20-plus years—an editor at the Washington Post.
She has spoken about writing from Melbourne, Australia to Washington, D.C., including being a guest-speaker at the Smithsonian Institution. She is now living in Northern Kentucky, and writing full-time. Patricia loves to hear from readers through her website, Facebook, Goodreads, and Twitter.
I initially rated this book three stars, but I kept thinking about the whole premise and getting angry - thus, the revision. Because, listen. Forcing your lead female character to fall in love with a man who is both emotionally distant AND manipulative (not to mention doesn’t seem to care about consent from literally the first chapter) because he happens to be nice to a dog (but not you!) and is a good lay is BULLSHIT. Ugh. The romance genre deserves better than this.
I loved this book! I do enjoy a good blizzard.... I read it in one night (it was well worth yawning through work the next day). Super steamy without the raunchy descriptions that can be used in love scenes. McLinn used descriptors such as buttock and between her thighs which worked with her writing style and I was able to visualize just as well and found it super sexy - I don't need descriptors a 17 year boy would use to enjoy a sex scene. Very well written. I didn't realize it was Book 3 in the series until I downloaded it - I have every intention of downloading the first 2 and can't wait to read them!
I won this audiobook in a giveaway. Thanks again Patricia McLinn. This is the second book in the Wyoming Wildflowers series. I have not read the first book. I think each book in the series is a stand alone.
Match Made in Wyoming is a very engaging and sweet story where a dog named Sin played a very good supporting role. I think Sin was the key to making this story work, apart from the alluring and captivating voice of Julia Motyka as narrator. She did a superb job of giving voices to the characters in the story.
This is a story of corporate lawyer Taylor Anne Larsen who moved to Wyoming for a change. In Wyoming, she met Cal Ruskoff, the very closed-off ranch foreman whom she has a hard time figuring out.
I love the story. I was so entertained and I fell in love with Cal Ruskoff. I would definitely pray for a snow storm so I will be holed up with him in the ranch for days. In some ways, I would like to be Taylor. These two are a pair made for each other plus one, we can't ignore Sin. She's the reason why these two had found they were made for each other. Taylor is just what Cal needs in his life. Someone to sort out his emotions, his business, and his past. Taylor is capable in all these areas.
This story highlighted how the unconditional love of a dog or any pet can transform any morose person to a caring one, just like what happened to Cal. Sin's intelligence and loving nature, in dire need of a recipient, slowly melted Cal's self-imposed concrete barrier. He realized that he can never go wrong and will never get hurt or heartbroken with loving Sin.
This story is fit to be read while curling up on a cozy sofa or bed. A good read for any time of the day but I think best read when raining or during snow storms. This book will warm you and make you forget that you cannot go out and enjoy the sun. This sunny book will bring the sun to you and lighten up your overcast and gloomy day.
I give this book 5/5 fireweed. I was giggling and forgot about my cares while listening to this story. It made me feel like there is nothing wrong with the world and I have all the time to enjoy and listen to all the inspiring and great stories I want. This book made me think about the pretty and beautiful flowers in spring. Colorful flowers make me feel alive and happy which was what this book did. This is absolutely an inspirational romance novel.
Fireweed is known to be good for healing and renewal.
I think I could get used to audiobooks. I am loving it so far because of the hearing the emotions in the lines of the story instead of just reading them. But still, I would prefer reading them myself. I love the freedom of stopping right after reading a line and mull it over. Or go back and read it again. Also, I can easily go back to previous pages and highlight, write or do anything else which is not the same with audiobooks.
When fire ravages Wyoming land, fireweed is among the first plants to return, brightening the blighted area with joy of its blooms. - Patricia McLinn, Match Made in Wyoming -
Taylor Anne Larsen has left her job at a big firm in Dallas, and bought a tiny practice in a small town in Wyoming. She has friends, including Matty, owner of one ranch and wife of the owner of another. She and Matty work together in a dog rescue organization, and her assistant in the law practice is also a friend, and there are others.
She's mostly seen Cal Ruskoff from a distance. He's handsome, interesting, and clearly determined to maintain that distance. Cal isn't from the town, or Wyoming, and he's got nothing to say about where he's from, or why he's working as the foreman on Matty's ranch.
When Matty and Taylor rescue a puppy off the side of the highway in a snowstorm, Matty decides that Cal should adopt the herding-breed puppy. Cal reluctantly agrees, and slowly starts to warm to the pup.
When Matty tells Taylor that Cal is frustrated with the dog and on the verge of giving him up, Taylor yields to her urging to head for the ranch immediately. There's a storm moving in, but Taylor, being from Ohio by way of Dallas, doesn't recognize how bad the storm is going to be. She gets to the ranch, finds that all is well with Cal, and the dog he has named "Sincere," or "Sin," for everyday use, and that Cal is in fact kind of insulted at the idea that he might not keep the dog. After some back and forth, Taylor sets off into the worsening storm, and skids into a ditch.
She, Cal, and Sin are snowbound together, and she starts to discover some of Cal's secrets. He starts to discover some of hers, too.
They're also incredibly attracted to each other, but Cal is determined, due to one of his secrets he hasn't shared, never to become attached to a woman again.
During the storm and in the aftermath, as more secrets come out, and Cal comes up with a way to keep Taylor at a distance, things get more complicated, emotionally wrought, and confusing for everyone. This includes their friends, who don't believe for one second that there's nothing between them.
It's enjoyable, heartwarming, and the dog is absolutely fine and completely healthy and happy at the end. (Yes, I do judge books by what happens to the dog, and I have friends who are even more hardline than I am on that.)
I liked this book a lot better than the previous book.
I liked Cal and Taylor, but I thought that Cal was a bit annoying at times and there weren’t enough scenes at the end showing him acting differently.
The plot was fine, but I don’t like time jumps so when there was one at the end and then Cal and Taylor suddenly get together, I didn’t like it.
Also, I thought that there was a big gap between this book and the previous one. At the beginning of this book, it says that Matty and Taylor run a fully developed Rescue League, which was very abrupt as in the previous book there was no mention of this even being an idea, and it didn’t even seem like Matty and Taylor were really friends as they hardly knew each other.
The main focus of this book (ie Cal and Taylor’s relationship, and Cal’s past) were well developed, but everything else was sudden. For example, Cal was supposedly a loner and didn’t really interact with anyone (as he stayed on the ranch most of the time and there was never a scene that showed him interacting with any of the other people who worked at the ranch), and yet lots of people came to his house and they all acted familiar with each other.
This book was better than the previous one, but while I liked it, there were still parts that bothered me. I might read the next book as I’m curious about Lisa’s story, but I think that that’ll be the last book that I read in this series.
For some reason, Taylor Larsen, a lawyer in small-town Wyoming, is accountably attracted to the foreman of the Flying-W ranch, Cal Ruskoff. The Flying-W is owned by Mattie Brennan Currick (Almost a Bride), good friends with Taylor and her partner in an animal rescue operation. When they find a nearly starving puppy, Mattie suggests Taylor take it to Cal. Cal is about as much a hermit as a man can be, but Taylor takes him the puppy, just knowing that Mattie is wrong about Cal and taking in a dog. Maybe she just wants to see him…? Fact is, much to Taylor's surprise, he does take in the pup. Even more surprising, Cal is as attracted to her as she is to him. But can attraction bring him into society. Taylor will only know after they admit their feelings.
4 star Review Match Made in Wyoming (Wyoming Wildflowers #2) by Patricia McLinn Audio Review: Both author Patricia McLinn and narrator Julia Motyka are new to me. Although the second book in the series it can be read/listened to as a stand alone. I enjoyed the story and felt that Julia Motyka did a great job in her narration. . A sweet and entertaining story that captured my attention and kept me invested. I really loved the interactions of Cal and Taylor with the rescue dog Sin, it made for some heart warming moments throughout the book. Can Taylor break through the walls that Cal has built around him, or is he destined to be alone?
Taylor a lawyer in this small town, and part of the animal rescue team. Friends with Matty also on the team, and owner of a ranch. Of which her foreman Cal is who Taylor is interested in. They get a call to rescue a dog left outside, and needs to be picked up. Finding him dirty and a dirty blanket, taking him back to Taylor apartment to bath, which resulted in plugged drains. Having a no pet agreement for her place, what to do. Matty suggest Cal he is at the ranch, alone, the dog would be good for him. Making this a good story and how two people, snowstorm and lonely. Get attached to a dog they name Sin
It's another happy ending to this story. And it's not just between two people. When Taylor drops off a rescue dog at Cal's home on Matty's ranch, she had no idea what would be the result of this one interaction. Not only does Cal fall in love with the puppy, but he also finds his heart feeling something for Taylor as well. While he struggles to figure out what exactly it means, Taylor patiently waits doing what she can as his attorney.
A note about this book-There is a lot of romance written into the plot. So if that's not what you're looking for, this isn't the book for you!
If you’ve ever walked into the wrong training room at a conference, that’s what this book feels like if you haven’t read the earlier books in the series. At the 10% point I feel like I have to read the previous books in the series to get what’s going on. The provided backstory dump is inadequate and crushes the joy of reading the original meet-up between the protagonists. I’m quitting at this point. There’s lots of negative energy between the protagonists for little reason and not much joy or spark to their personalities.
I really enjoyed this story, now to go back and read the first one's! I fell in love with Sin and his skinny butt! I took a nine and half pound French Bulldog to foster for my niece, who had got her from another foster home, that one from another, in the idea it would only be ten days. Yes, it's been over a year now and she has a borderline weight issue, lol, but what a happy little dog! This storyline was awesome and loved the ending!
This story seemed to have a good plot but when you start reading it is when you find out how uninteresting it really is. I didn't like the hero from beginning to end. He never redeemed himself even in the end. The heroine was a bit of a doormat and accepted her friend lying to her regularly. She also let Cal get away with way to much. It's not the worse book I've read but not even close to good. Meh read.
Enjoyed the premiss of the book. Two people escaping a former life trying to find something. Cal has real issues with relationships and even though he has strong feelings for someone he can’t allow himself to letgo of past issues. It would have been nice to end the story with more finality in their relationship
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Cal works on the Flying W Ranch, he hides secrets, he's attracted to Taylor, and at his boss' New Year's Eve party, he's persuaded to kiss Taylor, both come away with feelings they need to come to terms with. They end up snowed in together, another of Matty's plans. He tells her some of his secrets but not all. I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
She’s a lawyer, he’s a ranch foreman. They are attracted to each other but he will not pursue her. He’s been hurt by his family, ex fiancé and life. But she is there when he needs help and they connect but he still holds her off. But love cannot be denied even if you don’t want it.
Great writing but I’m not happy with Cal’s emotional cruelty to Taylor. Even with understanding his perspective, it should never have lasted as long as it did. Interesting characters and plot. HEA ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
A story with a lot of depth but also lots of wit and humor. The characters are so realistic that they captivate you. The plot had lots of twists and turns and a very exciting romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
Solid plot, loved the characters, and the setting. Looking forward to picking up the others in the series. And a nod to the editing: no obvious oopsies which make reading so much more enjoyable! Thanks!
I enjoyed this book. It has a lot of emotions in it. So much of what can happen in real life and with families that are dysfunctional. It's about healing from some of those emotional scars and moving forward.
It’s harder and harder to find a mature romantic novel. Two adults that can have a conversation without the F word. The kind of romance you yearn for. I really appreciated Taylor. I liked Cal but he could have softened up more.
A sweet story of a stubborn man and a lovely young woman. It totally me a little while before I really got into the story but once I was in, I couldn't put it down. I hope you'll like it too. Happy Reading.
Now that I have found Patricia McMinn I have fallen in love with her characters. This story of two people, both running and hiding from their fears, draws the readers in and makes them want more.
The more I read this series, the more I really want to see it with my own eyes! These characters are wonderful and the story lines are what makes it so lifelike to me! Thank you for the enjoyable novel!
I thought I would read a Hallmark type sweet love story. A cute rescue puppy and wildflowers, how could you go wrong? This book reads more like soft porn than a love story.
I loved this story. Loved the characters, and their friend Matty - the matchmaker. Sounds like a place I would like to live. I've only been to Bairoil and Casper, but loved the state.