Rescuing Garrett

Second Chance Ranch #1

by Cynthia Dees, Sarah Dees

A matchmaker who quit believing in happy ever afters. A soldier with nothing left to give. One last chance at love.

When Mia Chester walks away from her matchmaking career in Seattle, she lands in Haven Creek, Montana, with her four best friends and a wild idea: turn a run-down farm into a rescue for animals no one else will save, and use Mia’s skills to match pets with their perfect people.

Garrett Hayes came home from the Army carrying wounds he can’t put down. He just wants to be left alone with his dog, Summit, a search-and-rescue dog who failed like him. He doesn’t plan to feel anything. He doesn’t plan to help a bunch of women build their ridiculous dream. He certainly doesn’t plan on Mia, who sees straight through his silence to his pain and keeps showing up anyway.

Can a washed-up matchmaker and a washed-out dog prove to a man who stopped believing in himself that nobody is truly beyond a second chance?

A tender, slow-burn, closed-door romance about found family, second chances, and the courage it takes to stay.

Cynthia Dees is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of over 100 romances, and Sarah Dees is a lawyer and published author. Join them at Second Chance Ranch for love, laughter, found family and friends in this sweet and emotional series about strong, wounded men, rescued animals, and close-knit women getting a second chance at love.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Amazon

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 30, 2026

About the author

With over two million books sold worldwide, Cynthia Dees/Cindy Dees is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of 80+ books. A 2-time RITA winner and five-time RITA finalist, Cindy writes thrillers, military romance, and romantic suspense.

As Cynthia Dees, she writes clean and wholesome romance with a twist of fun. A former U.S. Air Force pilot and part-time spy, Cindy draws upon real-life experience to fuel her stories of love on the edge. A mom, dog mom, and craft addict, Cynthia draws on her quirky family to write stories of hearth and home, love and laughter. When she's not typing like a maniac, she can be found playing with (or being laid on by) her very large Doberman Pinscher named Waffles, cooking, cross stitching, gardening, and traveling. She loves to chat with readers, and her blog and social media links are on her websites, www.cynthiadees.com and www.cindydees.com

For exclusive discounts, content, and giveaways, free books, latest news and more from Cynthia, sign up for her newsletter at www.cynthiadees.com. For all the same goodies, but from Cindy, you can sign up for her newsletter at http://cindydees.com/join-cindys-vip-.... I'm not sure who's chattier, Cindy or Cynthia. But both of us vow never, ever to share your email information, nor to flood your inbox with excessive emails.

Reviews

[Maria]

FREE today (August 17, 2026) on Amazon.

[Vickie Moore]

A story about 2 broken people who fine their back for love.

[Linda Kelly]

This was well on the way to 5 stars—-poignant, sad & sweet. I was brought to tears more than once by the broken stories of Mia and Garrett. I loved the reason for the friends moving to create the rescue. I was moved by Mia’s story & again by Garrett’s. Through sheer grit the story continued but the ending was just that—ended. Too many loose ends. You must read on for full endings apparently.

[Timc]

Too much navel gazing and not enough action.

[Judy]

I needed to read this book at exactly the right time in my life! Seeing how life can be overwhelming and then overcoming that weight holding someone down was my takeaway from Rescuing Garrett. Both Mia and Garrett (and most likely the other owners of Second Chance Ranch too) need to fight hard to get past their previous experiences. What the reader ends up with is a beautifully written romance that gives you hope and bright-shining stars!

I was privileged to have been given a copy of this book from the author and am happy to leave my honest review.

[Anne Nelson]

A great read

I really enjoyed the opening book in this series. It's a sweet clean love story In a little town in Montana based around a new Animal rescue. The settings are picturesque, the characters are warm, strong and well written. It's a take anywhere kind of book. I read on one of last days before summer vacation ends. I spent the day with my dogs and this book and enjoyed a lazy, relaxing day.

[AUDREY]

Two stories repeated over and over.

This book was hard to believe and also the two main characters constantly repeated the same story over and over again. The whole book was made up of two people using the same story repeatedly to come up with an answer to their issues. There were quite a few grammatical errors and also just errors in the writing. At one point the mmc recognizes someone's car by the engine and the next it says that same person gets in their rental car and then the next they pull away in their car. I think this author churned out this whole series a little too fast judging by the release dates listed for all the books. Honestly it lacks romance or any love story at all, there is no spice no slow burn no inclination of romance and then bam they love eachother. There wasn't really a lead up to it and that was just even more confusing. If you like emotional stories with confused characters who just insta love with no romance or spice not even behind closed doors then this book is for you.

[Hi it’s me…]

I got this book free on a promotional email, it being free didn’t influence my review in anyway but has exposed me to an author I never heard of previously, who I’m keen to read more from in the future.

I loved the premise of an animal rescue bringing the heroine to town firstly, I love animals so this really added something to the whole book and made it unique.

The hero’s dog being somewhat of a mirror for his character worked well, and the his backstory is interesting and makes sense with how he behaves - it’s not just another stroppy alpha dude with no reason for being a jerk!

It’s a very enjoyable sweet and wholesome read, definitely not ‘lacking’ due to not being spicy.

[Maria Yrsa Rönneus]

I wanted to like this book. And I did, in fact I came very near to loving it for the first 40% or so of it. But then the writing turned sloppy. Repetitive phrasing, lazy metaphors, and contradictions. What was a stomach ache on page 7 turned into an aneurysm on page 142.

It's a good story idea, but the authors has paid too little attention to it to make it great. It's a trainwreck a good editor could have prevented. Or at least a proper read through by one of the two authors. But I guess neither could be bothered so, then why should anyone else?

[Susie Wall]

Ugh. First part was good but then the story fell apart. Two damaged people avoiding each other. A slow burn that was much too slow and very little burn. But the worst part is the errors. The author definitely needs a new editing team. One scene Mia was awake at Dawn, then "20 minutes later" she was on her way to dinner. Huh? Or Garrett was leaning on a chair at the table, then looked at her from his position leaning on the door frame. Way to many of these types that took away from the flow.

[Kathy Zuercher Diveley]

Mia

Mia and her friends start up a rescue animal shelter. Her best friend is a vet, and Riley's brother Garrett's a Veteran and all around handyman. As they work to turn the property into the rescue shelter, Mia and Garrett become closer, but there is a lot of emotional baggage on both sides.
This is an awesome read !!!

[Rita]

Bailed at 19% when Mia started trying to match make Garrett. Ugh. Honestly I almost bailed in the first couple of pages when Mia was thinking about how love is a trap because it always ends in grief. I should have!

[Karen Keefover]

Rescuing Garrett

This is a new author(s) for me. I really loved the way the story was written. I enjoyed the story and will read more of their books. It was hard to put the book down.

[Katherine Ivey]

Dealing with the challenges of life and love brings insight into characters and the nature of animals that I enjoyed and will go back to.

[Linda]

So so

[LidiasChoice De Jager]

Wonderful book, brilliant writing and utterly enjoyable read. Highly recommended book to read. Well done!

[D Bond]

Not what I expected. The writing was v good and I was quite upset about the two main characters and distressed by them. I actually cried a few times.

[Susan Mahon]

Great

Great story of difficult pasts and learning to grow and reach out for life even when it is scary to do so.

[Scott Sillars]

Enjoyable

I would have to say that I enjoyed this story very much indeed
I found the story very compelling and holds the interest from the beginning until the end

[G B D]

Clean, sweet love story

Love a story about dogs and rescue centers with a bit of romance intertwined. A feel good story. Nice, easy pace to the storyline.

[Bonnie Theel]

This is a new author to me. I enjoyed the story. I will read more of her books

I received a free book, and this is my honest opinion.

[Jill]

Loved the premise. Enjoyed all except the redundancy of why the characters were so emotionally ruined.