Something About the Season

Return to the Double-C Ranch #17

by Allison Leigh

She’ll give him the benefit of the doubt—in the spirit of Christmas.
Her Christmas guest is too good to be true!

When wealthy investor Gage Stanton arrives at Rory McAdams’s struggling guest ranch, she’s suspicious. Is he just there to learn the ranching ropes or to get her to give up the property? One thing she quickly gives up is her heart… Until Gage’s jealous brother—and Gage’s own shocking secret—threaten to derail a holiday fling that was beginning to feel like anything but.

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 15, 2020

About the author

A frequent name on bestseller lists, Allison Leigh's highpoint as a writer is hearing from readers that they laughed, cried or lost sleep while reading her books. She’s blessed with an immensely patient family who doesn’t mind (much) her time spent at her computer and who gives her the kind of love she wants her readers to share in every page. Stay in touch at www.allisonleigh.com.

Reviews

[Cheyenne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was all set for this to be a 4 or 5 star read but the rushed ending was a let down. I'm glad I read it, and would like to read more set in this location, but it felt like this needed to be longer, or the storylines pared down slightly.
It would have done better to have skipped over the 'shocking secret' twist and focussed on the communication and trust between Rory and Gage, because I was so happy to see them get together, but the ending was rushed, so it felt like a 'happy for now' not a HEA.

The Angel River ranch setting was excellent and I felt like the whole cast of adult characters added to the charm of it, especially with so much focus on the ranch and the hard work it takes to run it. Rory's 6 year old son Killy also added an extra element but to be honest spent a lot of the book at school or 'offscreen' so to speak.

My biggest frustration with this book was, having blown through it in less than a day because Gage and Rory were interesting and had chemistry, and knew what they wanted as experienced, divorced 30 and 38 year olds (which can be rare in M&B sometimes), that the "shocking secret" mentioned on the blurb, following confrontation, resolution and ending happened in 16 pages. Which leaves it feeling rushed and unresolved. Especially on the following counts:

- The effects of the supposed shocking secret, which has minimal impact on us because the other characters it involves aren't really players in the book, are never dealt with.
- The fact that Gage and Rory's whole relationship has been kept on the DL from her son, doesn't stop her agreeing to up and move to Denver and just go for it without ever having them interact in a 'mum's boyfriend' capacity is never resolved.
- The future of Angel River isn't resolved, and it's a place we really came to care about.
- Gage's relationship with his brother Noah isn't resolved.

Despite these points which really let the book down for me, I enjoyed Gabe and Rory's relationship and time spent together for the rest of the book, and the ranch made for an interesting read.

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

[Harlequin Books]

Categories
Holiday Romance, Western Romance, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Contemporary Romance
Miniseries
Return To The Double C

[Kate Vale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another in A Return to the Double C series in which Rory McAdams is worried that her parent's guest ranch may not long survive, as the number of guests has gradually declined since her father's cancer scare. Why? He's no longer in charge and she's convinced that she'll never be able to match her mother's skills in making guests happy. As if to confirm that her father is thinking of selling the guest ranch, Gage Stanton arrives along with his kid brother, recently in danger of going to jail for his latest DUI.

Gage is part of a big company that owns a new guest ranch located too close to the Angel River guest ranch for Rory's comfort. But she does what her father wants and agrees to show him what they do and how they do it, even in the face of a wedding which party arrives with far more guests than expected and a momzilla who may be just push Rory over the edge.

But Gage and his younger brother step up and help out when it's clear that she is short of the helping hands she really needs to pull this off. And...they manage to keep everyone happy, even the mother of the bride. Too bad she then discovers that what will make the other guest ranch a success is something Gage knows but has not shared with her. So...his plea that she come to Denver to live with him falls on heartbroken ears. To make matters worse, Rory's father confirms her worst fears. He's decided to sell the Angel River ranch. Now what is she going to do? Where is she going to raise her little boy?

Her dad tells her what to do, but does she have the courage to follow her heart and her father's urgings?

[Kissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the story of the developing romance between Rory and Gage is charming and an enjoyable read, in relation to everything else I was left confused and mislead. The book's title "Something About The Season" and tagline "She'll give him the benefit of the doubt - in the spirit of Christmas" makes it sound like it's going to be set around Christmas time; in reality, we never see Christmas occur until the last 10 or so pages and even then it's just putting up decorations at the ranch and Rory and Gage discussing what their plans are for the holidays. The back summary implies Gage's brother becomes jealous and poses a threat to their developing relationship; I feel like the author forgot to include Noah in most of the actual story and what interactions we do see is hardly worth making it seem like he has genuine interest in Rory. The story surrounding the ranch of keeping business afloat while dealing with low staffage and wedding guests arriving early was well written and strong. However, I felt a bit confused by the author throwing out bits of information that never fully developed into something more (i.e. Rory's artistic side, Killy apparently needing to be in AP) or felt totally out of place (i.e. Gage asking Rory to move to Denver, Tig buying the ranch). Overall, I felt quite disoriented with this book, expecting to read one thing but getting another with many random loose ends tied on.

[Becky Tatar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story, but the only problem with this series is that the individual books are published far apart! So it takes a while to remember the setting and the previous stories. Here, single mom Rory McAdams is running her family's guest ranch, when rich guy Gage Stanton and his angry, unruly younger brother come to the ranch to find out how to run one, since Gage is working on buying his own. Add in a wedding with a motherzilla, and almost everything that can go wrong, does. Early arrivals for the wedding, nothing is right, food, rooms, activities, etc. Plus, there is sick staff. But Gage and his brother start pitching in, and everything seems to be going fine, until a crush causes problems.

[Delacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've liked the majority of the books in this series that I've read. This one was ok, but I found it easy to put down and so much focus was on the dude ranch and its issues, that we didn't actually explore and develop the relationship as much as it should have been. Still a decent read.

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

[Peggy Clayton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this wonderful romance by Allison Leigh. I thought that the story flowed great and also that the characters were perfectly fitted. Allison hit a home run with this book!

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this story!