Contemporary Romance published by Zebra Books 29 Dec 20
I am not a huge fan of cowboy romances, but I was hooked to this series from the first and awaited each new chapter in the Miller family saga. Julie and Kaiden have been childhood antagonists who found the other attractive but ended up maintaining a bristly exterior to keep their feelings safe and hidden. Apparently things haven’t changed much, now that they’ve met again, which makes for romance being more subtle than I like. Kaiden is a master craftsman and more than willing to help his neighbor, Juan Garcia, remodel his house to handle his continued physical degradation as Juan’s MS continues to advance. He does not, however, plan on running into Juan’s daughter, his high school nemesis, for whom he once had the hots for and surprising still finds extremely attractive.
Julia couldn’t wait to leave the small town she grew up in for the bigger and brighter pastures of the big city. Home to help her father out and supervise the remodel, she can’t help but fall back into finding Kaiden too distracting for her peace of mind. She handles this attraction the way she always has – with an abrasive front aimed at keeping him away. It doesn’t quite work as successfully as it did when she was a teen, and Kaiden manages to worm his way deeper into her heart and body.
In other news: Kaiden’s dad is quite the handful, challenging Kaiden on every front such that Kaiden is forced into an action that he might regret. Julia’s brother, who’s been incommunicado in his special ops job, shows up for a not-so-pleasant cameo appearance. It doesn’t look quite so promising for Julia and Kaiden, but this is a romance and kudos to the author for bringing it all together and tying a bow around it.
This is definitely not my favorite Miller family story, but there are other siblings and I look forward to rediscovering the magic I first found in this series.
Grade: C
Summary:
For the hardworking folks of Morgantown, home really is where the heart is. But sometimes it takes leaving for a while to figure that out . . .
Kaiden Miller may be the family jokester, but he takes his work on their ranch very seriously. And as a sought-after master carpenter to boot, he’s busier than ever. Still, when he’s asked to renovate the neighboring ranch, he’s more than willing. The owner, Juan Garcia, is ailing, and Kaiden expects to find the property pretty run down. He doesn’t expect to find his old nemesis—Juan’s daughter,
Julia—overseeing his work . . .Julia’s not sure why Kaiden never liked her. But if working with him makes life easier for her father, so be it. Yet to her surprise, not only is Kaiden great with her father, he’s great with her too. As the weeks pass, it becomes harder to ignore their simmering attraction. And when Julia’s boss turns up with a sweet deal, both she and Kaiden will have to decide where their loyalties—and their hearts—lie . . .
No excerpt available.
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