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What's a little honeymooning between friends?

Rue Matthews has it all. A cute little yarn store to call her own, her upcoming wedding and the best friend on earth. Sure, most people might not understand her relationship with Justice King, but he’s always been there for her. And now he’s going to be her best man…until her fiancé calls off the wedding just before the guests arrive.

Justice loves Rue more than anything in the world. But that love has always stayed platonic because he knows full well she deserves better than him. Though when her fiancé breaks her heart and Rue asks him to show her what passion is really like, he can’t resist. But going on a honeymoon with her turns out to be a lot more intense than either of them bargained for. She’s always been his best friend… Could she be everything?

Four Corners Ranch

Book 1: Unbridled Cowboy
Book 2: Merry Christmas Cowboy
Book 3: Cowboy Wild
Book 4: The Rough Rider
Book 5: The Holiday Heartbreaker
Book 6: The Troublemaker

379 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 29, 2025

63 people are currently reading
180 people want to read

About the author

Maisey Yates

1,162 books2,998 followers
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit. In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book.

Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard.

She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.

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5 stars
61 (35%)
4 stars
57 (33%)
3 stars
33 (19%)
2 stars
15 (8%)
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4 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
Profile Image for Cheri.
2,276 reviews28 followers
September 22, 2025
I've been waiting for this story ever since getting to know the King family better. Of course Justice and Rue were going to end up together. Best friends since childhood, she does everything with his family that a partner would, they are each others’ sounding board. Rue and Justice were already in a committed relationship with one another that went far beyond friendship, whether they wanted to admit that or not. So it was profoundly disappointing that this book didn’t work for me.

When it comes to the characters, I love them both. I believe they are meant to be together. I love the way they know and love each other. In the beginning, there was chemistry. I guess I would even say there was chemistry throughout. Yet these two don’t even kiss until over halfway through. I’m talking 2/3 of the way, page 222 in the paperback! If there had been some god slow burn, will they won’t they, almost kisses, I would be okay with that. It’s not necessarily that I need kissing, but I need something to be happening other than the characters being in their heads so much. I understand that is newly single for the first time in her adult life. But these two have been friends for so long that it was too much hemming and hawing. Instead of building, the anticipation started waning the more that first kiss was pushed off.

The last third of this book, when Rue finally sees what she was missing in her ex-fiance, seemed almost rushed. It did pick up my interest for a while as these two realized they were in love and the reasons they kept that locked away in their minds for so long. Things were happening outside of their relationship that also needed to be wrapped up, which seemed to be done as an afterthought. I was very disappointed in the flow.

On top of it all, my brain couldn’t get over the fact that Rue was said to have started dating her ex-fiancé in high school and had been in a relationship for 8 years. This was said more than once. But Rue is 32? How does that work? If it had been a one-time blip I could understand, but it was reiterated more than once.

To me, this book felt phoned-in. I have an ARC of the next (possibly last?) book in this series I’ll be reading soon. I really hope to see the care I’m used to from this author in how a story is laid out and comes together. Her characters, who I have grown to know and love throughout this long series, deserve more.
Profile Image for Bookishlyhaley.
324 reviews12 followers
July 26, 2025
The Rogue is book eleven in the Four Corners series! It follows Rue Matthews & Justice King.

Rue and Justice have been friends forever and have always been each other's person. Rue is sweet, a rule follower, neat, kind, innocent, and truly just wants to be loved. Justice is kind and sweet only to Rue, laid back and he considered himself a bad boy. Rue is set to marry a man she has been dating long term but in the back of her mind something never quite felt right. Justice has only ever allowed himself to see Rue as his best friend as he felt he was never good enough for her.

Her fiance calls off the wedding right before she is set to go down the aisle leaving Rue heartbroken but thankfully Justice is there to pick up the pieces. They end up going to what was supposed to be her honeymoon and they both end up seeing what they have been missing all along by finally giving into their desires. Maisey writes such wonderful characters that you can’t help but love.

The narrator Samantha Cook really brought these characters to life and though I enjoyed her performance, I did find her male voice didn’t really sound too different between characters but I was still able to really enjoy it!

This book can be read as a standalone or as part of the series! If you love a good slow burn Western romance, this just might be the book for you!

Thank you to Maisey Yates, Harlequin Audio, HTP books and The Hive for this gifted ALC.
Profile Image for Laura R.
1,067 reviews17 followers
November 27, 2025
Rue and Justice have been best friends for years. Rue is about to be married – with Justice as her “Maid of Honor.” But when the wedding day comes and she catches her fiance cheating on her, the wedding is cancelled. And then everything begins falling apart around her. Justice has always been supportive of his best friend who has her life together and is running her late grandmother’s yarn store, but when her wedding is cancelled last minute and her life falls apart, he offers for her to stay with him. And then she makes a list of things she wants to do – things that no longer fit into her safe life. Justice doesn’t know how he feels about it, especially as he begins to realize just how much he doesn’t like the idea of another man touching her – something he never really thought about until now. Have they really alwyas been the right ones for one another? Or was friends all they were ever meant to be?

I loved this. I loved Justice and Rue, mostly because he was so supportive of her from the very beginning. The moments between them as they begin to realize that they feel for one another as more than friends was also great. I loved the romance between them and the friends-to-lovers dynamic. I loved the spice. But what I really loved was the way that Justice was willing to get over his own trauma for her, facing it head on and not running away. Absolutely fantastic.
Profile Image for Lynn Brooks.
3,516 reviews43 followers
July 31, 2025
Best friends forever takes on a different meaning in this emotional and addictive friends-to-lovers delight from Maisey Yates! It's always fun to visit a portion of the Four Corners Ranch collective and this time we're back at King's Crest with Justice and Ruby. They've been best friends since childhood and have each other's backs always ... but having her wedding blow up just as she's readying to walk down the aisle just changed the dynamic of who her forever love is.

Justice has always been the fun-loving cad of the King family who is always there to give support when needed, but knows he's always going to be a love 'em and leave 'em type. I loved getting to the heart of his hang ups and seeing the beauty of him being able to finally release them and love Rue for who she's always been.

I highly recommend this book as well as the entire series to anyone who loves a cowboy romance with a close knit family and friend circle who have all had their share of turmoil throughout the years but who are surging through and finding love they never thought they deserved. Great characters, a lovely setting and so much heart built into each and every family member's story!
Profile Image for Marti.
3,296 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2025
The Rogue by Maisey Yates is the eleventh book in the Four Corners Ranch. Each book can be read as a stand alone book. The Four Corners Ranch is a group of four ranches in Oregon. Each of the ranches runs as a separate entity, but they work as a group to allow for growth and funds for that growth. Each ranch seems to have its own “ mojo”. In this novel we are at the King ranch with Justice. Justice doesn’t do long term or relationships. He works hard and does whatever is needed at the ranch.

Justice’s best friend is Rue. She runs a yarn shop (passed down from her grandmother) and lives in her grandmother’s house. She has everything planned down to the last detail. Her binders are how she survives life, except for Justice, her best friend. She is marrying Asher, a man she has been engaged to for years and known for even longer. Justice is going to be her Best Man until the day of the wedding, when it was cancelled.

Justice continues to support Rue through everything, and eventually agrees to go on her honeymoon with her to show her what passion is. OH MY HOTNESS ALERT. The Rogue by Maisey Yates is a great read.
2,334 reviews
November 12, 2025
4.25 stars

I was conflicted with this one.

On the one hand it had the my favorite Maisey Yates tropes of family trauma, broken cowboys, small town flair and friends to lovers. I loved Justice and Rue together. They were the quintessential friends to lovers tale. It had been obvious for several how deeply these two were in love with each other and an insane connection. What they had together was truly special. I loved all things Justice did in this book to prove his love even though he feared saying it. They just made sense as a couple when they both woken up to the idea and just made it all the more intense between them, yet very satisfying at the same time. Even if it was abrupt, I did like the ending they got.

On the other hand I wasn’t really fond of the middle and the trajectory it took for Justice and Rue to get there romantically. There was just something off there. I felt like other things became more the focus than them and their relationship. Even though I knew there needed to be obstacles between them before they gave in to their passion, I just wanted them to realize what they felt sooner because it was very clear what was there between them.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
1,338 reviews33 followers
August 6, 2025
I simply loved this novel! Rue and Justice were best friends since early childhood, but they're now in their early thirties, Justice just has one-night stands--one and done, and after Rue has her groom, Asher, tell her he's cheated on her, their carefully planned Valentine's Day wedding is off, but Justice, as always, has her back. Neither Rue or Justice has had a good example of a loving relationship from their parents, but it's more than, as you'll find out in this novel.

Their childhood friendship eventually evolves into becomes more, but Justice has good reason to be commitment phobic, and their path forward is rocky, gripping, emotional, and quite simply makes for an excellent read. It gets 5 stars from this reader, and if you've not already read the previous novels in this series, I highly suggest you do so--each book in this series is truly a gem.
Profile Image for Belinda.
1,137 reviews1 follower
August 5, 2025
Rue and Justice have been friends since they were young kids. On Eye's wedding down she is left at the alter.

So along with that happening her grandmothers house is taken from her.

Rue decides she needs to be wild, but she drags Justice along. He comes along to watch out for her.

One night at a bar everything changes for them. They pussy foot around each other though for a few days until they decide for Justice to teach her things.

Once that happens things become quite clear to Rue but Justice takes a bit to get there.

Another awesome story in this series. Loved it. I can't wait for Denver's story!
1,437 reviews
August 2, 2025
A loving relationship forever

Both Justice and Rue had trust issues. They had been best friends since childhood. The had been stood up by her fiance at the alter and she was hoping Justice would help her navigate this nightmare. What happened though was that they realised that they were always in love with each other and now they could officially work on their loving relationship together. They were initially both stubborn about admitting their true feelings, but once they did they quickly discovered their happily ever after.
Profile Image for Lauren.
680 reviews32 followers
August 25, 2025
I went into this book expecting a solid 3 star read...aka a book I read for entertainment, but nothing that would blow my mind. HOWEVER, this book quickly became a 5 star listening experience. We have a mmc who is yearning for the fmc. We have a broken wedding. We have childhood bffs to lovers. We have 2 characters who realized their full potentials. Ugh this was just so good.

For context I have read a few books in this series, but not all of them and I don't think that popcorn reading books in the series has negatively impacted my experience.
Profile Image for Debs.
102 reviews
August 8, 2025
Best friends to lovers

Best of friends Justice and Rue ( short for Ruby) come together after Rue's fiancee of eight years confesses to being unfaithful to her the day before the wedding. Wedding is cancelled, Rue loses her grandmother's house, her plans are in ruins and Justice steps in with a place to stay and a whole new set of challenges that involve Rue and Justice discovering what they really want from being together. Five stars - a great story.
Profile Image for STACIE DUFOUR.
354 reviews
October 7, 2025
This was better than a few of the recent ones.

Rue and Justice had a friendship that gave us more of a connection to begin with. While their romance was quick, it felt more grounded. They communicated pretty good and we got to see them on the page together often. That makes all the difference with these stories. They had great chemistry and a touch of tension.

I am happy that we spent more time with them on the page but would have liked a little bit of a longer resolution at the end.
Profile Image for Eileen.
2,280 reviews
September 20, 2025
Rue/Ruby Matthews & Justice King

Friends to lovers trope/best friends since childhood

Asher stood up Rue at the altar on their wedding day. Justice was the Best Man for Rue and got to punch him in the face.
Uncovered some childhood trauma that Justice has used to keep his life in control.
A much better balance of the past with the present and to see a future together.
Profile Image for Abby Peterson.
80 reviews
November 4, 2025
Took way too long for them to realize they were meant to be together tbh and then it was lowkey crazy that Justice wasn’t gonna let them get together but we all know how it had to end. Ultimately a cute classic touch of Cowboy romance
Profile Image for HTP Books.
1,580 reviews201 followers
Read
July 1, 2025
Small Town & Rural Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Women's Fiction, Western Romance
Miniseries
Four Corners Ranch
Profile Image for Lynn (book_wine_thinker).
920 reviews
August 4, 2025
I’m a Maisey Yates and Four Corners Ranch addict. Loved this story of friends to lovers! Can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
198 reviews1 follower
September 22, 2025
Ugh the never ending we’ve been childhood friends and now have the feels
Profile Image for Priscilla Shaner.
70 reviews2 followers
November 7, 2025
The overuse of the word “because” drove me crazy. I agree with another reviewer who said the MC’s spent too much time in their heads.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews

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