“Stay with me. Lean on me. I swear, I won’t let you fall.”
Characters
Cash (30, will run the horse breeding/training portion of the Greer ranch once construction is completed):
The following words/phrases were used to describe Cash: tenacious, persistent, good horseman, cheerful, smiles often, stubborn, gentle, patient
Some quotes about Cash:
“Cash Greer was a good man. He loved working with horses. He loved his family. He loved this ranch.”
“Ultimately, how we ran the facility was my decision. But I wanted to let my family feel comfortable expressing their point of view. I valued their experience and input, even when it was overwhelming.”
Katherine (30, General Manager of the Greer family's luxury ranch resort):
The following words/phrases were used to describe Katherine: strong, tough, funny, smart, magnificent
Something to know about Kat:
- She has had a crush on Cash for the past 12 years.
”Cash had been my friend, and only my friend, for twelve years. We’d met early on in my career at the resort, when I’d been a housekeeper and living in the staff quarters. He’d come home from college for spring break and the two of us had hit it off over our mutual love for Mountain Dew. In all those years, he’d never once flirted. He’d never once asked me out or led me on.This ridiculous and epic crush was entirely one-sided.”
Some quotes about Kat:
“I hadn’t left Montana since the day I’d arrived. As a fresh-faced and eager eighteen-year-old, I’d found safety here. A home. I’d rarely left the Greer Ranch and Mountain Resort, let alone the state”
“I hadn’t grown up in a dreamy, suburban home with a white picket fence and a goldendoodle named Rover. My youth had been a nightmare. At sixteen, I’d run away from home to live in a junkyard with five other teenagers who’d each survived nightmares of their own”
“Self-preservation was something I’d learned early on. It had taken me a long time to break the habits from my childhood. I shut down and shut people out when I didn’t feel safe.”
The Story:
Six teenage kids (Karson, Londyn, Gemma, Katherine, Aria & Clara) ran away from home and ended up at a junkyard living in cars (a Cadillac) and tents. Bonds formed, but ultimately they went different directions.
There will be six books in the series (at least I’m assuming so) where each kid will get their well deserved HEA.
Here's a recap so far:
Book 1: Londyn took a road trip to return the restored Cadillac to Karson, but got sidetracked along the way and fell in love
Book 2: Gemma picked up where Londyn left off with the intent to get the Cadillac to Karson. But she took a detour and fell in love
Book 3: This is Katherine's story and she picks up where Gemma left off and takes the Cadillac on a road trip to escape her broken heart. Her plan is to take the Cadillac to Aria in Oregon, get away for a couple weeks, leave the car with Aria so she can take it to Karson in California and then head back to the Greer ranch in Montana to resume her old life.
The problem.....Katherine loves the Greer family and particularly Cash Greer, who unfortunately views her as his best friend/roommate. When Cash brings a date to a family dinner, reality slaps Kat in the face and she realizes it’s time to admit this unrequited love will break her unless she deals with it. If she can’t accept the truth of the situation and let go of her feelings for Cash, she might need to leave the ranch and then she would end up losing the only family she has ever known.
My Thoughts:
The following are my thoughts about this book:
- Grandma's always say what your heart needs to hear. ❤️ "We love you. You are a part of our family, whether you live and work here or not. But you need to get away from here. Breathe. Think. Let him go.”
- Devney Perry always does a good job of recapping previous books in a concise manner that still provides enough detail. By chapter 2 I was all caught up on the previous books.
- Poor Kat. Unrequited love is so heartbreaking. In this case, Cash clearly had Kat squarely in the friend zone at the beginning of the book. Cash: “She let me tease her and wasn’t afraid to throw it back. She listened without judgment. I’d take her friendship any day over a lousy lay and relationship drama.”
- I didn’t like how Kat badgered Cash to admit that he was mad at Easton about the horse facility and how he wasn’t included in that decision. Why was she bent on making Cash admit he was upset? I felt like was fine with the decision and she was just trying to stir up trouble. This really irritated me. 😡 “What do you want me to do about it, Kat? Get into it with Easton? He’s already fighting Dad and Granddad on the management stuff. I’m trying to tread lightly and just get the goddamn project done. Why does it matter when at the end of the day, I want to work with horses? This will make that happen.”
- Friends to lovers is not my favorite trope, so keep that in mind when reading the next comment.....
- When Cash first met Katherine he had been “warned away” from her because his mother & grandmother had already made her part of the family. Even though he was attracted to her, he put her in the friend zone. 12 years later and she is still squarely in the friend zone (and they have actually been roommates for the last 5 years). So, it just seemed a bit unbelievable that after living alone with her for 5 years as friends that a little road trip and a couple days away from the family ranch could so drastically change their dynamic Not sure I really bought into the friends to lovers connection.
- I didn’t really feel like I knew Cash. I felt the story was mostly about trying to uncover Kat’s background and the time that she lived in the junkyard and what drove her there. So, I felt like Cash took a back seat in the story and sadly I didn’t really learn much about him. ☹️
- It’s a pretty short book, so doesn’t take long to read
- the writing is good and what I would expect from this author
- Having said above, I’m a little disappointed in the plot. Miscommunication and not talking about feelings is so cliche. Ugh. And, Although I love Devney Perry I'm sad to say that all her stories are starting to feel the same. I really liked the premise of this series, but the over arching concept in each book has been the same thing over and over and over. The circumstances of the romance have been slightly different (first book they were strangers, 2nd book was second chance, this book was friends to lovers) but beyond that, all the other aspects of the story have been the same. They hide their true feelings and then comes a miscommunication / misunderstanding and someone runs away or starts to leave but then at the last minute they declare their love and live happily ever after. Rinse, wash, repeat. I'm disappointed that one of my favorite authors keeps turning out the same story with predictable plots. I’ll continue with the series, but unfortunately I feel like I already know what will happen in the rest of the books. ☹️
Overall:
- Do you need to read previous books in series?: Katherine was introduced in book 2 as the manager of the Greer resort and I think it would be beneficial to read the prior book to understand Katherine a little better. Do you have to? No. Each love story is standalone. However, there is a small connecting thread between the books that enhances the story.
- POV: dual POV
- Tropes: unrequited love, friends to lovers
- H likable? Yes
- h likable? Yes
- h virgin? no
- First time they kiss: 43%
- First time they sleep together: 46%
- steamy? in some places
- OW/OM drama? no
- H/h cheat? not once they actually sleep together. However, let’s keep in mind that Katherine has been pining over him for 12 years. I’m guessing they both slept with others during the past 12 years even though nothing was mentioned.
- Did I skip pages? No
- Big secrets? Cash had a big secret that came out of left field and was revealed at 80%. The reader did not know about the secret and found out at the same time as Katherine.
- Did I cry? no
- Did I laugh? no
- Cliffhanger? no
- HEA? yes
- Epilogue? 5 months later
- Recommend? good writing/predictable plot.....you choose
Quotes
“When he’d told me about dumping Dany for me, my resolve to take this solo vacation had disintegrated like wet toilet paper.”
“Kat had done what she’d had to do at too young an age to make the best of a shitty situation. She was good at finding the bright side. Whenever we watched a bad movie, she’d spout three things she liked about it during the credits.”
“Living with Cash was easy. Comfortable. We talked every morning over coffee and cereal. We ate dinner together each night. He was my best friend. My confidant. My companion.”