Sophie London has come to Texas for one reason and one reason only and that is to attend her cousin's wedding. But when trouble starts to arise in her life, she decides to stay, even though she hates the state and is freaked out by anything that has to do with ranch life. Yet, the more time she spends with Ty Rawlins and his three boys, the harder it becomes for her not to fall in love. But how can they ever work when he's a country boy and she's a city girl. Will Ty be able to convince Sophie to stay, so he can have a second shot at forever?
What a wonderfully-written, fast-paced, beguiling read Ms. Austin has penned in this second story of her Maverick Junction series, which started with me feeling sorry for the heroine with what's happening in her life with her ex. What will he do when she continues to stay away from him? However, it was from the moment the hero and heroine came face-to-face for the first time in this book that really had me hooked, because they have really strong chemistry, and yet, they are both determined to ignore it, as Sophie doesn't plan on staying and Ty has already lost someone he loves and he doesn't know whether he can go through that kind of pain again.
As for the dialogue, it was intense due to what is happening in the heroine's life with her ex and the anger the hero feels towards his wife who died because she didn't take the warning she was given in regards to pregnancy. Will Ty be able to overcome the hurts of his past to find happiness with Sophie? However, the dialogue wasn't all intense. There were moments where I smiled or laughed because of Ty's sons. They're cute and I loved how they treated Sophie.
Both the main characters were riveting, but I thought Sophie was being a little nonchalant with what her ex was doing. Why couldn't she realize how dangerous he could become? Why wasn't she concerned enough to go to the police. Really, I thought she was a tad naïve in believing what she did about her ex. Moreover, I liked the heroine's enthusiasm for her art and how kind and caring she was to Ty's boys, even though she didn't want to get too close to them for fear of hurting them.
While Ty, he's been through so much with losing his wife, which left him devastated and it was just lucky he had family to help him with his three boys through the rough times. I also liked the close relationship he had with his in-laws and the advice they offered Sophie, because they could see how good she was for Ty. Yet, what I liked most about the hero was how good of a father he was to his three boys. There was plenty of love to go around and I liked how they accepted Sophie.
Overall, Ms. Austin has penned a really good read in this book where the chemistry was intense and the secondary characters entertained me just as much as the main ones did. The way this story ended had me cheering for this couple's happy ever after, as Ty deserves a second shot at love and Sophie is perfect for him, especially since she gets along so well with his boys and they love her which is important. I would recommend Nearest Thing to Heaven by Lynnette Austin, if you enjoy small town romances, second chance romances, the opposites attract trope or books by authors Catherine Bybee, Hope Ramsey, Carolyn Brown or Sara Richardson.