This is the third book I’ve read in this series, and while I haven’t read many books by this author, I’ve definitely noticed a pattern. The female leads are strong, but they don’t always stand up for themselves as much as they should. The male leads tend to be womanisers who do something deeply hurtful and never quite grovel enough to deserve the women they end up with.
I didn’t love the second book (Baylee and Maverick). I genuinely didn’t think Maverick deserved her at all. That book was gut-wrenching in the worst way because my heart just broke for Baylee.
So I went into Beau and Honey’s book cautiously… and I was pleasantly surprised.
This is easily my favourite in the series so far — almost a full extra star for me. I read it in a day. It felt refreshing and genuinely enjoyable.
The biggest difference? Beau.
He isn’t the typical reckless womaniser we’ve seen before. Yes, he has a past, but he’s insecure, layered, and most importantly — honest. When he messes up, we immediately see from his POV that he feels bad about it. That made a huge difference. There’s very minimal other-woman drama, which was such a relief.
The story has a loose Romeo and Juliet vibe — two ranching families at odds. Honey’s family is wealthy and powerful, while Beau and his brothers are struggling to keep their ranch afloat. In the prologue, we see that when Honey was 18, she secretly tried to hook up with Beau. Once he realised who she was, he reacted badly and said some hurtful things. It didn’t go further than a kiss and heavy petting, but the damage was done.
Seven years later, she’s a teacher and he’s a firefighter. The tension between them has been simmering all that time. Honey is now friends with his sisters-in-law (Baylee and Paige from the earlier books), which adds another layer of closeness. Eventually the tension snaps and they hook up — but Beau initially treats it like a one-night stand. He says something careless, and Honey is understandably hurt. The difference here is that we see his regret immediately.
Once they finally admit their feelings, it gets intense quickly — very steamy, very full-on. There are no scenes of him with other women, just mention of a previous friends-with-benefits situation with a colleague, Melissa. She causes some drama later when she believes she might be pregnant with his child. It turns out he isn’t the father — Honey’s brother is — and while Melissa wasn’t being manipulative, the situation gave me the ick. The fact that she’ll now permanently be in Honey’s life felt messy in a way I didn’t love.
Outside of the romance, there’s a lot of setup for future books. Fires are being set around town. Honey’s dad is pushing her into an arranged marriage with Ian, who turns out to owe him money. We find out her dad is having an ongoing affair and has another child. Her mum leaves him. There’s a mysterious stepbrother. Honey overhears her dad’s mistress and recognises the voice, hinting it’s someone she knows. And by the end, we get clear setup for Chase and Rory’s story, plus the older brother returning with a child in tow.
Honey herself was fantastic. She had backbone, humour, and incredible banter. She openly admits she’s always had a crush on Beau and is very clear about her feelings. I just wish he had matched her intensity a bit more. He’s a green flag overall, but I wanted more obvious longing, more possessiveness, more “I am absolutely gone for you” energy. She deserved that.
My only ongoing frustration with this author is the repetitive trope that the heroine has never had a satisfying relationship before the hero. It feels unnecessary and overused. Honey was such a strong character — I would’ve loved for her past to reflect that strength instead of the usual “no one ever measured up” narrative.
Overall though, this was definitely the best of the three for me. It had tension, steam, family drama, and strong character growth. If the next books follow this tone rather than the earlier pattern, I’m definitely sticking with the series.