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Hill Country Heroes #3
Rescued by a Ranger
She's Running From The Law... Alexandra Hunt is living a lie. In fact, that's not even her real name. But after the death of her estranged husband, Alex and her four-year-old daughter were at the mercy of ruthless people: her powerful, possibly crooked former in-laws. When they came after her child, Alex saw no choice but to flee. Small town Fredericksburg, Texas, offers unexpected sanctuary. Until she meets her next-door neighbor, by-the-book—and devilishly handsome—Texas Ranger Zane Winchester! Single father Zane has to admit he has a thing for sweet, pretty Alex. Yet while the attraction is mutual, she's definitely hiding something. And Zane can't abide a liar. He needs to find out Alex's secrets before he can truly allow her into his and his teenage daughter's lives. But when he discovers the truth, will he help Alex—or turn her in?
- GenresRomance
Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
11 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Tanya Michaels
140 books59 followersTanya Michaels is an award-winning author of more than thirty romance and women's fiction novels, as well as numerous short stories and nonfiction essays. She is a four-time finalist for the prestigious RITA, awarded annually by Romance Writers of America, and was nominated for RT Book Review’s Career Achievement in Category Romance. When she's not speaking at reader events and writer conferences, she's at home in Georgia with her husband of fifteen years and their two highly imaginative children. For a glimpse into Tanya's chaotic daily life, as well as updates on her current books and TV show addictions, follow Tanya on Twitter.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 22, 2018
He bent his head to hers, his mouth replacing his finger. Her nerves thrummed, her skin tingled. His tongue slid between her lips, and he kissed her with excruciating tenderness, tasting her thoroughly but slowly, as if he wanted to do this all night. Need unfurled inside her. It had been a very long time since she'd been truly aroused, and she almost gasped at the piercing sweetness of returning desire. - 68%
The title of this book is misleading. This Ranger doesn't rescue anyone, and at times I found him a bit annoying.
Heather doesn't show up for her custody hearing, she runs away with her four-year-old daughter, Josie. This is a bad and not very well-thought-out decision. Her (evil) husband is dead, killed in a car crash, and his (evil) parents want custody of the child.
She cuts and dyes her hair, takes on a fake name for her and the child, and goes to live in the house of a friend of a friend who is out of town for six months.
She is now the next door neighbor of Zane, a Texas Ranger.
Zane is trying to parent his fifteen-year-old daughter, Eden, with some difficulty. Her mother can't handle her and has sent her here from California.
Even though Zane loved and married Valerie (his ex) for being a wild, interesting, daring, adventurous girl, he can't allow his daughter to have the same traits. He doesn't want to teach her to drive. He doesn't want her to date any boys. Needless to say, Eden finds him stifling.
Strips of neon aside, she looked so much like Valerie that he couldn't help a twinge of nervous déjà vu. As a teenager, Val had been beautiful, fascinating and self-destructive. He prayed the similarities between mother and daughter would prove superficial.
Michaels is pretty funny, I've reviewed her books before, and her trademark humor pokes its head out here, too. Most of it stems from Heather's abject terror of Zane (because he's law enforcement) and his bafflement at this terror.
Alex (Heather) raised her gaze, starting to say something, but then she froze like a possum in oncoming headlights.
"Ms. Hunt? Everything okay?"
She eyed the encircled silver star pinned to his denim button-down shirt. He'd been working this morning and hadn't bothered to remove the badge. "Interesting symbol," she said slowly.
"Represents the Texas Rangers."
"Like the baseball team?"
"No, ma'am. Like the law enforcement agency." Maybe that would make her feel better about her temporary home. He jerked his thumb toward his house. "You have a bona fide lawman living right next door."
Beneath the freckles, her face went whiter than his hat. - 10%
Even though I didn't particularly like Zane, who seemed like a big doofus to me and offered Heather no help for her problem, I had sympathy for him at times. He annoyed me because he is a very black-and-white thinker, there is always right and wrong, breaking the law is always wrong, very stern boy scout type guy. That's not really what Heather needed, IMO. It also made it hard for me to believe he'd end up with Valerie as his ex, who is a wild, adventurous woman who cheated on him multiple times. But her cheating only made him double-down on this good vs. bad mentality.
He makes a snide remark about his daughter's makeup, embarrassing her - but almost immediately regrets it. He also meets a woman with piercings and purple hair who is a bartender and that makes him rethink his kneejerk hatred of his daughter's pink hair. It's not like he's incapable of learning or thinking about his actions.
He's so baffled that Heather doesn't like him.
Even in the dim illumination provided by the streetlight, he could see Alex(Heather) scowl. Now that he'd had time to mull it over, he was almost certain she was going through a divorce. Maybe she was at that stage where she disliked all men. It was a more palatable explanation than her hating him personally, for no discernible reason. - 16%
Take this scene where he asks Heather out on a date.
Warning signs clanged in her head. All his smiling tonight... had he been flirting with her? "Are you asking me on a DATE?" She lost her grip on a slick wet glass. It hit the tile floor and shattered.
Zane swore under his breath.
I mean... that's not the reaction you want. I know Michaels is going for romance here, but in all seriousness, Zane just cannot take a hint. I'm sorry, but this guy seems too persistent to me. If a woman seems terrified of you, avoids you at every turn, and reacts to you with fear - stop pursuing her, hombre. It's not good. It's hard for me to believe Zane and Heather end up in a relationship together. Dating a Texas Ranger when you are on the run is very stupid, for one thing. For another, he's kind of a dick in the way he pursues her when she obviously is scared of him for whatever reason.
Another reason he wasn't winning any points with me is the way he acts toward her after they have second-time sex.
"That's private." Did he notice the hysteria creeping into her tone?"
"Dammit, Alex." Frustration roughened his voice to a growl. "Everything's private with you. Everything's too personal to share. Except your body, I guess. You'll sleep with me - you just won't trust me."
She drew back, stung. "You're the second man I've had sex with in my entire life! Don't make it sound like I'm indiscriminately free with my body."
"Freer than you are with your secrets," he shot back. - 86%
I mean, no. Never insinuate the woman who just allowed you to have sex with her is a, um. Loose woman. Are you fucking kidding me? This is a good way to make sure she never lets you touch her again. Plus, how dare you?! I find it hard to like or respect a male who says this kind of thing to woman after sex. Fuck you! Really cruel and unnecessary.
However, I do have a degree of sympathy for him. First he marries a woman who cheats on him multiple times, then he decides to sleep with a woman who turns out to be a fugitive.
He'd made love to this woman, had breathed her name while inside her, and it had all been a lie. The rage he'd felt when Valerie cheated on him, the blinding wrath at being so stupid, flooded back. Would he ever fall for someone who didn't make a fool of him? - 89%
HOW'S THE SEX, CARMEN?
Well, there is the kissing scene I opened this review with. KISSING! And it's sexy and hot how Heather has never been with anyone but her husband, and now she's seeing someone in a sexual light. This seems very heady and interesting for her.
Her gaze slid to Zane's mouth. She'd only kissed one person for the last decade. - 46%
On the bad side, they decide to have first time sex on the bench seat in the back of his truck. *Carmen slaps her palm to her forehead* NO. I don't understand this. It's one thing to have sex in vehicles when you are a teenager. As an adult, who owns a bed, fucking use a bed. Beds are good. I'm sick of reading about uncomfortable sex. I just read a book where the two adult leads had sex on a narrow bench in a gazebo. Ouch. Just stop. Beds - use them.
Here's the sex scene, I'll hide it under a spoiler tag just so you don't have to scroll through it if you don't want to read it.
- 79%
So, as we can see here, no one thinks about condoms or birth control until his penis is inside her. What morons. She can't get pregnant since she's had tubal ligation, but that's not going to prevent STDs for anyone. Two, I mean, step it up, man. I think he could have done a lot better. BUT OKAY. I'll take what I can get, at least I can understand what he is doing and Michaels doesn't succumb to lazy, flowery language.
The good thing is that Michaels includes a second sex scene. This is shockingly rare in American Romance, but it's ridiculous to act like a couple would have sex one time and then stop. Usually once people start being sexually active as a couple, they repeat the activity. So when Heather and Zane have sex again a few days later, it's a blessed relief to this reader. It's not described, the second sex is off-page, but I'm grateful Michaels isn't pretending sex is a one-time thing within a coupled relationship like so many authors do in this line.
TL;DR - The title is misleading - Zane doesn't rescue anyone. And for a Ranger, he's not much help. But on the other hand, what kind of woman goes on the run from the law and decides to get romantically involved with a Texas Ranger?!!?!? It seems really dumb, I don't care how 'hot' he's supposed to be. I mean, she didn't think out running very well, the book has a great scene where her daughter gets sick and she realizes that if she needed to go to the hospital everything would be over because she doesn't have medical insurance under her fake name or any ID that would hold up under scrutiny.
Zane is not the type of man I would date. Not only is he uptight to the point of exasperation, but his parenting style and his willingness to say really super-hurtful things to Heather after sex is not pleasing to me. I expected better.
To end the review on a positive note, here is the funniest scene in the book:
Was she going crazy, or was that Zane? She quickly turned off her bedroom light so she wouldn't be visible, then crept to the window to peek. Seeing that it really was Zane, she opened her window.
"Oh good." He sounded as if he was smiling, although there wasn't enough light to make out his actual expression. "You're awake."
She waited for some kind of explanation as to why he was throwing pebbles at her window - something she'd seen in countless movies but had never experienced in real life - but he didn't offer an immediate reason for why he'd scared her out of her skin and risked waking Belle. If he'd needed to talk, why hadn't he just called?
"Have you been drinking?" she accused. It seemed slightly less insulting than HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?
"Yes, ma'am. The hard stuff, too. Diet soda WITH CAFFEINE." - 67%
LOL LOL I was laughing at that one. :D
ROMANCE CATEGORIES:
Contemporary Romance
Non-Virgin Heroine
Widow Heroine
Police Romance
He's a Texas Ranger, She is A Seamstress
The title of this book is misleading. This Ranger doesn't rescue anyone, and at times I found him a bit annoying.
Heather doesn't show up for her custody hearing, she runs away with her four-year-old daughter, Josie. This is a bad and not very well-thought-out decision. Her (evil) husband is dead, killed in a car crash, and his (evil) parents want custody of the child.
She cuts and dyes her hair, takes on a fake name for her and the child, and goes to live in the house of a friend of a friend who is out of town for six months.
She is now the next door neighbor of Zane, a Texas Ranger.
Zane is trying to parent his fifteen-year-old daughter, Eden, with some difficulty. Her mother can't handle her and has sent her here from California.
Even though Zane loved and married Valerie (his ex) for being a wild, interesting, daring, adventurous girl, he can't allow his daughter to have the same traits. He doesn't want to teach her to drive. He doesn't want her to date any boys. Needless to say, Eden finds him stifling.
Strips of neon aside, she looked so much like Valerie that he couldn't help a twinge of nervous déjà vu. As a teenager, Val had been beautiful, fascinating and self-destructive. He prayed the similarities between mother and daughter would prove superficial.
Michaels is pretty funny, I've reviewed her books before, and her trademark humor pokes its head out here, too. Most of it stems from Heather's abject terror of Zane (because he's law enforcement) and his bafflement at this terror.
Alex (Heather) raised her gaze, starting to say something, but then she froze like a possum in oncoming headlights.
"Ms. Hunt? Everything okay?"
She eyed the encircled silver star pinned to his denim button-down shirt. He'd been working this morning and hadn't bothered to remove the badge. "Interesting symbol," she said slowly.
"Represents the Texas Rangers."
"Like the baseball team?"
"No, ma'am. Like the law enforcement agency." Maybe that would make her feel better about her temporary home. He jerked his thumb toward his house. "You have a bona fide lawman living right next door."
Beneath the freckles, her face went whiter than his hat. - 10%
Even though I didn't particularly like Zane, who seemed like a big doofus to me and offered Heather no help for her problem, I had sympathy for him at times. He annoyed me because he is a very black-and-white thinker, there is always right and wrong, breaking the law is always wrong, very stern boy scout type guy. That's not really what Heather needed, IMO. It also made it hard for me to believe he'd end up with Valerie as his ex, who is a wild, adventurous woman who cheated on him multiple times. But her cheating only made him double-down on this good vs. bad mentality.
He makes a snide remark about his daughter's makeup, embarrassing her - but almost immediately regrets it. He also meets a woman with piercings and purple hair who is a bartender and that makes him rethink his kneejerk hatred of his daughter's pink hair. It's not like he's incapable of learning or thinking about his actions.
He's so baffled that Heather doesn't like him.
Even in the dim illumination provided by the streetlight, he could see Alex(Heather) scowl. Now that he'd had time to mull it over, he was almost certain she was going through a divorce. Maybe she was at that stage where she disliked all men. It was a more palatable explanation than her hating him personally, for no discernible reason. - 16%
Take this scene where he asks Heather out on a date.
Warning signs clanged in her head. All his smiling tonight... had he been flirting with her? "Are you asking me on a DATE?" She lost her grip on a slick wet glass. It hit the tile floor and shattered.
Zane swore under his breath.
I mean... that's not the reaction you want. I know Michaels is going for romance here, but in all seriousness, Zane just cannot take a hint. I'm sorry, but this guy seems too persistent to me. If a woman seems terrified of you, avoids you at every turn, and reacts to you with fear - stop pursuing her, hombre. It's not good. It's hard for me to believe Zane and Heather end up in a relationship together. Dating a Texas Ranger when you are on the run is very stupid, for one thing. For another, he's kind of a dick in the way he pursues her when she obviously is scared of him for whatever reason.
Another reason he wasn't winning any points with me is the way he acts toward her after they have second-time sex.
"That's private." Did he notice the hysteria creeping into her tone?"
"Dammit, Alex." Frustration roughened his voice to a growl. "Everything's private with you. Everything's too personal to share. Except your body, I guess. You'll sleep with me - you just won't trust me."
She drew back, stung. "You're the second man I've had sex with in my entire life! Don't make it sound like I'm indiscriminately free with my body."
"Freer than you are with your secrets," he shot back. - 86%
I mean, no. Never insinuate the woman who just allowed you to have sex with her is a, um. Loose woman. Are you fucking kidding me? This is a good way to make sure she never lets you touch her again. Plus, how dare you?! I find it hard to like or respect a male who says this kind of thing to woman after sex. Fuck you! Really cruel and unnecessary.
However, I do have a degree of sympathy for him. First he marries a woman who cheats on him multiple times, then he decides to sleep with a woman who turns out to be a fugitive.
He'd made love to this woman, had breathed her name while inside her, and it had all been a lie. The rage he'd felt when Valerie cheated on him, the blinding wrath at being so stupid, flooded back. Would he ever fall for someone who didn't make a fool of him? - 89%
HOW'S THE SEX, CARMEN?
Well, there is the kissing scene I opened this review with. KISSING! And it's sexy and hot how Heather has never been with anyone but her husband, and now she's seeing someone in a sexual light. This seems very heady and interesting for her.
Her gaze slid to Zane's mouth. She'd only kissed one person for the last decade. - 46%
On the bad side, they decide to have first time sex on the bench seat in the back of his truck. *Carmen slaps her palm to her forehead* NO. I don't understand this. It's one thing to have sex in vehicles when you are a teenager. As an adult, who owns a bed, fucking use a bed. Beds are good. I'm sick of reading about uncomfortable sex. I just read a book where the two adult leads had sex on a narrow bench in a gazebo. Ouch. Just stop. Beds - use them.
Here's the sex scene, I'll hide it under a spoiler tag just so you don't have to scroll through it if you don't want to read it.
- 79%
So, as we can see here, no one thinks about condoms or birth control until his penis is inside her. What morons. She can't get pregnant since she's had tubal ligation, but that's not going to prevent STDs for anyone. Two, I mean, step it up, man. I think he could have done a lot better. BUT OKAY. I'll take what I can get, at least I can understand what he is doing and Michaels doesn't succumb to lazy, flowery language.
The good thing is that Michaels includes a second sex scene. This is shockingly rare in American Romance, but it's ridiculous to act like a couple would have sex one time and then stop. Usually once people start being sexually active as a couple, they repeat the activity. So when Heather and Zane have sex again a few days later, it's a blessed relief to this reader. It's not described, the second sex is off-page, but I'm grateful Michaels isn't pretending sex is a one-time thing within a coupled relationship like so many authors do in this line.
TL;DR - The title is misleading - Zane doesn't rescue anyone. And for a Ranger, he's not much help. But on the other hand, what kind of woman goes on the run from the law and decides to get romantically involved with a Texas Ranger?!!?!? It seems really dumb, I don't care how 'hot' he's supposed to be. I mean, she didn't think out running very well, the book has a great scene where her daughter gets sick and she realizes that if she needed to go to the hospital everything would be over because she doesn't have medical insurance under her fake name or any ID that would hold up under scrutiny.
Zane is not the type of man I would date. Not only is he uptight to the point of exasperation, but his parenting style and his willingness to say really super-hurtful things to Heather after sex is not pleasing to me. I expected better.
To end the review on a positive note, here is the funniest scene in the book:
Was she going crazy, or was that Zane? She quickly turned off her bedroom light so she wouldn't be visible, then crept to the window to peek. Seeing that it really was Zane, she opened her window.
"Oh good." He sounded as if he was smiling, although there wasn't enough light to make out his actual expression. "You're awake."
She waited for some kind of explanation as to why he was throwing pebbles at her window - something she'd seen in countless movies but had never experienced in real life - but he didn't offer an immediate reason for why he'd scared her out of her skin and risked waking Belle. If he'd needed to talk, why hadn't he just called?
"Have you been drinking?" she accused. It seemed slightly less insulting than HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND?
"Yes, ma'am. The hard stuff, too. Diet soda WITH CAFFEINE." - 67%
LOL LOL I was laughing at that one. :D
ROMANCE CATEGORIES:
Contemporary Romance
Non-Virgin Heroine
Widow Heroine
Police Romance
He's a Texas Ranger, She is A Seamstress
August 22, 2012
Very good book. Alex took her daughter and ran to protect her from her former in-laws. She ended up In Fredericksburg, trying to live quietly and not draw attention to herself. Everything was going great until she met Zane. Her daughter thought he was terrific, and Alex was certainly attracted, but he's a Ranger and she doesn't dare let him get close. Zane is trying to repair his relationship with his teenage daughter and not having a lot of luck with it. He sees how well Eden relates to the little girl next door and asks Alex if she can help him. It doesn't hurt that he is very attracted to Alex and wouldn't mind getting to know her better. But as they get closer, he senses that she is hiding something and that bothers him. He has no use for liars and he's afraid of what he might find out. I really liked Alex and Zane and their girls. Alex knew she wouldn't stand a chance against her in-laws which is why she ran. She is very attracted to Zane and really likes his daughter. She is terrified that Zane will discover the truth and turn her in. Zane is a pretty straightforward guy. He considers everything in right or wrong terms, with no room for gray areas. But the more time he spends with Alex, and the more she helps him with his daughter, he sees that not everything is that straightforward. When he discovers the truth about Alex he is furious, but doesn't want to cause her more problems. I liked the way that he helped her see what had to be done, and helped her get the assistance she needed. The conclusion of her fight was great. I also loved how realistic the two girls were. I could completely believe their actions and attitudes.
May 26, 2021
A young woman marries into a wealthy family of without knowing they have ties to the underworld. When she realizes that her her husband and his family are crooks and she and her daughters lives are at risk because she knows, she leaves with her daughter to a rural Texas town to hide. They end up in a small town and un-nowingly moves next door to a Texas Ranger. Well written and a good story.
August 21, 2025
In Rescued by a Ranger, Michaels returns to Fredericksburg, TX for book three of her Hill Country Heroes series. Widow Alex Hunt* is on the run, desperate to keep her preschool daughter from the clutches of her coldly heartless—and possibly criminal—in-laws. Fate would have to plant her next door to a by the book Texas Ranger, and a hot one at that! Expect a character-driven story with plenty of humor and even more heart. In particular, the reader falls in love with Zane who wrestles with his desire to do right in a world chock full of shades of gray. But it’s Belle, the daughter for whom Alex would do anything including giving up Zane, who steals the show.
Why else should you read this book? Because it contains this little nugget:
He (Zane) helped the little girl to her feet. “So why do you carry a chihuahua in your purse?”
“Because I’m fabulous.” She (Belle) punctuated her statement with an exasperated duh look.
*Some names were changed to protect the innocent.
Why else should you read this book? Because it contains this little nugget:
He (Zane) helped the little girl to her feet. “So why do you carry a chihuahua in your purse?”
“Because I’m fabulous.” She (Belle) punctuated her statement with an exasperated duh look.
*Some names were changed to protect the innocent.
February 11, 2013
Alex Hunt has taken her daughter and run from her wealthy in-laws after her husband dies and his parents threaten to take custody of her child. Having settled into a new life with a fake name, she is dismayed to find out that her next door neighbor is Ranger Zane Winchester. The man makes her heart flutter, not only because of his hotness but also because he’d turn her in if he learned her identity. Can she collect enough evidence against her corrupt in-laws to protect herself, or must she turn for help to the one man who could expose her secrets? Rescued by a Ranger is a heartwarming story about love, betrayal, and trust.
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June 30, 2016Miniseries: Hill Country Heroes
Category: Heart & Home
Category: Heart & Home
September 25, 2012
Great book I liked the characters and the story
May 5, 2015
Great book fast read
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews