HER LAST CHANCE COWBOY by Tina Radcliffe is part of the Big Heart Ranch series. It’s amazing story of Hannah Vincent and Tripp Walker.
Hannah Vincent is on a quest to find family and acceptance as she travels to the Big Heart Ranch in Osage County, Oklahoma. She’s headed there to find the Maxwells. She believes they are her half siblings after finding some of her Mom’s letters tucked away among her Grandmother’s belongs while trying to clear out her estate.
Tripp Walker, equine manager for the Big Heart Ranch, first met Hannah when he finds her in her and her daughter, Clementine, in their broken down car with a possible tornado approaching. They seem to rub each other the wrong way from the get go, but his main concern is to get them to safety.
When they arrive safely at the ranch and the storm danger is over, Hannah meets with the Maxwells to explain why she is there and shows them the letters. Leery but not unwelcoming, they agree to have DNA tests run. In the meantime, they offer Hannah not only a place to stay but also a job helping out at the ranch.
Both Hannah and Clementine seem to have found what they have always been searching for – family and a place to belong something she feels she has never had. Her mother allowed her Grandmother to take her away never being part of her life and her Grandmother, although very wealthy, was overbearing and demanding things be done “her” way. Hannah had been running from her domineering Grandmother and a failed marriage for some time and found it heartwarming to be accepted just for who she was. Clementine makes some great friends and gets to start school, which she loves. She’s a joy to everyone that meets her – including Tripp.
There is a wide array of emotions from good to mistrust on both Tripp and Hannah’s part, but the attraction between them can’t be denied. Hannah is determined to make it on her own. Having been burned not one but twice by her ex-husband who left her pregnant again, she isn’t ready to open her heart up to another. Tripp is a loner with a very unhappy childhood who stays to himself allowing no one to get close. With his facial scar, which are only minor compared to his emotional scars, he feels unworthy of being loved.
After working together a while, Hannah and Tripp come to a mutual agreement and bark upon a great adventure - to enter the 100 Day Challenge. They pick up their wild horse, Calamity Jane and the training begun. Tripp, the horse whisper, worked his magic on Jane and Hannah helped as they had agreed. She fell in love with the Jane as well as Tripp.
Will the falling out over trust between Hannah and Tripp keep them apart? Will Hannah take off after completing the 100 Day Challenge to start over again or can the Maxwells convince her to stay? Will friendships and words of wisdom from Rue Butterfield, the ranch physician, and Dutch Stevens, senior wrangler at the ranch, open the eyes of Hannah and Tripp so that they both see the love in the other’s eyes? Can a red velvet cake and a horse save a relationship?
HER LAST CHANCE COWBOY is a story of love, trust, acceptance and the desire/the need for family. You learn that family isn’t always about blood and that giving of oneself is a two way gift. I highly recommend HER LAST CHANCE COWBOY to anyone that loves a great love story that shows that with a little hope as a seed and some effort/work, that great things can bloom. I give it FIVE STARS!