Claimed by the Rancher

by Jeny Stone

Soul mates who might have passed unnoticed on the highway are brought together by tragedy. Even though revenge raged through Ashton Hawke’s mind and soul he allowed the courts to convict the murderer of his family. But when John Wolfgang escaped it was time for Ashton to insure justice prevailed. Brie Cassidy was a chef looking for a new opportunity and wanting to be closer to her sister. But when her leisurely drive to Amarillo turned disastrous and she was abducted by gun point, forced to drive her abductor in his attempt to escape the law she thought for sure her life was over. Sometimes disaster can lead us to our destiny… The second she faced him, Brie seized her opportunity to flee and swiftly kneed him in the groin. Freed, she ran toward the escape door and jerked it open. She sprung down the stairs missing two or three with each leap, the front door was within her reach. Her heart pulsed in her ears as she turned the knob. Her flight to freedom was instantly defeated. He clutched her into his grasp. She moaned in agonizing distress. Ashton had all he could take. He flipped her around, slammed her against the door and pinned her arms above her head to prevent her from scratching out his eyes. He took a step back making sure to be out of her knee range, positive his balls would be in his throat about now if she weren’t so short. Face to face, the terror in her eyes blared back at him. He huffed a deep breath. "Damn it, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you. Stop this shit long enough to see where you are and let me explain." He did his best to hide his annoyance but was certain he failed. His deep dark eyes burned through her, perpetuating her fear. She tried to swallow the panic but it lodged in her throat. His unyielding strength and his overbearing muscular frame looming over her left no doubt in her mind she stood no chance of fighting him off. Her only hope was to get out of the reach of this overpowering man. "There was a car wreck on the interstate and you were kidnapped. Do you remember that?" She glared directly into his rugged angry face and nodded her head yes. She tried to piece together if he was her abductor. Had he been the mysterious unseen man who occupied the backseat of her car? She hadn't allowed herself to look at the man or even glance at him in her rear-view mirror. It would have sent her over the edge and probably have gotten her killed. "You can see I'm not him. So quit trying to run." She desperately tried to distinguish if his voice was the same as the gruff commands from before. The memory of her hijacker’s hot putrid breath on her hair and neck, her fingernails embedded into the steering wheel frozen in fear, returned. The sickening flood of panic emerged. She ordered herself to push down the tornado of terror that threatened to erupt and stay focused. "You didn't look at him did you?" Tears trailed from her vacant eyes. Shit, it never occurred to Ashton she wouldn't be able to recognize her captor let alone believe him to be the son of a bitch. However, he was a complete stranger to the petite woman he restrained against his front door and as much as he hated to admit, his actions most likely accelerated her harrowing experience. "Calm down. Take deep breaths and relax. I didn't mean to scare you. My name is Ashton Hawk and you are on my ranch. You're safe here, I promise. Do you understand?" She gave a slight nod of her head so why in hell did the fear in her eyes continue to be so vivid. Ashton was perplexed, he couldn't understand why she continued to believe he would harm her. He just apologized, insured her safety and she nodded yes. Hell, he even used a comforting tone. At least he thought he had.

Genres: Romance, Westerns, Contemporary

203 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 4, 2012

About the author

Jeny Stone now resides in Texas. She has for several years but originated from West Virginia. She has always had a passion for reading. Finally, putting on her big girl panties, she decided to put her imagination to work and began writing. Now, she can’t stop.

Jeny writes romantic suspense, erotic love novels and novellas with strong women and alpha males. Claimed by the Rancher, Possessed by a Stranger and The Eligible Suitor are the books she has produced so far. She now working on Rescued by the Rancher and Implosion which will be available soon. She loves humor and can’t help but add a touch in each book.

When Jeny is not reading or writing you will find her taking care of her rescue dogs, or rather tripping over them. She has a major weakness for animals.

Jeny loves hearing from her readers and can be found on Facebook, twitter and her website. Sign up on her website and receive announcements for future books and giveaways.

Enjoy!

Reviews

[Delta]

Ridiculous, illogical plot and insta-lust lacking chemistry between h and H. Deleting...

[Connie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried I really did but I just could not finish this one. The hero was just a giant jackass. Seriously. There was nothing sexy about this. It was actually pretty creepy. I made it to 59% on Kindle but I must say I started to skim way prior to that.

I don't get how the heroine could have been so attracted to a guy who treated her like shit, I mean totally disrespected her (constantly referring to her, both in his head and out loud, as a hot piece of ass, a dick tease, and a stupid bitch), showed scary violent tendencies (breaking down a locked bathroom door and forcibly carrying her out of the shower just to show her who's boss), and made jokes about taking advantage of her while she was drugged (after she confesses to the doctor that she is worried about having been raped, logically considering she was kidnapped by a man she has since learned was a convicted rapist, was unconscious for an entire day due to sedatives and woke up in a stranger's bed without her clothes). I was pretty disgusted by all of it.

Here's the synopsis of what I did manage to read.

Brie is moving to live closer to her sister. As she is driving along the highway minding her own business, a reckless driver causes a major pileup which she narrowly avoids, then unfortunately the same reckless drive, who turns out to be an escaped prisoner, doing time for rape and murder, carjacks Brie and demands she drive him away. Enter our "hero" Ashton, a marine out to capture the escaped prisoner responsible for killing his family. Ashton shoots the tire out from Brie's car causing it to flip, the prisoner dies on impact, Brie loses consciousness.

Sounds like a great premise, too bad everything goes downhill from there.

Brie wakes up in a strange bed (not a hospital bed mind you), wearing only a t-shirt that does not belong to her. The last thing she remembers is the car accident, so naturally she thinks she is still at the mercy of her kidnapper. And instead of trying to explain to her, good old Ashton physically restrains her, then when she fights him and runs away, again wearing only a t-shirt, barefoot, in the middle of nowhere, he takes the time to drink two beers, figuring he would let her tire herself out before he goes to look for her. SERIOUSLY???

When Brie finally gets a phone and calls 911, the operator laughs at her and tells her not to "be silly" because who wouldn't want to be at Ashton's house right? And don't worry he's the best person to keep you safe. Again SERIOUSLY???

I get it, fiction is all about suspension of disbelief but really. Ashton is not a cop, he has absolutely no jurisdiction. Brie was kidnapped, carjacked, involved in a car accident that totaled her car and killed the passenger, woke up a day later after being sedated in someone's private home, and through out this all is never taken to the freaking hospital, or even talks to the police. Then because the dead murderer/rapist/escaped convict/carjacker has two older brothers who will definitely want to avenge his death Brie has to stay at Ashton's ranch because he is the only one who could possibly protect her.

This has positively got to be the worst hero I have ever come across. I mean he literally made me want to vomit. I would not recommend this to anyone ever.

[Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️]

DNF - No Rating

I seem to be on a DNF spree lately. Sad. But I just can't justify trudging through a book I am not enjoying when there are so many other GOOD books I could be reading instead. Life's too short and, frankly, I just don't have the free time or the inclination.

The premise of the story and the way it was unfolding through the first few chapters was so unrealistic it bordered on ludicrous. I also couldn't stand the main characters - especially the lead female Brie.

Next!

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Main characters was awful. I disliked everything about this book.

[Tilly · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fair

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brie is stopped in traffic for a car accident when a man shoves a gun in her face, jumps in the back seat and tells her to drive backwards out of the traffic. She is terrified and never looks at her captor's face. The kidnapper instructs her to turn on a dirt road and suddenly the tire blows and the car flips. She wakes up in a strange place with a hot man and thinks he's the kidnapper so she attempts to escape. She learns that Ashton shot out her tire and saved her, but that she is still in danger since the kidnapper's brothers are on their way. Ashton assures her he will keep her safe. Brie and Ashton are both shocked by the sexual tension they feel around each other and constantly bicker and fight. Once they do finally give in to their feelings its hotter than they imagined. Brie finds herself falling in love with Ashton and wanting to stay with him - but he doesn't ask. Ashton is mad when Brie leaves because he thought she felt the same way about him that he did her. Can these two find their way back to each other and be clear about their feelings? Quick easy read.

[Heather andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about a man who plays by his own rules, and who is all alpha bada**, "eff you Frank! Tell 'em the damn truth. You allowed a convicted rapist and murderer to steal my truck and then kidnap an innocent female bystander on the interstate. Just ask all those witnesses. And you and two deputies walked around with your damn heads up your a**es." Go Ashton! Ashton goes straight the the embarrassing question when he and Brie try to get to know one another, "no, I've never been married. How many men have you effed?" Ashton is really such a giving man ladies, "thank you. I guess I owe you something in return. I can teach you to shoot or you can feel my body. After all, I did feel yours." He's also really romantic (sarcasm has been inserted ladies) "completely honorable I assure you. I thought about chaining you inside my house until I remembered a ring would have the same bonding effect." I loved this book with all his alpha-ness!

[Donna Porter · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a good book full of action and suspense and some romance. Brie is taken hostage on her way home in her car. They are in a traffic jam but she has a small car so the criminal sees his way out. He puts a gun to her head and makes her drive. She goes in and out cars and along the berm to get away. They are pursued by Ashton who wants to get this murderer before he can hurt anyone else. He shoots the tire out and the car rolls over twice. Brie is knocked out and the criminal is killed. Ashton tries to protect Brie by taking her to his ranch and having his doctor friend treat Brie. You have to read this one to see what goes on at the ranch when the criminals two brothers come after them. a good read

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

So after looking through very different extremes of 1 star to 4 and 5 star reviews I decided to read this book. I completely understand why some people didn’t like Ashton BUT with that said even though he is a hard character to like…once you get passed his extreme alphaness he is quite a great character. Brie is Ashton’s equal in this book…everything he dishes out to her she dishes right back and as infuriating as she makes him she also awakens something he’s never felt before.

In the end this was great read…it took some time to get past Ashton’s gruffness but by the end of this book you finally see under the hard exterior he has. I would definitely recommend this to people who are looking for a short read with a HEA that is not a serial series.

[Peni · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this story. It captured my attention when I got it. I set aside the book I was reading and started this one within minutes of purchasing and didn't stop until I finished it, well into the wee hours of the next morning.

From the first page I was hooked and didn't want it to end when it did. The pacing of the story was just right. I loved the sparring between the two main characters. At the beginning tempers were easily triggered and the f.... word overly used which bothered me a bit. I just don't understand that mentality.

I would highly recommend this story to anyone over 14 due to the sexual content and language.

[Marichus Real · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot has potential and I enjoyed the book but there are several things that don’t fit in the story. Ashton is supposed to be an honorable man and trustworthy, so then why is all the time thinking about winning the sexual favors from Brie? Why does he pull his pants down just to be even with Brie? Why does he call her a dick teaser?
Apart from that it needs editing as there are several mistakes. One of them made me laugh as I pictured the image on my mind: “There he was, this sexy muscular man leaning against the porch post with a bear in his hand and the most devilish grin she had ever seen.” I can assure you that if that was the case, he wouldn’t grin at all.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book hooked me quick with Ashton's full out alpha male dominating ways in the first few pages. I loved the fiery sexual tension between the two main characters that had me gripping my kindle tight wondering what would happen next between these two. I picked up this book on a whim because I was intrigued with the blurb and I look forward to reading many more by this author in the future. An author that can draw me in quick, give depth to the characters without 50 pages of back talk and has my kindle melting in my hand is one I will add to my favorite list. A definite recommend read.

[Meiwilli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty ludicrous! I'm a sucker for a nice chest and the cover caught my eye for this free iBooks read. It started out on the interesting side with mayhem and adventure and quickly fizzled into complete and utter silliness. Brie set the women's right movement back by twenty years! The constant coddling of her even by the doctor and his wife as well as Ashton was just plain sickening. On my Cowboy Scale of Hotness, 0 stars. Ashton wasn't a cowboy or really a rancher but an ex-marine with anger management issues and a personality that would make a real woman run in the other direction.

[Janet L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was just not very good - sorry.

This book reminded me of the way bad romance novels used to be written. It was somewhat stilted and silly, and better editing was needed. The errors were obvious enough to break up the book. In the middle of all of the stilted language and silly dialogue there was some foul language and sexual content which did nothing to improve the book. Sorry, but I won't read this author again.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short story

I liked the characters and the flow to the book. I definitely liked the ending! There were, however, a few spelling mistakes, but it was worth reading. I'd like to see books with Ashton's best friends in it.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book...I enjoyed it from beginning to the end!!!!

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good read!

[Maria Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story, a really good read but seriously in need of re - editing.

Well written believable characters.

[Sherry Vitaniemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Men

Wow now this is guy to take home and lock your door. It may have taken him a little while to make things right.But he did.Worth reading

[lesley dawn wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claimed by the rancher

Claimed by the rancher is a awesome read just loved it it's hot an exciting an true love is a great thing

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this in the car on the way back from holiday. It was a good read, but not too deep or heavy going. Won't take you long to read it.

[CassandraG · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good quick read and quite enjoyable.