Steel Resolve

Cardwell Ranch: Montana Legacy #1

by B.J. Daniels

Sometimes you CAN go home again It's just not always safe... Mary Cardwell Savage never meant to send that letter to her ex, Chase Steele. How could she know her words would bring the gorgeous cowboy back to Big Sky, Montana...with an unstable and dangerous stalker following close behind? Now Chase wants to prove that their love deserves a second chance. And this time, nothing will keep him from his heart's desire - not even a killer.

Genres: Romance, Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Westerns, Adult

384 pages, Hardcover

First published June 13, 2019

About the author

B.J. Daniels started her life in Houston, Texas, before her family moved to Montana at age five. She grew up in a cabin in the Gallatin Canyon near Big Sky and later on Hebgen Lake near West Yellowstone. Because of her love for Montana, most of her books are set there.
Born into a storytelling family, all she'd ever wanted to do was write stories. After a career as an award-winning newspaper journalist, she wrote and sold 37 short stories before she finally wrote her first book, ODD MAN OUT. Since then she has won numerous awards including a career achievement award for romantic suspense.
She lives in Montana with her husband, Parker, two Springer Spaniels. When she isn't writing, she quilts, boats and. makes rope/fabric baskets. She always reads, loving to lose herself in a good book.

Reviews

[Debbie Oliphant · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I have read a few books from this author and enjoyed them, so I was excited for the opportunity to read and review this one. Having said that, I had a hard time following the storyline as there appeared to be three storylines weaving thru the principle characters and it felt disjointed.

Chase and Mary were in love when they were younger and Chase left to be with his dying mother. Their relationship ended when he left and interest to connect began years later after Chase received a letter from Mary that professed her undying love for him. He still loves her and he comes home only to have Mary tell him she needs some time and space to process his return...…..what? The storyline gets murky as Chase has an admirer who escalates to fatal attraction status, but Mary also has a sub-plot with an admirer who has his own nefarious ideas. Chase is also on a quest to find his biological father that he had hoped his mother would reveal before she died.

This book gave me whiplash and by three quarters of the way, I no longer cared about the characters. The plot(s) became predictable and unimaginative. I had hoped for better and will continue to hope for better with the next book.

[Lee at ReadWriteWish · Rating 2 out of 5]

Back on to my year long A-Z challenge of quick romance reads. I’m up to D and the genre this time is what I'd call American country romantic suspense. I was pretty excited to receive this book via Net-Galley. Daniels is a highly respected writer in this genre. However, my excitement did soon wan as I read unfortunately.

In Steel Resolve we meet Chase (who is occasionally called ‘Chance’ in my Netgalley copy and I hope they fixed that up somewhere along the line, although I think Chance/Chase are both stupid made up names) who is in love with heroine Mary despite the fact they broke up a few years previous. Chase subsequently left town (supposedly a small town in Montana called Big Sky) to look after his sick mother. With his mother's passing, Chase decides to return to Big Sky with the plan to once again woo Mary.

This romantic plot was unfortunately really weak. Most of Chase and Mary’s scenes consist of him saying ‘I really do love you and I’m going to stay here in town until you realise this is true’ which, unfortunately, comes out a little creepy and stalkerish in several scenes.

There’s two mystery/suspense plots in the book. The first is Mary’s new boyfriend being a cattle rustler. The second is a one-night-stand of Chase’s turning out to be a psychopathic stalker. Having two mystery plots gave the book a bit of a disjointed feel. I suspect that neither was strong enough to carry a book by itself, hence the use of two. I think it would have been better if maybe Daniels had just added more details to one of the plots and lost the other completely.

Daniels doesn’t stop with the romance plus two mystery plots either. She also throws in Chase searching for his dad. This could have been an integral part of the plot but, instead, it is a bit of a weird jumble squeezed in between the other three storylines. (It also showed Chase to be a bit of an ass which, I would have imagined, wasn’t Daniels’s intention!)

Chase and Mary have very little chemistry and the town of Big Sky, which is apparently going to be the setting for a series, didn’t capture my interest much. There's far too much written from the point of view of the two villains and the ending was too rushed to be suspenseful. And maybe it's best that I don't get started when it comes to the whole evil whore vs worthy virgin depiction of the female characters…

I think my earlier descriptive word of ‘disjointed’ really sums up this book. I’m imagining Daniels just plucking out some stuff from her ‘ideas’ notebook and shoving them together to satisfy the publisher’s wishes for another book on the market asap.

Maybe 2 out of 5

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an fair and honest review.

B.J. Daniels' most popular book is Crime Scene At Cardwell Ranch, which I read years ago. Dana Cardwell and Hud Savage remain one of my all time favorite couples. I love it when an author revisits her couples and writes about the next generation and that is what we have here, Dana and Hud's daughter, Mary Cardwell Savage, as the heroine. I can tell when an author loves her characters and B.J. Daniels loves these characters, they just leap right off the page. This book is one of the best she has written in a long time with several interwoven plots and a whole lot of suspense.

Mary Cardwell Savage fell in love at 15 and Chase Steele broke her heart. She wrote him a letter, never meaning to send it and now Chase is back in Big Sky, MT and he wants her back. But Chase has brought something with him that could prove deadly to both of them.

[Coco.V]

💝 ARC provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 💝

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good second chance romance combined with several elements of mystery and danger. Mary and Chase were friends and sweethearts through high school and college. Their youth worked against them when Chase left Big Sky, breaking Mary's heart. They never forgot each other or their love. When Mary received a box to deliver to Chase after his mother's death, it gave her the excuse she needed to write to him, though she never meant to mail that particular version of the letter.

Chase left Big Sky to find out who he was. He never knew who his father was, which left a huge hole in his heart. Even on her deathbed, his mother refused to reveal that information. He lived and worked in Arizona while caring for his mother, and was in bad shape on the day he picked up her ashes. After having too much to drink, he ended up spending the night with Fiona, something he recognized as a mistake the next morning. Even after explaining that he was in love with another woman, Fiona wouldn't leave him alone, convinced that they belonged together. Mary's letter gave Chase the push he needed to return to Montana, escape from Fiona, and hopefully win back Mary.

Meanwhile, back in Big Sky, Mary attempts to move on with her life. When she doesn't hear from Chase about her letter, she's hurt. She tries dating one of her father's deputies, but he doesn't measure up to her memories of Chase. She stays busy with her work and frequent visits to her parents' ranch. She's stunned when Chase appears at the ranch declaring his love and wanting a second chance. Things got complicated when Dillon showed up. It was interesting to see how different the two men handled it. I loved how Chase made it plain to Mary that he wasn't going anywhere.

I liked the rekindling of the relationship between Mary and Chase. Chase is determined to win her back, but Mary is a bit hesitant. She isn't sure that she's willing to trust her heart to him again. I liked that Chase was ready to give her time, but also wasn't going to back off from showing her how he felt. One thing that brought them together was Chase's search for his father. The contents of the box Mary gave him contained some clues, and Mary offered to help him figure it out. I loved how she understood how important it was to him and how she supported him. I ached for Chase as the search continued and he met various potential fathers. It didn't take long for Mary to realize that her love for Chase is as strong as ever and to want a future together. But there is someone who has vastly different ideas on the subject.

From the very beginning of the book, there is a front row seat to the bane of Chase's life. Fiona's obsession with Chase and what she believes is a scary thing. Watching the lengths she went to in getting close to Mary was terrifying in its complexity. I was glued to the pages as I waited for Chase to get a clue and hoping that it wouldn't be too late. The final confrontation was intense, with Mary in a fight for her life. It had a satisfying ending, with later revelations giving context to Fiona's actions.

There was a minor storyline about some cattle rustling that was intertwined with some of the characters. It gave vital information about the motives of one of the characters. Though the mystery was resolved, it did not go the way I expected it to.

I am a long-time reader of B.J. Daniels' books and it was fun to see that we are now moving on to a new generation of Cardwells. Dana and Hud's story was told in Crime Scene at Cardwell Ranch, and over the years we have seen their family grow. I've always enjoyed the glimpses into the lives of previous characters. I look forward to seeing what comes next.

[Paula Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mary "Sue" Cardwell Savage and Chase Steele were high school and college sweethearts until four years ago, when Chase took off, basically to "find himself." He has recently had a drunken one night stand with Fiona Barkley, who unfortunately is completely crazy and has become obsessed with Chase. So Fiona isn't too happy when, after breaking into his house, she discovers a letter written to Chase from Mary, declaring that she is still in love with him.

Mary has received a package for Chase from a friend of his late mother, and wants him to come and collect. Chase hopes this package might shed some light on his unknown father, whose identity Chase's mother took to the grave. Fiona is so outraged, she does a few crazy things before faking her death and reincarnating as Lucy Carson. She travels to Big Sky, where Mary lives, insinuating her way into Mary's life, determined to make her and Chase pay.

If this book had been merely about crazy Fiona/Lucy worming her way into Mary's life and engaging in some gaslighting fun as part of her fatal attraction to Chase, this could have been an entertaining Lifetime TV movie-style thriller. I love my TV movies! Unfortunately, this is a very dull affair. Something that should only take me an afternoon to read instead took me several days. (Well, there was Halloween, I guess.)

The problem is, this is padded out with too many unnecessary subplots and points of view from ancillary characters. The multiple viewpoints thing is something B.J. Daniels does often, but usually she has a better plot going on than what's here. Here, we don't need Hud Savage's perspective as he investigates murders, because we already know who committed them! As for the subplots, good grief, why were they even there?

Firstly, we have Hud's untrustworthy deputy, Dillon Ramsey. He's engaging in a bit of cattle rustling, and is also trying to date Mary, who is determined to move past Chase. Dillon's cattle rustling adds absolutely nothing to the story. Then we have Chase's search for his birth father, going by the clue he has of the initials "J.M." Chase acts like a snot to each of the men he and Mary track down. In the end, the arbitrary identity of his father is Jim Harris, who doesn't even have the initials of "J.M."!!! This is never explained. Again, this adds absolutely nothing to the story.

The romance wasn't great. Mary didn't actually want to send the letter in the first place: her aunt found it and mailed it. So even though Chase returns to Big Sky, Mary spends most of the book keeping him at arm's length. The romance isn't much more than Chase reiterating again and again that he loves Mary, has and always will, and Mary pretty much shrugging her shoulders and going, "Yeah, that's cool, I suppose. Thanks." Hardly anything to set your heart racing!

And what was with the revelation that Chase and Fiona didn't actually have a one night stand because Chase had simply passed out? Talk about retconning your own book! This completely contradicts what was explicitly told to us in the first chapter! (I concede Fiona is a possible unreliable narrator, but her obsession doesn't make sense unless this event actually took place.)

The fun of a Lifetime TV movie that this book slightly resembles is the gobsmackingly naive protagonist who ignores all the red flags about the psycho hiding in plain sight. There's a bit of that here I think you just drugged my coffee, but hey, let's still go horseback riding on the mountain!, but perhaps not enough. The story is bogged down by its unnecessary subplots, and Mary was too much of a Mary Sue for me to care enough about what she does or what happened to her.

I wanted to enjoy this more because it has the sort of plot that I like, but with its lackluster romance and extra plot lines that don't serve the story, this felt more like a soap opera than a proper thriller.

[Patrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been a fan of BJ Daniels for many years and I have never been disappointed in any of the books that I've read. This was quite an interesting story with a daring female protagonist. I felt the characters were well developed and I loved the Montana backdrop. The pace of the story was fast-moving. I could have read this in one sitting; if I had the time to do so. The hero of the story, Chase Steel, has a maniacal stalker from Arizona; where he was living, and doesn't realize it until he's back home in Montana. There have been a few murders in his small hometown in the few weeks that he's been back. He blames himself for a lot of things; including the stalker; and now he has put the love of his life in danger. Will he and the local law enforcement be in time to stop the madness?

My only negative feeling is that I felt the final confrontation felt rushed and almost forced and there could have been a little more to the conclusion/resolution for the main characters.

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher through Net Galley.

[Elaine - Splashes Into Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an action packed, suspense filled small town story with several different threads skilfully interwoven to create a superb tapestry of events, characters and story.

Chase Steele is returning to Big Sky, Montana but is unaware that he's closely followed by someone who is stalking him. He's had enough of big city living and is returning soon after receiving a letter from the woman he loved but left behind, Mary Cardwell Savage. He broke her heart and his own when he left but now she has written to say she has something that his recently deceased Mum has left for him. Is this a second chance for this High School sweethearts or will fate force them apart again?

The second chance romance is only part of this story which is packed with intrigue, deceit and double crossing danger. There's murderers, rustlers, secrets and so much more in this well paced page turner. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it and have no hesitation in highly recommending it.

I requested and was gifted a copy of this book via NetGalley and this is my honest review after choosing to read it.

[Robin Loves Reading · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a moment of introspection and weakness, Mary Cardwell Savage wrote an intense letter to her ex Chase Steele. Mary's well-meaning Aunt Stacy actually mailed the letter to him. Chase had actually been at odds and ends in his life. The letter from Mary was all he needed to drop everything and to head back to Big Sky, Montana, with every intent on telling her that he never stopped loving her. Chase is eager to start their lives over again.

However, after a little too much to drink one night, Chase got caught up with a woman named Fiona. She is now in Big Sky and calls herself Lucy Carson in what proves to be a case of fatal attraction. If she can't have Chase, no one can, especially Mary.

Mary and Chase's relationship happened years before, but Chase broke Mary's heart. He left town sometime after they finished college. Mary spent years wondering why Chase left. Now that he is back can she bury her pain and give him a seocnd chance? What about Lucy Carson and her dangerous activities that just might ruin any chance that Mary and Chase could have towards a happy future? Then there is the fact that just before Chase showed up Mary had agreed to begin dating one of the town's deputies named Dillon Ramsey. Not only must Mary decide who she wants to date, what about Dillon? Will he simply step aside?

Steel Resolve gets this series a great jump start, introducing a new generation while bringing back some characters from the Cardwell Ranch series from years ago, most notably Mary's parents, her father Marshal Hud Savage and mother Dana.

Many thanks to Harlequin Intrigue and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

[grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

i picked this up at a little free library bc it looked funny,, the plot was so weird But it had a lot less poorly written sex scenes than i expected so that was good i guess 😁👍

[Bin Blogs Books]

This was a very good, well written and suspenseful read. There was a lot going on but still entertaining to read.

[J.V. Speyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let’s start with the things I liked about this book. First of all, the premise ticked almost every box on my must-read checklist. The blurb promises murder, and there is in fact abundant murder. Most of the victims are even people who really do need to be murdered. There’s one victim who even the killer admits was simply a means to an end, but still – three out of four is not a bad ratio, right? AND it’s a second chance romance. And there’s a legitimate detective story in there.

I loved the fact that Mary, despite having had her heart broken by Chase (see below), has gone on to live a productive and good life. She hasn’t withdrawn to live in the attic sitting in her white wedding dress like a certain nineteenth century literary figure we all know and might secretly have nightmares about. No, she does good things, and she’s built up a profitable business for herself while helping the ranchers in Big Sky.

She’s also an accountant. As a recovering accountant myself, it pleases me to see more accountants in the world.

There’s a beautiful subplot involving Chase’s family that is handled in just an amazing fashion. Even with the issues I had with this book, I found myself in tears over this subplot.

Some of the things that made me less comfortable…

Well, there were a few aspects of the book that struck me as deeply regressive. For example, let’s take the antagonist. She’s in this fight because some woman has stolen her man. We get a good view into her thought processes, and they’re so cringey I almost put the book down.

I don’t want to pretend people like Fiona don’t exist in the world. I’ve known a few. I knew a woman who insisted she was engaged to a man simply because he said hi to her at a party and hadn’t called her ugly to her face. (She’s been in counseling and is doing much better now.) The thing is, it’s very clear that Fiona has a serious illness, but the author treats her motivation as a rivalry and not Fiona’s childhood traumas (which are brushed off as possible delusions or lies) or Fiona’s untreated mental illness. (Which… the less said about making people with mental illness into brutal murderers the better…)

The characters themselves don’t necessarily express an abhorrence of sexuality. They don’t seem to express any specific feelings about sexuality, with the exception of Fiona. The author definitely seems to be holding some strong judgments about sex and sexuality, because she goes out of her way to prove in the end that Chase and Fiona didn’t have sex after all.

Even though Mary and Chase had broken up and been apart for years, yes that’s plural, by the time Fiona came into Chase’s life, it was that important to prove that Chase had been properly chaste. I mean maybe they do things differently in Montana, and I’m certainly not here to judge people who legitimately want to be celibate for any reason under the sun.

It just felt incredibly judgmental to me, which fits under the “regressive” umbrella.

The way the two “love interests,” Chase and Dillon, fight over Mary puts me in mind of two stags butting heads. And not only does it not make sense under the circumstances, which would be a spoiler to get into here, but OMG IT’S 2019 WHO ACTS LIKE THIS? Fortunately, Mary has an appropriate reaction to both of them.

And Mary was generally treated as though she was some kind of delicate, glass-blown ornament by most of the people in her life. Her father had suspicions about the boyfriend, but thought she needed to be protected from those suspicions (which wound up putting her in danger.) Chase broke her heart in the beginning of the book because he left “for her own good,” which don’t even get me started.

Something that struck me about this book, and I can’t decide how I feel about it, is how incredibly white everyone was. Now, it’s set in Montana and Montana is not exactly known for being a hotbed of diversity. I’m just used to living in places with a good mix of people, from a wide variety of backgrounds, so this kind of threw me for a loop. I think it wouldn’t have been so jarring to a reader from a background similar to the main characters, maybe.

TL;DR: Steel Resolve has a lot going for it with some deeply moving moments. There were a couple of moments I found challenging, but this will probably not apply to all readers.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley for my own reading pleasure.

[Crystal · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was my first book by BJ Daniels and I wasn’t too impressed. It’s supposed to be a romantic suspense novel, but there’s not a lot of romance and the suspense was laid out for us instead of letting it blossom into a finale. We knew what was going to happen in the beginning of the story and it was extremely predictable.
There were a few big issues in this book that could’ve been handled better. Fiona/Lucy was a seriously sick individual. She needed major help, and no one seemed involved enough in her life to truly see her as she was. Let me take that back, there was one person. Chase’s boss’ wife Patti. She grew up with Fiona and knew a lot of what had happened to her, knew how unstable she was, that she had a history when it came to men in her life, yet she still set Fiona and Chase up? Then there was the Deputy. Hud, Mary’s father, and town marshal, hired the deputy without a background check or process. This is 2019, not the 1950’s. No one is hired for that type of position based on a request of someone you know in passing. Mary and Chase’s relationship is boring. He left once because he needed to figure out his life. He comes back because he’s still in love with her, just like she’s still in love with him but I couldn’t find the love and romance between the two, it felt forced because it was supposed to be history repeating itself. We find out in the story (many times) that Mary’s father left Mary’s mother when they were both young to find himself, eventually coming back, marrying her, and settling down.
There were too many subplots for this book. We’ve got Chase getting a package from a friend of his mom after his mom passes, revealing that his father’s initials are J.M. Chase immediately assumes that his father’s not named because he was married and cheating on his wife with Chase’s mother and dumping her when she tells him she’s pregnant, Chase coming back because he’s still in love with Mary, Fiona/Lucy seeking revenge for her imagined slighted heart, and cattle rustling. With so many subplots, the story feels overall weak and pulled in too many directions.
**I received an ARC of this story from Netgalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

[Jeriann Fisher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chase Steele arrives back home in Big Sky Montana hoping to make things right with the woman he's never forgotten, Mary Savage in this modern cowboy romance by B.J. Daniels for Harlequin Intrigue. Unfortunately, he is followed by a stalker named Fiona, a woman he had a one-night stand with and who turned out to be a little cray-cray.

Now, Mary also has her own stalker issues in the form of Deputy Dillon who is running a cattle rustling business on the side and figures by dating her he can keep her Marshall father off his trail.  These two stalkers each have a vested interest in keeping Mary and Chase from getting together.

Crazy Fiona  fakes her death and alters her appearance enough so she can show up in town as Lucy and the bodies start dropping. So now, Mary not only has the deputy, who is kind of a creep, after but Fiona / Lucy after her. In addition to the drama of Chase and Mary trying to get back together, there are two distinct subplots as well. Chase is looking for his unknown father and Deputy Dillon and his cattle rustling business are causing a concern.

To tell all of this there are many, many points of view. I'd have to say the dominant point of view is Fiona / Lucy. Then there's Mary's point of view, Chase's ( after all he is the hero), Mary's father as he investigates the cattle rustling (which has nothing to do with the romance), Mary's mother, Dillon, and a barrista. All of these excessive points of view prevented me from really getting into our two main characters, which should have been Mary and Chase not  Fiona/ Lucy. The crazy antagonist really does take the main portion of the story away from our romantic couple, in my opinion.

I usually enjoy B.J. Daniels and will read her again  but this one is a bit off.

Arc provided by Net Galley.

[Morgan S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Steel Resolve is a perfectly fine story, with perfectly fine writing. The mystery has a good set up, the romance has a good set up, and generally it was promising. Unfortunately, you find out the main threat’s identity literally on the very first page. As the book developed, I understood why knowing the villain was necessary, but it wasn’t necessary to literally start the book like that when the reveal would have had much better impact by waiting even 30 pages. There is also a secondary threat whose identity is also told to the reader much earlier than it had to be. I think it just kind of ruined the tension that was supposed to be building. I did like the last climactic scene though.

My biggest complaint about this book was the treatment of Mary, the main female character. First of all, she has no personality or flaws. She’s just a pretty, feminine, non-aggressive, family oriented lady, and she’s treated like property by Chase Steele (the main male character) and the other man she is seeing. Chase continually tells her that he’s going to win her back no matter what, that she doesn’t have a choice in their inevitability, that she belongs to him and he’s not going to let her go. In some contexts, this could be romantic, but in this book it just read as creepy and aggressive. Not to mention that the romance itself left something to be desired since it felt like it developed really slowly given that this is supposed to be a romance novel.

So, this book is average at best and not very good to women at worst. Not my favorite.

An eARC copy was provided to me in exchange for an honest review, and all thoughts are my own.

[JigsawGirl · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's been a while since I have read one of B. J. Daniels books. This one didn't do much for me. It should have been a really good, on the edge of your seat, romantic suspense. It wasn't.

There was no real suspense, because you knew the identity of the villains all along. It was just a matter of time before someone acted. Because of that, it was a waste of time to look in anyone else's direction. It was spelled out in detail who did what to whom and why. It kind of takes the fun out of reading the book, at least for me.

Next, Chase and Mary had been in love forever. I didn't get any real sense of their characters. I didn't feel any connection with them. They had no chemistry. I'm not sure why, but it all seemed very superficial. The story moved along at a steady pace, but I either didn't feel anything at all for the characters, or I was irritated by them.

Mary seemed to be extremely naive for her age. She ignored EVERY alarm bell for both Lucy and Dillion. Luckily Chase and her father, Hud had more sense than she did.

Also, what kind of friends were Chase's boss Rick and his wife Patty to KNOWINGLY let him leave with a CRAZY person when he was DRUNK???? They knew she was unbalanced and didn't tell him until it was too late.

There were so many off shoots to this story. Chase and Fiona, Chase and Mary, Mary and Dillion, Mary and Lucy, cattle rustling, crooked cops, crazy stalkers, mystery of Chase's mother wouldn't tell, etc.

I was looking forward to reading this book. I really wanted to like it. I ended up just wanting it to be over.

I voluntarily read and reviewed the Advanced Reader Copy received from the publisher via NetGalley.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

- Received an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for a fair review -
Lovers who began as best friends as teens reunite after a separation that only makes their relationship stronger and deeper in “Steel Resolve”, by BJ Daniels, confronting a villain with a deceitful friendly personality.
Mary and Chase are strong, honorable characters and I loved to watch them working through their problems and hurt and coming out more mature and with a steadier connection. Their reconciliation is a lovely process, very well written.
The fact the unbalanced villain has point of view privilege makes the story believable and a bit disturbing, too, intensifying the suspense.

[Cat Kelley · Rating 4 out of 5]

thriller! It was a mix of all my favorite genres...cowboys, HEA romance and thrilling, scary killers. It had it all. This is a solid best seller. A new author to add to my favorites list.

This book was gifted to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.

[Tea, And My Book · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story had my heart racing and on the edge of my seat. What a ride this was. Although I was more into the suspense of the story, the romance wasn't too bad neither. Chase and Mary were high school and college sweethearts until Chase left to go back home to his dying mother in Arizona. Well actually Mary's father told her that they were too young to be so serious and their relationship ended. Fast forward 4 years, Chase is in Arizona when he receives a letter from Mary professing her love for him. Ready to rekindle their love, Chase decides to return to Big Sky, Montana to pick up where they left off, but Chase has an obsessed stalker on his tail. Will Chase and Mary rekindle their love before the stalker executes her plans.?

Okay…let me say that this is a suspense romance with no sex. Let's start off with the main premise of the story. Chase had a one night stand and the lady turned out to be psychotic and a real stalker. She was sneaking in his home while he was gone and while doing so she discovered the letter from Mary in his sock drawer. This lady is bat crap crazy and the author did a wonderful emitting the character on the page. Fiona, the stalker, was unpredictable, cold, and unstable. I had absolutely no idea what she was going to do next and she went to such extreme to have Chase to herself.

As I said before, I enjoyed the suspense with the unpredictability and interesting characters, but the romance was meh. It really pains me to say this, but Mary and Chase had no personality and little chemistry. I understand that they were young lovers and their relationship was already established, but I needed the author to try a little harder with selling their relationship. The "I love you"'s were thrown around like crazy and it had to weight to it. Another thing that blew my mind was Mary and her naivety when it came to Fiona. Mary was so clueless to be a 28 year old and it was so easy for Fiona to infiltrate her life. I liked the Caldwell family and the ranch life was barely mentioned, even though this takes place in Montana and their livelihood.

Based on the suspense alone, this book would have been a 5 star, but I was there for the romance and it fell short. This book really held my attention and I don't think that a book has ever had my heart race the way this book has. I recommend this book and I will rate this book 3.5 stars.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

B.J. Daniels’ names is synonymous with contemporary Western romantic suspense and she is back with an exceptional read that is absolutely impossible to put down: Steel Resolve.

Mary Cardwell Savage and Chase Steele had once been head over heels in love with another. The bond that united them had been strong and nothing and nobody was ever going to tear them apart – until a cruel twist of fate had ended up destroying everything and rupturing the ties that united them. Chase had been unable to stand living in the same town as Mary and despite the fact that he still loved her with every bone in his body, he had moved away from the woman he had wanted to spend the rest of his life with. Despite of the distance he had put between them, Chase has never quite managed to forget Mary and his feelings for her are as strong as ever. Chase has tried to move on with his life, but in the process he has ended up being the object of a dangerous woman’s affections…a woman who will do anything to be Chase’s one and only – even murder…

Sending a letter to her ex had been a huge mistake, but Mary’s moment of weakness has resulted in Chase coming back to Big Sky, Montana. Mary knows that she should confine her feelings for the gorgeous cowboy to the past, however, that soon proves to be easier said than done. On his return, Mary finds herself as drawn to her ex as ever, but dare she give into temptation and give their love another chance? Or is she still haunted by old wounds and scars which simply refuse to heal?

Chase will stop at nothing to have Mary back in his life, but with a deranged stalker intent on causing maximum damage and ready to eliminate all the obstacles standing between him and Mary, does their love stand any chance of surviving? Or is their relationship doomed?

B.J. Daniels writes romantic suspense of the highest quality and Steel Resolve is certainly no exception! A high stakes white knuckle ride peppered with plenty of heat, passion and emotion, Steel Resolve is a fantastic read that will keep readers absolutely glued to its pages. Romantic suspense does not get any better than this and with Steel Resolve, B.J. Daniels continues to cement her standing as one of the genre’s brightest stars!

[Donna Repsher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Let me start by admitting to being a fan of B.J. Daniels, romantic suspense novels and anything at all about cowboys, so the blurb for this novel rang my chimes. Add in a couple of murders, a second chance at love, and I'm there. Sadly, this novel, while it was an okay read, wasnt't one of Ms. Daniels' best novels, and I can only give it a 3 start rating.

Mary Cardwell Savage is the heroine in this novel, although she really seems to be more of a victim than a heroine. Chase Steel, the hero, was the love of her life--they met and fell in love in high school at age 15, but at age 24, when Mary was expecting a proposal from Chase, he up and left town to "find himself," breaking Mary's heart and his own, but fulfilling his need to sow some wild oats, and become a man--yet a man who had no clue and was desperate to discover who his father was, and who he'd blamed his entire life for the fact that his mother worked herself to death to feed and keep a roof over his head, while his father abandoned his then 17-year-old pregnant mother and left her to fend for herself and her infant son. His mother's recent death, and the discovery of a carton containing some pages from her diary, are the catalyst that brings Chase, who was working as a carpenter in Arizona at the time, back home, to the girl he left behind, and a mission to find out who fathered him.

Unfortunately, a rather drunken Chase hooked up with a woman, Fiona Barkley, at a barbecue at the home of his boss, ended up sleeping with her, and had no idea that this woman was a deranged stalker, one who became instantly convinced Chase was her soulmate, and that they were destined to be together forever. Chase had told her at the outset that he was in love with another woman and that he planned to return home and marry her if he could get her to forgive him for leaving. But Fiona is very much like the heroine in the film, Fatal Attraction, undeterred by reality, and unashamed of repeatedly breaking into Chase's apartment, where she finds a letter from Mary in Chase's sock drawer, reads it, and starts plotting and planning to get rid of Mary, and make Chase pay for leaving her for another woman.

Mary, who is sick and tired of pining for Chase for years, finally starts dating one of her father's deputies, Dillon Ramsey, much to her sheriff father's dismay, since he doesn't entirely like or trust Dillon, only hiring him as a favor to a friend, and although Dylan seemed nice enough to Mary at the outset, he's got a dark past as well as prior convictions, and when Chase finally returns to Big Sky, Montana, Mary, who still loves Chase, continues to date Dylan, and no longer seems to know her own mind. It was at this point that I began to actively dislike her. From this point of the novel on, Mary can't make up her mind about whether or not to give Chase another chance, but her waffling made little sense to me, because for someone who claims to still want to be with the love of her life, she sure has a funny way of showing it. Yes, she had reason not to trust Chase out of fear of him leaving her again, but even after he flat out tells her he's been in love with her all along, and except for his drunken one-nighter with Fiona, who is now missing and presumed dead when she disappears from town and her car in found in the river, Chase has remained faithful to Mary all along. His delay in responding to Mary's letter is explained by Chase, who tells her that he wanted to see if Mary would forgive him and be willing to start over with him, a message he wanted to deliver in person. As he's packing his truck to leave, Fiona attempts to kill him, but after fending her off, and while Chase is gathering the last of his belongings inside, Fiona sabotages his truck, which now needs a new engine and delays him from returning home.

Meanwhile, Fiona, now calling herself Lucy, after faking her own death, has had plastic surgery, gotten colored contact lenses, dyes her hair and moves to Chase's home town, where she gets a job as a barista, after killing the current one in a late night hit and run, and then moves into the vacant apartment across the street from the coffee shop, in a building that Mary owns, works out of, and which she was planning to rent to the now dead barista who Fiona killed, and quickly insinuating herself into Mary's life, while planning to kill her too, to punish Chase for leaving her.

Fiona is clearly demented, and we're given some reasons for her insane behavior, but I had fewer problems accepting Fiona/Lucy as a deranged, vengeful and murderous stalker than I did in accepting wishy-washy Mary, who is treated like gossamer by everyone, and who seems to have virtually no emotional depth whatsoever, and who doesn't seem too eager to welcome back the the man she's claimed to be in love with for more than a decade. Perhaps it's me, but I've always felt that you either love someone or you don't, and if you don't love or trust them, why continue to keep them dangling on a string, which is exactly the way she treats poor Chase--the only sympathetic character in this novel, in this reader's opinion.

The are more nefarious goings on as well in Big Sky, cattle rustling being one of them, and more murder and mayhem to follow in this novel, but what didn't sit well with me was the fact that we got to see more of the workings of Fiona/Lucy's devious and warped mind and emotions than we did of Chase and Mary's, who are, after all, the hero and heroine of this novel. I'm also used to a little more heat in Ms. Daniels' novels than there was in this one, which was pretty much void of anything more than a couple of kisses, and Fiona/Lucy's insistence that she spent a meaningful and sex-filled night in Chases's bed--something he doubts ever actually happened later in the novel.

While this novel wasn't an entirely bad read, Ms. Daniels is a talented writer, it wasn't a really great or believable novel one either, and it was easy to see where it was headed from the outset. Having read many of Ms. Daniels' previous novels, I can say with confidence that this was not her best work by far. It lacked emotional depth, character development of the two main characters and a far less HEA abbreviated ending.

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

[Monica Cardoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

Steel Resolve is the first installment in the Montana Legacy series. It was a great introduction to a small town in Montana, Big Sky. Mary and Chase were in love but Chase needed to find himself and Mary didn’t see it that way she saw it as him running away and not fighting for her. Now Chase is ready to come back and fight for Mary but a woman has made it very difficult for him and has obstacles to overcome before making it back to Big Sky. Mary is done waiting for Chase so she decides to move on with her life and start dating. I loved that this story didn’t just have one plot but several plots and that made it so interesting. I knew that the crazy woman that was infatuated with Chase was going to be trouble but I don’t think Chase knew in how much danger he had put Mary in. I felt bad for Fiona because she had a rough childhood with what happened with her stepfather and stepbrothers, she just needed lots of help. In the end Mary and Chase or going to have to fight for their love and together they would not only overcome a crazy person but with her help Chase would finally find out who his father was. I can’t wait to read the rest of the books in this wonderful series.

[Zoe]

Okay so if you're looking for romance, it's non-existent in this book. It's a bummer because while this is romantic suspense, it is neither romantic nor suspenseful. There were so many POVs, that we always knew who was doing what and where and when. Which made it so that there was never a shock or surprising moment. It was really just boring. Mary and Chase were boring and had zero chemistry besides for the fact that they insisted they had tons of chemistry. Everything was extremely predictable and the subplots about the cattle theft and Chase's father were strange and added quite literally nothing to the plot overall.
I also couldn't stand that Fiona's entire backstory is that she was raped as a kid, so that's why she's crazy and kills people. Right. Cool. 🙃
Two things I loved:
When the villain said that someone would "rue the day" I genuinely thought it was meant to be a joke.
And when Mary's dad said "It was nice to have several private investigators in the family." I could not stop laughing. 😂

[Jessica Gronau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Savage and Chase Steele were high school sweethearts until Chase broke Mary's heart. He left their small town to find himself and deal with his mother's illness. Years later, Mary sends him a letter telling him how she feels and he decides to go back to Montana to be with the girl he loves.
Unfortunately, Fiona decides to follow him. After Chase and Fiona spend one night together, she is convinced he is the love of her life. If she can't have Chase, no one can. Especially not Mary.
A lot of things happen in this book:
Chase moves back to Montana to profess his love to Mary
Fiona follows to get revenge on Chase and Mary.
Fiona fakes her own death and is now Lucy.
Chase tries to find his dad that he has never met before.
People are murdered.

I liked the story but I felt like there were a lot of things going on at times. I was hoping for some big, grand gesture from Chase and there wasn't and the ending was nothing too exciting.

I received a free copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Book Him Danno · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is a predictable Harlequin Suspense romance. The villains are given to readers right away. Motive, reason everything is present with very little question what will happen and how the story will end. When this happens the romance and characters interactions keep readers hooked. The author isn't able to pull that off and the story falls flat.

This story feels as if readers are thrown into the middle of a story. The author fills in the background but instead bring the story up to date is slows down the progression leaving readers not caring what happens to any of the characters.

If the ending is tied up in a bow but readers will already know who, what, where, when and how. Instead of giving something new to readers it ends up filling in pages not needed.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of B.J. Daniels Steel Resolve.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a overly simplistic romance with not much suspense. The story begins with the romance already in the past. It’s more a story about how two people who still love each other but couldn’t make it in the past try to rekindle their relationship. The villains are revealed in the beginning so not only was the romantic part skipped but also the suspense. If the writer had only started with the love story and break up and fast-forwarded to where this book begins, it would have been more enjoyable. Also, yes, Fiona is a crazy stalker but it was way too easy for her to get away with all of her crimes. The minor thread of the cattle rustling was not well fleshed out and could have been left out altogether. Overall, this was not a story for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Viper Spaulding · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this action-packed homecoming romance.

There's a lot going on in this book, but it's all wrapped around the reunion of Chase and Mary, childhood sweethearts who have been apart for four years. There's plenty of suspense with a little bit of violence, a psychotic killer, a search for a unknown father, a cattle rustling ring and so much more. It's written from a third-person omniscient POV, giving us insights into each character's motivations so there aren't really any surprises along the way.

Through all the drama, Chase and Mary's love story doesn't need much to propel it along. The events that surround their renewed relationship provide plenty to keep the reader on edge and turning pages. There's no question of their feelings for each other, and once the dust settles we get a very satisfying HEA. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

[Judy C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary and Chase were teenage friends and lovers until he ended it leaving Mary behind shattered. Chase moved on to Arizona to take care of his sick mother and didn’t look back until he received a letter from is ex Mary, the one version she never meant to send. Chase receives this letter at a pivotal point in his life. Mary has some information about his father he has always wanted to find. His mother dies not giving him any information and when he goes to get her ashes he sleeps with Fiona during a moment of weakness knowing it is a huge mistake. This is his wake up call and Hi he returns to Mary much later than he should of and to make matters worse Fiona his psycho ex stalker girlfriend is in tow. I thoroughly enjoyed going back to the Caldwell ranch and seeing how everyone grew up and changed. That’s thing I love about B.J. Daniels she always takes you back to places, people, and family you grow to love. This was another book of intrigue, love, HEA, catching up, while having a whole new story evolve. Perfect summertime read.

[Kari Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Chase and Mary were teenagers they fell in love however they had different dreams for their futures which caused them to separate and left both of them with a broken heart. They have both moved forward with their lives however they have never forgotten each other.

When Chase receives a love letter from Mary that she never meant to send he realizes that she is all he ever wanted so he heads back to Caldwell Ranch for a second chance. Complication arise when his past follows him and that isn’t the only thing that is trying to keep them apart.

Suspense, danger and a mystery from the past all combine as Chase and Mary search for their second chance now that they are older and know what is truly important.

[Ashley (A Stack Above The Rest Blogg) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to my friends at Net Galley for the copy of this book. I was a little sceptical at first because it felt as though there were too many points of view in the plot. There is the main characters, Chase and Mary. But also Fiona / Lucy, and some other minor characters who have their own roles in the plot. I don't believe I have read anything by BJ Daniels before so I am unsure if this is consistent with previous works. Either way, the book was a great read and there was never a dull moment. It has action, a psychopath, long lost love and crime.. I mean really.. how can you go wrong!

I would recommend this book to fellow readers, however I would let them know about the mixture of perspectives so that they know what they are preparing to read.