Wild Ride Cowboy

Copper Ridge #9

by Maisey Yates

He's come back to Copper Ridge, Oregon, to keep a promise—even if it means losing his heart…

Putting down roots in Copper Ridge was never Alex Donnelly's intention. But if there's one thing the ex-military man knows, it's that life rarely unfolds as expected. If it did, his best friend and brother-in-arms would still be alive. And Alex wouldn't have inherited a ranch or responsibility for his late comrade's sister—a woman who, despite her inexperience, can bring tough-as-iron Alex to his knees.

Clara Campbell didn't ask for a hero to ride in and fix her ranch and her life. All she wants is the one thing stubborn, honorable Alex is reluctant to give: a chance to explore their intense chemistry. But Clara has a few lessons to teach him, too…about trusting his heart and his instincts, and letting love take him on the wildest adventure of all.

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Westerns, Contemporary Romance, Audiobook, Cowboy Romance, Military Fiction

370 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 29, 2017

About the author

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.

Reviews

[Esther · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC provided by NetGalley and Harlequin for an honest review.

Rating 3.5

The book cover is beautiful and actually portrays a scene in the story.

This one was sweet, sexy and cute.

A sexy, protective, alpha hero and a sweet, innocent but spunky heroine.

Clara has going through some difficult and heart wrenching life experiences for one so young. She's lost all the people closet to her and she's learned to protect herself by building walls and distancing herself from others. The latest loss was her brother who served in the military and assisted her in running their family ranch. She learns that her brother has left his military friend Alex in charge of running the ranch and watching over her.

Alex accepts the responsibility with honor and determination. Alex hasn't had the easiest life either. With a terrible childhood and some not stellar parents he's endured a lot of suffering himself. He's known of Clara but has kept his distance. But now the two will be working closely together on making the ranch a success.

The two are strong and stubborn individuals who learn to navigate their differences and learn some compromise. Alex and Clare are also fighting the attraction each feels for the other and find it challenging as they are in constant proximity. As a budding friendship develops and they reveal more of who they are and what each has endured feeling become to hard to resist as well as the physical pull.

The romance was fairly good, but at times did fine the characters frustrating and not as developed as I would have liked. Clara was young, but at times acted immature even for her age. Alex was a little too stubborn and could have communicated at a better level.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Provocative, emotional, and incredibly heartwarming!

Wild Ride Cowboy is a passionate tale between a sweet, dependable, sexy cowboy with a rocky past and an innocent, diligent young woman with scars of her own who may just find everything they desire, want and need in each other.

The prose is smooth and light. The characters, including the supporting characters, are warm, sincere, and fun. And the plot is a romantic journey filled with heartbreak, loss, friendship, introspection, witty dialogue, delicious chemistry, support, and love.

Overall, Wild Ride Cowboy is definitely an entertaining, enjoyable, effortless tale and even though it’s the ninth book in the “Copper Ridge” series, it can certainly be read as a standalone novel.

Thank you to Harlequin Books for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

All my reviews can be found on my blog at http://whatsbetterthanbooks.com

[♥ℳelody · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.75 stars

I thought this was somewhat better than Lane and Finn's book which was a disinteresting flop. Only difference here being the chemistry. I felt Alex and Clara had actual spark and chemistry that didn't feel forced or flat. But unfortunately, I still had overall issues with this that didn't have me eager to pick it up and keep reading.

Pain bled through those words, and they reached down inside of her and made it difficult for her to breathe. Made her gasp with the intensity of his emotion....
He was on the verge of breaking apart, and he would insist on smiling the whole entire way. Until it was too late for her or his brothers or anyone to do anything to save him.
He was stoic, and when he wasn't being stoic, he was smiling. But now she felt like it was all a game. Like it was all for show. She wanted to break the rock down and find the man underneath.

The long winded writing hasn’t changed and I’m wondering if it was always like this in all her books and I never noticed it or the heavier the story, the more heavy-handed the dialogue gets. This wasn't as overwrought as the previous books but it got pretty close in some parts. And once again, having your characters repeat things to death does nothing for the story. It becomes exhausting rather than emotional and sympathetic. No matter how many times you tell us, and how many characters you have point something out, doesn't make it more impactful or meaningful. Like how many times do I need to be reminded that Alex is a soldier and his best friend sacrificed himself for Alex in Afghanistan? Jesus. I get it Maisey Yates. Ease back. There is no reason to put it on every page.

And the whole "fake smile" thing with Alex that was picked apart to death and dissected like a Shanda Rhymes dramatic monologue was so cheesy and dramatic AF. People who barely know you can always tell your smile is fake? Really? How so? Cause the only way I can tell when someone is fake cheesing it is this:

Or maybe this:

This was trying very hard to be something it wasn't and didn't need to be. Not every character needs to have some deep emotional wound and not every story in a series needs to be so weighted down with unnecessary angst.

Moving on.

My next gripe:

She turned and walked back out of Stim, more than a little bemused by what had just transpired. He really just...didn’t care. Well, he did a little bit. Because he definitely seemed to like her. But he wasn't jealous. Wasn't possessive at all.
"What kind of new age, hippie crap was that?" she muttered as she got into her truck. She didn't like it. She had gone on a date with Asher and Alex had just about morphed into a caveman. She liked that. Much better.

I just thought this was overkill. I don’t mind a guy getting jealous or feeling a little possessive. I’m not that kind of stickler. And I wouldn’t go so far as to say I found this offensive. But to put this scene into context she’s talking about a guy she has no feelings for outside of a crush and who she just broke things off with because she’s attracted to the hero, Alex. So why would you care either way that a guy--who you clearly have no feelings for-- is not getting territorial over you? It’s silly to me. This is more of my personal opinion but I never waste my time on things like that. Sure in theory, it strokes the ego but why would you care if no feelings are there? And I felt the author’s personal feelings on hipsters and non-masculine guys in general bled into this and that’s the overall reason why I’m pointing this out. The tone of it and having both the hero and heroine trash a guy who happens to like organic food, indie rock bands, wears skinny jeans and a scarf and has a man bun (RME) was not very subtle to say the least. It just carried a mean edge I didn't care for.

Next is the heroine, Clara. Innocent naive 21-year old Clara Campbell and her bizarre fanatic obsession with SpaghettiO's (was this a wink to her last name?) that gives my 3 year old niece a run for her money in the limited food palette department. That's literally ALL this heroine eats, SpaghettiO's and coke. 😐 I ain’t no food snob, I love me some junk food. To this day I’m still debating with my dad the merits of tomatoes and how nasty they are and yes I understand where ketchup comes from. I can’t stand those squishy gag-inducing fuckers in anything I eat. So I get it. But Lord, Jesus, Moses, Buddha, Chef Boyardee…..Clara’s mile long list of “hell no” foods she hates was testing my willpower and making my eye jump. I almost DNFed this because of it.

I tolerated her picking through the chicken soap Alex prepped for her while she made gross faces and dramatically running to the sink to spit out onions cause she can’t stand them. Omg no! ew, blech, gross, puke, gag, get it away! reactions everywhere over mere onions ya'll.

I sat through her proudly admitting she won’t touch a burger if it has lettuce in it (Bish what? lettuce??! Are you fucking kidding me?). I sat through her digging her heels in over anything of the green variety and won't go near kale. How cold meat sandwich is the "food of Satan". How both coffee and tea are "gross". How she likes stew but NOT soup (what the ever living fuck?). And the only cheese that is acceptable is plain "normal" cheese. 😓


But honestly….honestly?

Who the hell does this on their date with the man of their dreams:

The dinner was fish and she nearly died trying to choke it down.
Maybe that was an overstatement.
The tragedy was dessert.
The only thing left to drink was coffee and tea--neither of which she liked, so she ended up with just hot water, leaving her tea bag discreetly to the side--and the dessert itself, the one that she had thought would be safe, was, well, it wasn’t dessert.
Because in absolutely no world was dessert a no-sugar-added blanched pear with whipped goat cheese and basil…….
But, while Asher was distracted, she took a large scoop out of the side of the pear and lowered her spoon, then flicked the bite across the barn and into a small, potted tree. Her lips twitched, and she felt somewhat satisfied with her successful slam dunk of unwanted food.

Are you serious? This girl is fucking bizarre. I'm sorry but I don't get the joke here. I was trying to decide if Yates was honestly serious with this. Was she trying to go for humor here or eccentricity or plain ol' sympathy of ‘oh dis poor girl is so hopeless. She had no parents to cook for her. Somebody help her,' or all of the above. Well she lost me on all options. I kept reminding myself that the heroine is only 21 years old, but still man, I was tested. Severely tested. First it was freaking Lydia Carpenter and her “I hate peaches” bullshit and now this. I cannot…..😩 This to me wasn't an "eccentric" quirk, but more like extremely childish and obnoxious as hell.

And this is literally the 4th book of Maisey Yates where I’m reading about a heroine who has 2 supposed “best friends” who literally know nothing about her outside of her job simply because she doesn’t want to open up and is carrying a deep dark secret of some variety. And vice versa with her friends. Dafuq? That’s not how friendships work. It’s just so superficial and awkward to me. The tired “gee I’ve never done this before I’m not used to having friends but I’m SO glad you are finally opening up to me since we are best friends. Yay!” dialogue Yates keeps recycling in all these books is absurd and so ridiculous. Ya'll busy living under your own mountains of "secrets" that you don't tell your supposed friends anything? Not one thing? How grown women consider each other "best friends" but don’t hang out outside of work or know nothing about each other's personal lives sounds like something out of a children's book. It just doesn't resonate for me. So unrealistic. This just came off like the predictable forced CR template shoved into the book where the heroine must have 2 friends so she doesn't look like a complete loner. I didn't buy it for a second.

I don’t know, I feel like the Copper Ridge magic is wearing off for me or this series has run it’s course. I want to read Cain's story just for the hell of it and maybe even Liam's even though the Donnelly brothers have not impressed me in the least but I will circle back to it later...maybe. Down the road. Waaaaay down the road. All I know is I'm not buying another Copper Ridge book. Four (😩) back to back disasters is a cut off for me.

[Stacee · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I think that with reading this entire series, I can expect the same formula for every book, and yet somehow I keep coming back. There is something comforting in knowing what I'm going to get with Maisey's books.

I loved Clara. She might be my favorite MC from Maisey yet. Sure, she's young and inexperienced at so many things, but she stands up for herself. She's vocal and pushy and doesn't let anyone {especially Alex} tell her what to do. As for Alex...yeah, he's exactly what I was expecting: cocky, stubborn, and sort of an ass. Together their chemistry was off the charts.

Plot wise, it didn't feel like much happened and I think that's why I'm rating this 3.5 instead of 4 stars like I'm itching to do. There wasn't a lot of movement or action. The scenes felt repetitive; same for both of their inner monologues. When there was conversation between Clara and Alex, I couldn't get enough. Their push and pull was entertaining instead of annoying like it usually is.

Overall, it was another set of great characters, but I wanted just a bit more out of the direction of the story. Now I'm ready for Liam's book.

**Huge thanks to Harlequin Books for providing the arc free of charge**

[Lisa Richards · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read all the books in this series and absolutely adore the Donnelly brothers and the town of Copper Ridge. Clara was so sweet and funny. She eats like a kid, no vegetables mostly junk food. She loves Spaghetti-Os and hot chocolate. She's lost her mom, dad and brother and is officially a member of the walking wounded. To top it off, when her brother died he left the family farm and her to his best friend, Alex Donnelly! Boy were Clara and Alex hot together and constantly had me laughing out loud, that was if I wasn't blowing my nose from crying. One of the best things about this series is getting caught up with the characters you have met from earlier books.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild Ride Cowboy packs a big emotional punch with characters I loved right from the start.

Alex Donnelly never intended to settle down in Copper Ridge, or anywhere else for that matter. But, when his best friend’s last request was that Alex help his friend’s sister with their family ranch, Alex can’t refuse. Clara Campbell, however, is adamant she doesn’t need or want Alex’s help with the ranch or her life. The only thing Clara does want from Alex is a chance to explore the attraction that’s between them. Soon enough, Alex and Clara find that walking away isn’t nearly as easy as they thought it would be.

Alex has gone through life smiling and making sure that by all appearances everything is as it should be. Due to his rough childhood, he learned that life is easier if he pretends that nothing is wrong. Since he arrived in Copper Ridge, Alex put off talking to Clara for months and instead focused on the ranch he shares with his brothers. He feels an immense debt to his fallen comrade and a certain amount of guilt due to the circumstances of his death, however, he doesn't know how to carry out his final wishes.

Clara's only family was her brother and when he died she fell apart. She's slowly been working to put herself back together, but has been having difficulty getting to everything. Despite her grief, Clara is an incredibly strong person and doesn't let anyone push her around. I admired how well she was able to stick up for herself and didn't let Alex bulldoze his way through her life. She's also quite smart and knows more about life on the ranch that people would think. She simply hasn't been able to deal with everything under the weight of her grief. A small thing I majorly connected with Clara on is that she is a very picky eater. Her food preferences led to some funny conversations with Alex, which I loved.

Alex and Clara have great chemistry and the biggest obstacle to their relationship was Alex's belief that he shouldn't get involved with Clara out of loyalty to her brother. I admired his devotion to his friend, but it definitely did slow things down a bit. However, once they get together it's amazing and their romance is incredibly hot. One thing I loved was that the scene on the cover of the book was a scene actually in the book. I love when stuff like that happens!

Wild Ride Cowboy was another excellent addition to the Copper Ridge series and I can confidently say the Donnelly brothers are my absolute favorite family in this series. I am very excited for the last Donnelly book, Christmastime Cowboy, to be released.

**I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.**

[Simply Love Book Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild Ride Cowboy focuses in on Clara and Alex, Clara’s a bee farmer and potential ranch owner and Alex is a former military man battling demons. Clara is very young and has lived through some very traumatic events early on in her life. Those events caused her to put up a wall and close everyone off, which translated to big emotional problems further on in her life. Very few people she interacted with and even fewer she called friends. Lying to herself caught up with her and now she’s trying to fight to find herself.

Alex is trying to repay a debt to his military buddy, taking over Claras’ ranch until it’s fully functioning. He feels a deep sense of gratitude to Clara’s brother and is willing to push a lot of boundaries to fulfill his debt. Alexs’ childhood home life was never a safe, secure, loving environment. Alex has a lot of emotions to work through while being a ranch owner.

Clara and Alex have a very strange relationship, one that was hard to read at some points. The tension of their relationship was at a constant high, it was a roller coaster for sure. They appeared to be maturing and moving past some self-imposed barriers only to throw another barrier up. I couldn’t relate with either character and thought their arguments were too much at times. I did enjoy reading how Alex interacted with his family and how Clara found friendship with coworkers at the winery; I just wish I could have liked the characters a lot more. Wild Ride Cowboy was a bit of a disappointment to me after reading so many great novels by Maisey Yates previously, especially in the Copper Ridge Series. I will read her work again, and continue to follow the Copper Ridge Series, I’m just holding out for a little more in the installment.

Review copy provided for a voluntary review.

[Carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one and highly recommend the audiobook. Love this cover too!

[Anna's Herding Cats · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for herding cats & burning soup. (post will be live 8/29)
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2s9HgDs

Every time I pick up a book from Yates I know it's going to deliver a knock out romance that'll leave me smiling, laughing out loud and in a total cowboy induced swoon.

The Gist: Clara's brother was killed while deployed and turns out she's --for all intents and purposes--been left to his best friend in his will. Said best friend now controls the farm she lives on, the house she lives in, and all decisions surrounding it for one year... or until things are up and functional again. Including her. So a dicey set up. But one that really was needed.

When things kick off Clara is broken. She's 21 and has lost her mom, dad and now brother. She's going through the daily motions but she's emotionally wounded, broken down and far from really living. Yall. She broke my heart. But she had another side of her, too. She's sweet and innocent, funny and quirky and eats like a 5 year old. No veggies! No onion! eeeew on cold roast beef or fish or actual fresh pasta. Girlie likes SpaghettiOs and hot chocolate, thank you very much.

And then there's Alex. Who may have been sent in to help her recover and move on in life but is actually pretty dang broken as well. Maybe even more so. By his upbringing, by his time in the military, by the traumatic loss of his best friend (her brother). He could be a punk and a bit high handed on occasion and make me want to shake him but at the same time I got why he was there AND why he was running scared when things got a bit heated between him and Clara.

The two together were scorching hot. She's 10 years younger than him and his best friend's baby sister so there were all those hesitations because...really! bro code and all that! Plus he's an old man! Perv! lol But the attraction and desire thankfully won out and whew boy! On fire!
I really liked them together, too. Seeing them surprise and support each other. Push when it was needed even if it wasn't the comfortable or easy thing to do. It turned out to be a very sweet romance in the end and really warmed the heart watching them heal and fall in love.

All in all, Wild Ride Cowboy was everything I expect from Yates. A sweet sexy romance that left me both charmed and delighted. And maybe fanning myself just a little bit, too.

[Mandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was ok but maybe too predictable ... or missing a little something. Review to come

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly cannot tell you why I continue to read these books. They aren't good? Yet I keep doing it?

Ok, it's not that they aren't good. There is a lot of potential here, but... they're so long. Loooooooong. They go on FOREVER. 300+ pages forever. This story could be told in HALF that amount of time. Another big issue: there is really no conflict. Nothing big is happening to any of these characters in any of these Copper Ridge books. It's all character driven plot, which is the most boring to read, especially when characters are as obnoxious as these two.

Disclaimer: I received this book from NetGalley. Eventually they'll do me a solid and stop approving my inexplicable requests for these. It's like self-induced torture. This review does include spoilers.

In this book, we are introduced to Clara: a down-on-her-luck girl reeling from the loss of her brother, Jason. Jason, it turns out, died by throwing himself in front of Alex Donnelly, the moody, devil-may-care brother of Finn Donnelly, while at war in like Afghanistan? Idk, it was ~war. They own the Laughing Cow ranch which is truly a hilarious name for a ranch.

Jason inexplicably altered his will to leave the ranch to Alex for a year to help Clara. Why he did this I have no idea and I have serious doubts about how a court would actually go through with this or how it would work. So, everything gets put into Alex's name for a year? Or what? Or Alex is just duty bound to serve Clara? Work as a farm hand? You can't, like, will another human to another human for work purposes. That's.... slavery. It's weird. It's a weird premise.

When we meet Clara, she's ordering expensive coffee despite not paying her bills (wtf) because she likes Asher, the hipster who runs a coffee shop called Stim. Here's the most annoying thing about Clara: she thinks she's special af because she only eats sugar and canned spaghetti. She's gross. That's gross. Her farts are probably awful. Her plumbing is wrecked. She's inexplicably thin despite never eating a single vegetable and eating copious amounts of butter and honey on white bread. Like sure, this girl stays hella petite. It's dreamland. (And just like every other romance novel, Clara is teeny tiny, so tiny! So petite! But so curvy! So boobie! But thin thin thin, petite, teeny tiny. SOoooooooOOooOO tiny! And Alex is big man! Big strong! We'll get into this bullshit later, don't worry.)

As she leaves the coffee shop, she runs in Alex, who conveniently hasn't told her that he like owns her house now? Ok, that's some straight up bullshit, but whatever. When he does tell her, Clara is suitably pissed, but kind of accepts it? I don't know it took me way too long to read this book and the first chapters are hazy because it's all so boring.

Eventually, because Alex goads her into it, Clara asks Asher out to this farm-to-table dinner at the winery she works at. Despite knowing the menu in advance, Clara freaks out the entire time because god forbid she try something different. Asher is a perfectly nice guy, but because this is a romance novel about BIG MEN BIG STRONG RANCH HANDS RAAAAWR, Alex goes on and on in his own narrative about how Asher is weak, effeminate, and therefore, bad. I'm really glad we are establishing these bullshit gender stereotypes and elements of toxic masculinity. It's really nice and totally attractive.

Just kidding, it's gross af.

Anyway, so Clara doesn't enjoy the date, which isn't really Asher's fault, but she blames him anyway because he wears skinny jeans and enjoys dinner parties and is passionate about the environment. LOL SO HIPSTER AM I RIGHT? lol so effeminate not like big man Alex who is waiting for Clara at her house (nice). They kiss, it's totally sexy or something. The next day, Clara busts into Alex's room to accost him for leaving her high and dry (hey hey hey) the night before (because after kissing he just peaced out because he was #conflicted and sad about her brother being dead or something).

They talk for literal hours. Like, these characters have the loooooooongest conversations. They all act like each other's therapists. Clara is a 21-year-old uneducated virgin who eats spaghetti out of a can. I'm sorry, she's not psychoanalyzing anybody. I'm not saying she's stupid, but she hasn't shut up about kale this entire book. She has no passions outside of liking Asher a little bit and thinking she's so #special because she doesn't eat healthy food (because she believes doctors are, like, liars, and everyone is a sheep for eating healthy? idk the girl has some eating issues).

Anyway, once they are done talking, they do the do. Per every romance novel ever, it's absolutely ~magical~. Then Clara has to rush to work?

The next part of the book is the part I remember the best, not that it's any better. In fact, it's pretty bad. There are super long internal monologues that are so devastatingly boring to read. Like, I totally get the desire to show inner turmoil, but being inside Clara's head is equivalent to shoving my own head in a blender. Like, I don't care a single iota about what she thinks because I know what she thinks.

I think that's my biggest issue with these books. As I said, there is no external conflict. It's not like Clara decides like, oh shit, I actually really like Asher and so she dumps Alex. No, it's just a bunch of back and forth where at first Clara is totally fine with a short term physical relationship, then changes her mind the next DAY, then Alex is fine with it, then decides that Clara needs to leave LITERALLY AS HE IS HAVING SEX WITH HER. He literally decides, "I need to make Clara leave because maybe she will like real pasta if she goes to Italy."

MAYBE SHE WILL LIKE REAL PASTA IF SHE GOES TO ITALY.

Or, maybe, Clara is essentially a brick with a dress on who is being hamfistedly given these "quirky" characteristics that are dumb af. And maybe Alex is a brick with abs who is about as interesting as a brick without abs who believes that men have to be BIG STRONG CAVE MEN BANG BANG BANG SEX BANG WOOOOOWZA A-OOOOOGA.

Before that though, there is this REALLY VERY FUNNY scene where Clara reveals she used to be a ballerina (OF COURSE, BALLERINAS ONLY EAT THE FINEST CANNED SPAGHETTI). She then does a ballet strip tease, which honestly made me start laughing so hard I almost dropped my kindle in the bathtub. It's so ridiculous. I just cannot.

So anyway, Clara leaves because of course she does? Because she just does whatever Alex tells her instead of saying, "You know what? My brother can't just like make you work on the ranch I own? Is any of this shit in your name? Oh I didn't think so, GTFO." No, instead she LEAVES. First, she stops by Stim to be a total grade-a BITCH to Asher even though Asher is easily the most likeable guy in this whole stupid book. He makes her a hot chocolate and she basically is like, "this sucks and I hate you and you're stupid because you want to have sex with me." And honestly? She's right. Asher is stupid, he can do a lot better than Clara. Then shegoes to stay in a dingy motel in California because why not.

At the same time, Alex cuts his hand on a fence which makes him realize like, wtf, he's so stupid, why is his so stupid, because he's a loaf of bread with a cowboy hat on and his backstory is so stupid and I hate it, he has a long fourteen hour conversation with Liam, who is a loaf of bread with tattoos and a graduate degree. He drives around looking for Clara and low-and-behold, there she is, in her car, driving around looking for him. They get out, they reunite, they are loaves of bread hugging in the street, Clara giggles about liking sugar lol so quirky adorkable lol.

In the epilogue, Clara is inexplicably in the Finn and Lane wedding. They are all just boring loaves of bread having 18 hour conversations with each other and hour long monologues in their heads. I can only imagine the wedding is dead silent because they are all too busy being conflicted and moody at each other.

Again: why did I read this book? There is SO MUCH POTENTIAL. If only Clara felt like a real character. If only there was an external conflict. If only Clara tried to grow as a human and say, "yeah, ok, I'll try a kale salad with a good dressing," or "yeah, ok this is dumb? I'll try to drink something other than peppermint hot chocolate." If only Alex didn't have to tear down another man to prove that he is a biggest, strongest cave man on the block. Why can't Alex and Asher be friendly? Why does masculinity have to be so gross and toxic in this dumb town?

[Renae · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have literally never read a book where a heroine's "virginity" becomes such an issue to the story. Wild Ride Cowboy references Clara's virginity/inexperience nearly 30 times throughout the text. Her "inexperience" is the reason Alex ditches her during the romance's Dark Moment, and...yikes.

Maisey Yates is OBSESSED with sexual inexperience, and throughout her novels, she clearly equates it to worthiness. Virgins are worthy of male attention and love. Non-virgins are ashamed of their filth and mope around until their love interest arrives to absolve them of their sins and prove they're "more than their mistakes." (Previous sexual encounters are ALWAYS a mistake.) It's disgusting, and I'm tired of it from this author.

Also really could have done without the soldier hero glorifying "fighting for our country" like...okay, Karen. I ain't here for your imperialistic pro-war propaganda. Take it inside.

ALSO, this book was just boring. All the protagonists did was navel-gaze for paragraphs upon paragraphs, then talk with each other about their feelings (which they had just spent several pages explaining to the reader). Over and over again. Toss in some sex, and call it a book.

Bleh.

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[Camille Vandenbussche · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing. that’s all i can say. verdraaide

[Lacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Donna Repsher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, how I love to return to Copper Ridge, the town, its people and the Oregon coast! Wild Ride Cowboy is the ninth book in this series, and without question it's my favorite so far for quite a number of reasons, but mainly because it actually made me laugh so hard one minute that tears were streaming from my eyes, and not long thereafter had me sobbing so hard I ran out of tissues. If I could give this novel 10 stars, I would.

Clara Campbell, the 21-year-old heroine in this novel, has known nothing but loss--she lost her mother by the time she was 12, her father only a couple of years after that, and has recently learned that her only brother, Jason, who was in the military, died after being shot. She's been trying to keep it together and run the family ranch alone, but her grief is so overwhelming that she simply can't deal with much. She's got a pile of unopened and unpaid bills, is working 2 part-time jobs, and the only bright spot in her day is the crush she has on a manbunned barista at a small coffee shop she frequents, where she stops in to buy coffee in exchange for a bit of conversation in the morning, and she hates coffee. She's a virgin, has never been kissed and has never even been on a date. Her life as been one of loss, of responsibility and of duty, and she's shouldered all of it alone--the final blow was Jason's death, and she's still deep into denial and unwilling and unable to move forward.

Then, 6 months into mourning the loss of her brother, Jason, Alex Donnelly finally shows up. He was in the military with Jason, and Clara isn't at all happy that Jason made Alex the executor of his will and left the family ranch to Alex, to run and manage for one year or until he feels that Clara is capable of taking over the job herself. Since she has no one left alive, the ranch is the only thing Clara feels is hers, and to say that she feels betrayed by Jason's final wishes is putting it mildly.

Alex is 10 years older than Clara, and he and his assortment of estranged and recently reunited brothers and half-brothers, who've been featured in the previous novels in this series, are also trying to work together at their nearby ranch. He's not had an easy life either, and after Jason took a hail of bullets for him and died as a result of saving his life, Alex is also having a hard time keeping it together and dealing with his survivor guilt, but he feels he owes it to his lost friend to fulfill his final wishes, and unfortunately, that obligation means riding roughshod over Clara and getting her ranch and her life back in order. The one thing he isn't looking for is romance.

Clara had to let the cattle go after her father died, and she's trying beekeeping and honey production as an alternate means of income. Alex slowly onvinces her that she could also manage to raise rather low-maintenance bison as an added income stream, but bison aren't the only issue these two will butt heads over. In addition to his survivor guilt, his unwanted attraction to Clara, and her attraction to him, isn't helping matters any, until it does.

If this sounds like a lot of angst and drama for a romance novel, it is, and there are only a few authors I've encountered in 60 years of reading who do angst quite as well as Maisey Yates, nor have I ever identified and empathized so strongly with a heroine as I did with Clara. As her story unfolds, I often felt as though I was reading my own biography, but Maisey Yates also has another talent--a quirky sense of humor that certainly lightens the load of angst, and makes her novels so addictive and such a joy to read.

This is a beautifully written novel about two deeply wounded and broken individuals, about loss and about redemption, and the manner in which these two lost souls somehow manage to help heal each other is one that you'll not soon forget. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this book. The opinions expressed are my own.

[E-Reader Addict · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maisey Yates is one of those authors I see all the time. I love small town stories. I love modern-day westerns. So I’m not sure why Maisey Yates never grabbed my attention before. I’d never read any of her books, but Wild Ride Cowboy certainly won’t be my last.

Starting out, this book kind of reminded me a little of the Virgin River series by Robyn Carr, which is a good thing! This Copper Ridge series seems to have a younger vibe to it though (which it should because these are younger characters); but because the story is told in third person, it doesn’t have that tiresome, young adult tone, which I also really liked.

As far as plot goes, the story of Alex and Clara has been told before. Alex, home from the military after losing his best friend, feels honor bound to take care of his best friend’s little sister. Clara, the “little sister” isn’t so keen on having Alex in her life at first, but then falls in love with the strong, kind, helpful hero. The hero of course is conflicted about his feelings for the heroine for a number of reasons…there’s a ten year age difference, she’s young and innocent, he’s alive when his best friend isn’t, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera.

But even though the plot may be tired, the way Ms. Yates writes it isn’t. With witty dialogue, a spunky heroine, and a hunky hero, I was completely charmed by this book. The banter between Clara and Alex was hilarious and clever. And the characters were compelling - both have had traumatic pasts, and it’s easy to understand how it affected them now.

However, I had a little bit of a problem with the timeline of the story. It was hard to know just how fast their relationship progressed, bordering close to instalove. Their relationship had a “natural” deadline to it, with the terms of Clara’s brother’s will, so why not let things develop over a period of months, instead of days or a couple of weeks (which is what it appeared to be)?

But despite that one issue I had with this book, I really enjoyed the rest of it. I love a book that brings in other people for the main characters to interact with - especially if it sparks an interest to read other books in the series. And that definitely happened here!

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm behind in this series--the last book I read was Last Chance Rebel , which coincidentally had an overly prickly heroine (Rebecca Bear) who reminded me so much of Wild Ride's heroine, Clara Campbell. (So, yeah. I still need to read the first two Donnelly brothers' stories--and I even have them already! No. Excuse.) Clara and Rebecca had vastly different reasons behind their antisocial-ish tendencies, and in both instances Ms. Yates took me from thinking OMG, what is up with this chick? to OMG, you poor thing! Come over here and let me give you a hug. Oh, no? Okay...how about you let Gage/Alex give you a hug instead? Or...something else? ;)

Oh, this book. It made me laugh one minute (so many highlighted passages!) and darn near weepy the next. And their big grand gesture moment? Sigh worthy. You'd better believe I'm going to read Finn and Cain's books as soon as I get the chance ( Slow Burn Cowboy and Down Home Cowboy ), and am soooo reading Liam and Sabrina's story ( Christmastime Cowboy ) as soon as humanly possible, because this series.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with some words of wisdom from Clara. I don't share her unholy love of Spaghetti-Os, but these words spoke to me:

"Life is too upsetting to try to force yourself to eat kale on top of everything else."

Preach it, sister.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

[Ang -PNR Book Lover Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wild Ride Cowboy (Copper Ridge #9)
by Maisey Yates

Arc was generously gifted by the publishers for an honest review.

Wild Ride Cowboy by Maisey Yates is the 9th Copper Ridge story, to be honest I seen it and read the blurb and a few reviews and I thought I was going to LOVE it!

I did enjoy it, but unfortunately there was just too much drama, like the push and pull and the sending away because he thought that she couldn’t handle him, just not my thing any more. I love slow to burn romances, but I like it when they are all in with the drama surrounding the couple not the shit that happens between them.

This book introduces us to Alex Donnelly, he is one of 4 brothers. The first brothers story was the last one Finn and his best friend Lane. I didn’t read that one, I haven’t read one in a while.

I loved Clara, even though she was young she knew what she wanted, she had her own mind up and she wanted Alex, I enjoyed their budding friendship and when they do get to together it is lovely.
Took us a little bit to finally get there, I was super happy to see the story have an epilogue and the teaser for the next story.

I love small town romances, they are fun to read about. I liked Maisey writing and the story flowed well, maybe a little slow in some places but it was enjoyable. I think it’s okay to go into as a standalone, I hadn’t read any of the stories since book 1 and book 3 and 4.

The cover is amazing, I adore the cover! I love the cover if I see it at the shops, I’ll be getting it.
I think fans of this series will love it, a perfect weekend or in between series read.

[Kate Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third in the Copper Ridge series, which focuses on Alex Donnelly when he comes back to Copper Ridge determined to take care of the sister that one of his military brothers left behind. Although Jason is dead, Alex has to make good on what Jason wrote in his will: that he had to make sure that little sister, Clara, is doing okay, that the ranch she inherited from their father is functioning. But it will take Alex to make sure of that.

Too bad Clara doesn't want him there, is appalled that HER ranch now is his--at least for the year he has been given to make sure the bills are paid, and that her beekeeping is going well. So...Alex decides she needs bison. Easier to manage than cattle and perfect for the farm-to-market folks around Copper Ridge.

All is beginning to look up until the unthinkable happens: Clara decides to lose her virginity to Alex and he finds himself falling in love. That can't happen. He's not deserving of love. More to the point, he can't abide the thought of someone loving him and then leaving, so he tries to stay away from Clara. Can't do it. Instead, he decides she needs to leave him, if only to prove that's what always happens.

How Clara comes to terms with this--after leaving for California--makes all kinds of sense to her, but not to Alex--until his older brother, Liam, steps in.

[Renee Entress · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Star

Before reading this story please read the below books first
Shoulda Been a Cowboy (Copper Ridge, #0.5)
Part Time Cowboy (Copper Ridge, #1)
Brokedown Cowboy (Copper Ridge, #2)
Bad News Cowboy (Copper Ridge, #3)
A Copper Ridge Christmas (Copper Ridge, #3.4)
Hometown Heartbreaker (Copper Ridge, #3.5)
One Night Charmer (Copper Ridge, #4)
Tough Luck Hero (Copper Ridge, #5)
Last Chance Rebel (Copper Ridge, #6)
Slow Burn Cowboy (Copper Ridge, #7)
Down Home Cowboy (Copper Ridge, #8)

This is Clara and Alex’s story. Alex made a promise to his brother in arms that is anything happened to him he would take care of his sister. He never thought he would have to keep that promise as he thought they would come out of everything alive. Clara does not need Alex coming in and taking over her life and her ranch. She could use help but not a takeover. When these two collide, the chemistry is enough to knock them both down. Now they must figure out if they want to submit to the chemistry and see where it takes them or fight it every step of the way. Who is going to come out strong and who is about to have a wild ride?

I felt I could connect with the characters and the story was a great read.

I highly recommend this book.

[Cathy Geha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild Ride Cowboy by Maisey Yates
Copper Ridge #9
The Donnellys #3

This is the first book I have read by this author but not my last. The book was well written, the characters well developed and the story believable. I enjoyed the story and when the book ended wanted to know more about the Donnelly brothers, the women at the winery Clara works part time at and wondered if Asher the barista would find love and if so with whom.

In this book Alex Donnelly has returned to the family ranch after being discharged from the military. He is there to help on the ranch but has also been given the task of helping his buddy Jason’s younger sister – now alone as both parents and her brother are dead. Clara Campbell is in a funk and crushing on a barista when Alex steps into her life and begins to drag her out of the doldrums. Though he is ten years older than her at twenty-one she is a woman and knows what she wants – Alex. There are ups and downs and issues to deal with BUT there is eventually a happily ever after and a hook for Liam Donnelly’s story which is next in line.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQN for the ARC – This is my honest review.

4 Stars

[Isha Coleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild Ride Cowboy (Copper Ridge) by Maisey Yates  
Wild Ride Cowboy is delectably stunning, emotionally intense and hard to let go of. She wants love, he needs love, but guilt and a promise stand in the way. For Clara life has been one devastating loss after another. Now the sole survivor of her once abundant family, she buries herself in work and unrequited dreams.  Alex is a reminder of a loss too fresh to endure.  Her brother's best friend is dealing with his own grief and guilt.  A promise has brought him face to face with  destiny.  Clara is the missing piece of his soul.  Will he allow fear to deprive him of his heart's desire? The feelings are heartbreakingly real, after all Copper Ridge is the place where second chances go to begin.

[Diane (Books and Tequila Blog) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wild Ride Cowboy was my first book by this author and I just loved it! A fun and quirky heroine who drives the story with her personality!! I can’t wait to read more stories about these Copper Ridge cowboys!!

[Cristina]

Not for me. I’ve been noticing a pattern with this author. The characters are slightly different but the plot remains similar, too similar in terms of “I’m no good for you” from the H. It just didn’t hit the spot.

[Annemarie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Net aan twee sterren, leuk totdat ze elkaar hebben. Daarna wordt het écht tenenkrommend.

[Scarlett Raney · Rating 1 out of 5]

mid at best

[Lily (Night Owl Book Cafe) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Night Owl Book Cafe

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

Loved it.

Once again another great read and a great addition in the Copper Ridge series. I had been anticipating this one for awhile featuring youngest of the Donnelly brother Alex, solider. I knew this one was going to be a very intense and emotional read, and it very much was. Not just from all the devastation that Alex witnessed as a soldier, but his emotional backstory and baggage. At one point when he was telling his story and the feelings he had of himself, I literally felt gutted and it choked me up been. It was hard to breath. I just felt so much while reading that part that I was devastated by it especially since I loved him so much. Still give me chills. And his wasn't the only tough emotional background that went on in this story. Clara had some deep baggage going on that made me really hurt for her. She lost everyone that she loved, leaving her alone and desperately lonely. It was really sad. Again my heart broke for her.

But luckily Alex and Clara came together and had each other as they were working through these traumas. It really impressed upon me how strong love can be and get stronger even with all the emotional difficulties that they both had. But they needed each other in order to survive and grow and change so they could be healthier people and have fulfilling life. And I loved seeing that side of their relationship. They were it got each other. No one would have ever done for the other. They worked. And it was so good. So emotional. So intense that it was hard not to be invested in them as a couple and root for them.

I loved seeing the journey that their relationship took. They became before they became lovers. It was very easy to see that they cared about one another and wanted to take away the others pain so they could be happy. And it was so beautiful and sweet but they had to work through their issues and only could do that safely with each other. The thing they had in common was loss and being left both my family and her brother/his best friend Jason. That was brought them together and that just brought them ever closer together. It was beautiful to see their relationship grow and strengthen as the book progressed. Their relationship wasn't always easy and it was a battle before they got their HEA, but it was worth every wound they faced because they got each other in the end. Again very beautiful and very meaningful.

I loved both Clara and Alex equally, and I really wanted them together. I loved Clara's little quirks, which made her all the more interesting. I like seeing her growth and coming to realize what was really important in life. It was such a vast difference from where she was in the beginning of story. Also for her this was very much a story of self-acceptance, and I loved that. She realized that she only had to be herself to be loved. Such a powerful message. And a great one. I loved her strength too, and how she was willing to stand up to Alex even though he was way older than her. Sometimes she acted more mature than she did. But I liked that she was heroine that fought what she wanted, which was Alex.

I loved Alex too. As I stated above I was emotional mess over him because of all he faced in his life and the deep scars that he had. He got to me. He touched me in a way I didn't expect. All the Donnelly men have issues from their screwed up childhood, and I have yet to read Liam's book, but for me Alex was the most damaged. It was heartbreaking but all the more beautiful when he came out of it and finally embraced Clara's love as well as his brothers. He finally opened up and let go of those wounds. Wounds that she was partially responsible in healing. And it was such gratifying journey to go on with him.

Their chemistry was explosive. Sparks flew from the moment they met and it translated into some hot scenes. Some weren't even love scenes. That scene with him watching her with the honey, I thought the pages were going to ignite. Then there was that promised kiss from the front cover of the book, which happened to be their first kiss, was so scorching and was ever bit met my expectations even exceeded them. Hot. Hot. Hot. Then the rest of the love scenes were just as hot but a hundred times more than I expected them to be. Because like it was stated there was more to them than just physical pleasure. It was something deeper and more meaningful. It was about baggage, connection, and just some intense emotions going on between them. They were sexy and raw and beautiful. I loved the pleasure and connection they had in each other's arms because they needed it. They needed one another. And that was beautiful.

I was really entertaining by the Donnelly family dynamic. I loved seeing all the brothers interact and be a family for the first time ever. I loved teasing and the banter. I also liked seeing the fiancé's playing a role in the family and being a part of that dynamic like they had been there the whole time. It was funny. But you could feel the love and devotion that they had to one another and really were making a family together. I also loved seeing Alex to get closer to his brothers because for so long he kept himself distant from them for fear of getting hurt because he didn't have much of a family life before hand. Plus he felt a little of landed by his brother Liam who left behind at one point because he was in a tough spot with their parents and he needed to get away. I love that scene at the end between the two of them because it revealed so much as well as showed how much Liam cared about Alex and how Alex was very hurt when Liam left. So I liked how those relationships were getting closer and closer too. It was very uplifting to say and it touched my heart. And just added so much depth to the story and they're already was.

I really did love this book. I loved the relationship between Clara and Alex and how they had so much emotional baggage to overcome before they could be together in every sense of the word. But they helped each other get to that point and get over that baggage and just heal just by being together. They needed One another and no one else would've done because they did have this connection and they didn't understand each other as they came to know each other more and more. They just really fit together like a puzzle piece and without one another I don't think they would have happy lives. It was beautiful to see them interact and beautiful to see them overcome their issues together. They were closer that and they had with anyone else. It was beautiful to see that vulnerability and exposing themselves physically mentally spiritually and every way a person could be naked. They both saw leash other so clearly and loved it what they saw and love that person for who they were not what they projected. It was just a beautiful, well paced, sensual and intense emotional read with a really great love story to back it up. It's been a long while since I've felt in a book that I felt that a couple truly belong together and Alex and Clara were one of them. I was rooting for them all the way and I couldn't see them being happy with anyone else but each other.

This book was well worth the wait and what I had been waiting for ever since the ending of book number one which was Finn's book. I was really intrigued with Alex's character and just the man behind the smile's because I knew there is much more than that that I concerning him. I was even more intrigued when I learned about his situation and why he came to Copper Ridge in the first place and it concerned Clara and it wasn't necessarily about his brothers. So I was waiting a while for this one. I met my expectations and it was really good and I don't have a lot to complain about but I will say after having read this book I am more excited about Liam's book because of so much potential there with all the drama and angst and what I really enjoy out of a romance. So I am beyond excited for this book. But Alex and Clara's story was beautiful and emotional and very enjoyable and did have me feeling the feels. There were some things that choked me up. There were things that took my breath away. There are things that made my heart stop. For most the book I was heartbroken for what each of them went through but I was so happy that they had one another and lift each other up with love and kindness and caring that it was hard not to fall in love with their story. This was a very welcome addition to the Copper Ridge. series and I love the series and what it to go on forever. But what I thought was interesting was the introduction to some characters that are going to be Maisey Yates's new series Gold Valley. I see lots of potential in that series and I think I'm going to fall in love with that series just like I have fallen in love with Copper Ridge. I am very intrigued especially with all the potential storylines that were set up in this book. I still I hope Copper Ridge goes on forever because the stories are awesome and it's one of my favorite series of all times.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alex and Clara are super traumatized by life. I wasn't sure I wanted them together even though they understand each other's trauma well.

I had a really hard time with Clara's eating habits. I like the sentiment around eating what you like but I also feel like she wouldn't even try new things. You should always try new foods just to expand your food choices. She could eat spaghettiOs and coke for the rest of her life and I would be so happy for her, but it bothered me that she wouldn't even try other foods. I even wondered if I was being elitist about it, but I am not. And I realize that I'm not being elitist because I agree with her. People do eat a lot of things that they hate because people tell them that they should eat those things. I really liked that she wouldn't let people shame her into not eating spaghettiOs.

So Alex...I wanted to drop kick him in the gut multiple times. He had my utmost sympathy but he really worked hard at sexing Clara while pretending he has no feelings. Oh and his need to keep reminding her that she's only 21 annoyed me greatly. If she isn't too young for you to sex then she isn't too young to know her own mind.

[Margaret Fisk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

I’ve enjoyed books by Maisey Yates before, but fell off reading her for a bit. This is an excellent reintroduction. Wild Ride Cowboy could so easily have been a simple story. It also had the potential to be a bemoaning story, and does have a lot of dialogue, both internal and external. But despite having grief as a major theme since Clara and Alex are brought together by the death of her soldier brother and his brother-in-arms, this is a powerful story about learning to know yourself, the impact of life experiences, and how easy it is to internalize how others see you.

Clara’s life experience is measured in loss. Where others were having their first dates, going off to college, and exploring the world, she suffered from hit after hit, losing both parents and then her only brother. Alex had a very different experience. Instead of loved ones being torn away by fate, they rejected or left him every time, right up until Jason, who chose to die for him as though he meant something.

These are complex issues, and Alex believes survival lies in keeping things shallow. His brother taught him to smile even when he’s shredded inside when they were kids, and that’s what he’s done. Laughing, smiling, nothing touches Alex who never lets anyone close enough to hurt him. He has a form of survivor’s guilt, but it’s more complicated than that because his childhood taught him he had no value. Not only did he survive, but at the cost of a better man, or at least that’s how he sees it.

The story forces both of them to really look at the shadows inside, to recognize the strengths they each hold, and to stand up for what they need, even when it goes against what they think they were supposed to do. The last hits Alex hard, as he’s pretty sure Jason didn’t mean for him to introduce Clara to the joy of sex, especially when he knows he doesn’t have what it takes to stick around.

Clara, though, she was a delight and a surprise. She started out closed off with grief and anger at the world, but even then she wasn’t a pushover. She made plans and she stuck to them…until she figures out she’s pulling for a fantasy while fighting the reality.

This isn’t some sweet story about two wounded souls finding and healing each other, or rather, it is, but there’s a lot of fighting themselves and each other. Things come out that they weren’t ready to share, and Clara especially isn’t willing to let him keep his pain hidden. There’s a whopper of a twist toward the end that makes total sense, but I didn’t see coming, and can’t see beyond it until the happy ending works out.

For all the book is about broken families, horrible parents or ones who died too soon, it’s also a deep look at the bonds of family and friendship. It’s not just Alex who had a rough childhood. He has two illegitimate brothers and one legitimate brother, all of whom were cast aside by their father in some manner. Their grandfather’s will brought them all together, and they’re making a real go of trying to be a family. Well, everyone but Alex who always has one foot out the door.

It’s a romance, and one with detailed sex scenes. There’s no question about that. But it’s also a really strong growing up and life experience novel where the characters (youngest 22) face tough issues and find their way to acceptance through the willingness to take the risk, even when it’s clear they’ll suffer in the end, and suffer they do, until they don’t. It also shows both how tragedy matures a person and how maturity and age have little to do with one another. Then it’s got agency and decision making aspects that really drive home how one person can’t make the decision for another. I was both impressed and moved by the emotional journeys.

P.S. I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.