Ridge

Five Oaks Ranch #1

by Stephanie Payne Hurt

The oldest son of the Cauthen brood and the hardest of all the siblings. After two tours in Iraq, he returns to the 5 Oaks Ranch to take his place in the business. But he struggles with nightmares and the memories of everything he’s seen in the last seven years. Always the toughest of the siblings, he’s turned hard edged and even harder to get close to. When the new veterinarian comes in and starts to chisel her way through his stone façade Ridge tries to ignore the electricity that sparks between them. Find out what happens to the Oldest of the Cauthen siblings from the 5 Oaks Ranch.

Genres: Westerns, Romance

183 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2015

About the author

Stephanie Hurt lives in Georgia with her husband Tommy and their son Hunter, along with two dogs, Daisy and Jake. When Stephanie is not lost in one of the worlds that she creates, she’s an accountant and children’s minister. She has been writing the stories that fill her mind since she was a teenager. The moment a story comes into her mind, she’s mesmerized and soon she’s diving into the story with a cup of hot green tea and a notebook. Before long, the story has bones and is ready for the laptop. She happily types away in the early morning and at night. You can always find her with a notebook full of stories that have yet to come to life. Follow her journey in each of her over 40 published works!

Stephanie Payne Hurt loves to hear from fans and hopes that she’s helped them go to another world for at least a while!
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Reviews

[Jammin Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this romance set in the west. The main romance is between a returned Iraq war vet and a big animal veterinarian. She is able to help soothe his nightmares but he is very touchy from his war experience. Nice book.

[Joan · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF after the first few pages when I realised the author was spelling 'stallion' (as in male horse) as Stallion.

What if one of those bulls decided to tear open this Stallion?

Nope. Life's too short.....

[James a Schmidt · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Ridge (Five Oaks Ranch Book 1)”

This was a very,very good book about a rancher,having PTSD nightmares after serving over in the desert,a veterinarian who is good at what she does with horses,and the rest of the rancher’s family.The veteran requires time alone with his horse,to process the whole PTSD thing yet still needs to help his family with the ranch.The woman vet,is very shy and needs time to get to know her dates.What will happen if the two get together? She’s already told him there would be no them if he didn’t get help!
If you’d like to know more,please read this book,and I hope you enjoy it so you can give it a good review as well!

[Lorie - Bookaholic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even love can be a struggle -

I really liked this story, not that this is the first book I have read by this author. I can relate being around someone who has seen one or more tours of duty only to come home a totally different person and really had a hard time adjusting to civilian life.

"The love of a good woman can make all the difference.' (Quoted from the book)

Five Oaks Ranch (7 book series) Kindle Edition are of the five Cauthen siblings, Ridge, Oakley, Chase, Luke and Maggie - at least the first five books. I definitely plan on reading the rest of the series at some time.

[RoseVE · Rating 5 out of 5]

Healing the Hero

Watching Ridge struggle with his demons of war was difficult for his family and Mallory, the beautiful veterinarian. He was beginning to wonder if "normal" was ever going to be possible. His mood swings almost destroyed the budding attraction between Ridge and Mallory. He shoulders all the blame. But healing begins for them both physically and emotionally. This is a beautiful story of healing and love, love of family, military brothers, and a woman who won't quit on her man. I highly recommend it.

[Ronnie Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great clean book

The scars of war often heal very slowly. Ridge came home a wounded in mind soldier. No matter how hard he tried, the dreams and memories haunted him. His family tried to help, but no one could until he met the new Veterinarian Mallory on the ranch. She was as stubborn as he was, but his fears were like a wedge between them. A wonderful clean romance.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Back To Life Again

When Ridge returned from war, he had a hard time adjusting. When he met the new vet at the ranch, it seemed sparks were flying. He just couldn't be around her. When his brothers stepped in to push them together, Mallory ran to Florida for a quick vacation. Would they ever learn to live tkgether?

[dickndeetds.net · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not what I expected

I thought I was getting a western adventure to read. Instead it was a love about some of the struggles of a man returning home from the battle field. Very well written and kept my attention.

[Vonnie Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a fun read

Nice,funny, romantic.
A cheerful read,that will put a smile on your face.
Something we all need from time to time.

[Georgia Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ridge is an easy read, sweet romance between the eponymous Ridge Cauthern, an ex soldier recently back from Iraq and suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and the vet, Mallory. I should add here that I loved the names of all the characters in the story. This is the first in a series which I’m assuming will be based on the Cauthern family which is populated by handsome sons, Ridge, Oakley, Chase and Luke and a beautiful daughter, Maggie – all of whom I’m sure have stories waiting to be told. The parents are mentioned but not named.

I do like to use my imagination when conjuring up characters but a little light painting helps to give me something to get started on and I had no real idea what anyone looked like other than the fact that there were all gorgeous. The brothers clearly weakened the knees of all the women they came across and I would have loved to have had some little descriptive passages here and there to show me why they were so fancied. I did like the closeness of the siblings though and would have loved to have known more about their parents as well – perhaps in future stories?

I have always loved a western so give me cowboys, horses, wide open prairies and cattle wrangling and I’m in heaven. However here I wanted much more detail – I wanted the dust and heat, I wanted to see the prairies, smell the sweat of the horses and feel the feelings that were at the heart of this read. Ridge was struggling on his return to the ranch after his experiences of war and initially pushes Mallory away feeling he can’t have any sort of relationship. This resolves itself quickly as his attraction to Mallory increases and, as they keep being thrown together because of animal based incidents, the inevitable happens. It was all so quick though, I’m not sure how long this book is but it felt short and consequently a little rushed. It’s probably only a personal thing and some, I’m sure, love a quick read but I like to dwell a little longer on settings, that for me could be perfect, and situations, that I would have loved to have felt in detail.

I should add that I really did like the cover design, the western style font and the silhouette I thought worked very well.

[Randy Daugherty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ridge Cauthen had always been a hard man,, closed off but two tours in Iraq had made him harder if that was possible. Ridge came home, but part of him stayed there, PTSD they call it, but to Ridge it was a nightly nightmare that he couldn't seem to shake. He had thought returning to the ranch would give him purpose and help him shake his demons.
His three brothers sense and understand whats going on giving him space to work his issues, his sister is more open and tells him, I want my brother back, Ridge tried telling her that her brother would never be back, he didn't exist any more. His family, friends and even most the towns folk encourage and support Ridge, none more so than the new Vet in town, Mallory has eyes only for Ridge, it's hard to put up with the hot and the cold, but she is determined to help him to truly come home.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a love story that follows Ridge Cauthen, the eldest of the Cauthen clan. Ridge fought in the war in Iraq. He is now home and working his family's ranch. He by chance meets the new Veterinarian, Mallory. Ridge is dealing with PTSD from his military service. PTSD that includes nightmares, flashbacks and mood swings. Not an ideal time to try and make someone fall in love with you. My favorite part of this story was the amount of love, patience and forgiveness Ridge is shown by his family and friends. I would hope all Veterans would receive the same treatment. I'm not going to tell you if Boy gets Girl you just have to read it for yourself :)

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good

the story is one about how an army vet. reruns home with severe pad as well as wounds from war.