This is one of my favorite contemporary series, always an emotional story that brings engaging characters to life with interesting stories. Ms. Hayworth introduced us to a family with flaws in the beginning and as we read each of their stories we see how they interact with emotions and love.
Krista Skye runs the Mustang Ridge Guest Ranch. This was her vision, one she fought for and now she sees that her hard work and sacrifice is working as the place is thriving. She has put her whole life on hold to make it work but she was fine with this as she feels this is what she was meant to do. In college she thought she had found the one person she would have shared her life with, her dream of this place but he hurt her deeply, enough to keep her head down for the past eight years.
Wyatt Webb is visiting his friend Sam, he knows Krista lives here and would like to see her to talk to her, apologize for what happened. He strung her along, stood her up in public in front of her parents during graduation and then left a note that said he was leaving. When he finally gets the chance she brushes him off and he thinks they are done.
When Foster, her head wrangler gets hurt much to the surprise of everyone including herself, she calls him and he accepts the job. He is a world renown artist, works with metal and odd junk found different places to make horses items that depict ranch life.
There is a yearly contest that they like to enter, pick a wild Mustang and then train it to show off it's skills in six weeks. The Mustang Ridge gang go down to find the perfect horse.
He had an absent father and took care of his sister for years while his mother worked. He is afraid he will be like his father as he does not stay too long anywhere or with anyone.
Emotional.
I have enjoyed the previous stories from the Mustang Ridge and this is another winner. The family is all back home and ready to share in the success of the Guest ranch as they each contribute in their own way.
This is Krista's vision and she has poured her heart into the venture. She loves interacting with the guest and even goes the extra mile to make them happy. She has put her life on hold these past eight years to make a life for herself, but also because she was hurt by the one man who is now back. I love how her family tries to protect her from Wyatt, as they were there at the end and picked up the pieces. I also enjoy how strong she is and how upfront she is with Wyatt when they realize they are unable to deny the attraction. She is the one who kisses him first, I was surprised when that happened because she was so hurt by him but "yay Krista" she is a delightful heroine.
Wyatt is an enigma, his friend warned Krista about how he had an "eight week buzzer" during his college years and things have not changed since. But he jumps at the chance to work at the ranch. I like how he stands up her family, owns up to his mistakes back then and opens himself up to criticism from her friends and family, the dinner with her friends is hilarious with their not so hidden innuendoes.
The two have some amazing chemistry and are great together, I was actually happy they did not dance around each other for very long, they admitted to the continued attraction and moved on.
The pace of the story works well, we get glances of their past but only after they have been together, and their romance is laced with other issues that are happening around the ranch, as life goes on despite your romantic life. Secondary characters are key to this story as the family is very close and interacts frequently, I enjoyed the grandparents side story as they are about to celebrate their fiftieth anniversary with the added problems of how to age without angry. All in all a wonderful story of family.
Copy from publisher for an honest review