“A real page turner with a sexy cowboy you can root for, a sassy heroine you can fall in love with, and an ugly dog that brings them together.”—CAROLYN BROWN, New York Times bestselling authorAt Big Chance Dog Rescue,Even humans get a second chanceAfter a disastrous mistake disbanded his Army unit, Adam Collins has returned home to Big Chance, Texas. He just wants to sell the family ranch, set up … returned home to Big Chance, Texas. He just wants to sell the family ranch, set up his sister and grandfather with the funds, and then ride off into the sunset.
Lizzie Vanhook has landed back in her hometown, heartbroken and jobless. Adding to her troubles is the unruly stray who’s claimed her as his own. Lizzie knows she’s in over her head. Enter Adam—not only does he work with dogs, he’s also tall, dark, handsome, and the one who got away…
Adam wants nothing to do with other people, much less dogs. But when his old flame asks him to help her train her scruffy dog, he can’t say no. As his reluctant heart opens up, the impossible seems possible: a second chance with the woman he’s always loved in a place where he, his friends, and the other strays who show up can heal and call home, Big Chance, Texas.
More praise for Big Chance Cowboy:
“Love…and puppies… Be prepared to fall in love with this cast of characters and this book.” —JENNIE MARTS, USA Today bestselling author of the Cowboys of Creedence series
”Big Chance Cowboy is a tail-wagging good read. I was hooked from start to finish.” —DEBBIE BURNS, acclaimed author of the Rescue Me series
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Lizzie Vanhook is driving home to Big Chance, Texas with a broken heart encased with insecurities and great concern for her father receiving chemo treatments for prostate cancer. Her tire low pressure indicator comes on so she pulls into Big America Fuel which has a free air pump. She hesitates when she sees a big black dog with patches of fur missing sitting next to the air pump. But he is wagging, so probably friendly. After all her tires are checked and pressure is good she and the Big America attendant surmise the indicator light clicked on incorrectly. The attendant tells her the dog has been hanging around for a while and guesses he was abandoned. They have been calling him D-Day. If he reports him he will be taken to a shelter and probably euthanized. Lizzie doesn’t like that idea at all but there is nothing she can do. Her mom doesn’t allow dogs in the house. She hops in her car and as she is about to pull out of Big America Fuel she notices a large, black dog head looking at her in her rearview mirror. “That dog got into my car somehow.” D-Day refuses to to get out of her back seat. Looks like he is going home with Lizzie. Little does she know that D-Day’s arrival is just the beginning of big changes in her life.
Big Chance Cowboy is the first book in Teri Anne Stanley’s Big Chance Dog Rescue series. All I need to see is dog rescue in the title or description of a book and I have to have it. This one was an absolute delight! There’s humor, drama, a little mystery and lots of doggy kisses. Lizzie goes to her high school crush, Adam Collins for help training D-Day as well as a place to keep him since her mom wants him out of the house. Adam has PTSD after a very bad experience in Afghanistan with his team and IED detector dog. The author brings these two together with trials, smiles and great attraction. This is a beautifully written story and one I wanted to never end. I can’t wait for the next installment in the series.
There aren’t many contemporary romances I’ll read. But if it’s written by Teri Anne Stanley, I’ll give it a go. She’s a friend and I really do enjoy her books. She always throws in some humor and a little bit of danger. This one also has dogs! So if you’re into those kinds of books, you’ll really enjoy this one.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing it.
This was a delightful story and I couldn’t put it down book it is a wonderful take in the first in a series. I so look forward to more of the charming town and army veterans that made appearances here.
Adams Collins comes home to Big Chance, Texas after his last mission in the army goes awry killing one and wounding the others. Adams carries the guilt around with him like a heavy mantle. He wants to sale the family ranch and help his sister with their grandfather whiling getting out of town.
Lizzie Vanhook is back in town after a break-up with her boyfriend. Her father also needs help is his real estate business as he is dealing with a medical issue.
This was a delightful tale. I adored reading how Adam overcomes his military experiences and finds a true calling.
I loved how this story was written in a dual POV format. This is my favorite as I can read their thoughts in a given scene. It really helps me to better understand a character.
It is a sexy read. Nothing overtly graphic and it a “less is more” type of romance. I would highly recommend this story to anyone over the age of 18.
Dogs, their masters and mistresses, and redemption.
I’m a sucker for dog books. Look through my previous reviews and you’ll see it. I like my dog books. I like the work of this author, too. Teri Anne Stanley has penned a story that kept me on the edge of my seat needing to know what would happen next. I liked the characters, even when they annoyed me, and I wanted to know more. My favorite character has to be D-Day.
The characters are flawed and it’s a good thing. I got emotionally involved with them right away. D-Day is a big, goofy dog that wants to belong. He ends up in Lizzie’s SUV and won’t leave. I know it’s a bit of a stretch for a stray to become a service dog so fast, but I liked how D-Day attached to Adam and helped him with his PTSD. Lizzie is a piece of work in that she’s headstrong, but I liked it. She knew what she wanted and why she wanted to stay around Big Chance. I wish she wouldn’t have worried about her past so much, but who hasn’t got things they wish they could change? You know? Then there’s Adam. I wasn’t a fan of the way he referred to D-Day as ‘it’, but he grew on me. I also wasn’t a fan of his constant insistence on leaving Big Chance. He knew a lot, but not everything. I also liked Loretta, the poor pit bull left for dead with her pups. I won’t get into the details, but if animal abuse is a trigger for you, Lortta’s part of the story and mentions in other places in the story will be triggers. Unfortunately, animals aren’t always treated like royalty and this book doesn’t glorify it, but it does show another way to handle the aftermath.
If you’re looking for a romance that’s got flawed characters, dogs and redemption, then this is the book for you. Grab a copy.
“Big Chance Cowboy” by Teri Anne Stanley has my favorite things in a romance: fun banter, steamy chemistry, and…dogs!
Military vet, Adam Collins is back home in Big Chance, Texas to fix up his family’s ranch so he can sell it to help out his sister, who takes care of their ailing grandfather. He doesn’t plan on staying.
Lizzie Vanhook is back home to heal after a relationship gone bad and to help out her father’s real estate business while he goes through cancer treatment. She is also searching for a new purpose.
Both Adam and Lizzie have their baggage. Adam with his PTSD and Lizzie with her insecurity so neither feel they belong together. But their hearts, if they can get past the chatter in their own heads, tells them otherwise.
Along with Adam and Lizzie, we meet Adam’s team from his last tour in the military. As she does with Adam, Ms. Stanley writes about Talbott’s and Jake’s issues with compassion.
There are also the dogs—D-Day, Patton, and Loretta and her puppies—whose antics will grab your heart (if Adam already hasn’t).
Ms. Stanley touches on PTSD and dementia, two issues that can either come across as unrealistic or overdone (in my opinion), but she finds the balance and handles them perfectly. Personally, I think better than other authors I have read.
“Big Chance Cowboy” is the first book I have read by this author and it will definitely not be the last. Ms. Stanley has earned a spot on my auto-buy list.
Our Veterans deserve much better treatment than they get. I believe that all our men in uniform, soldiers, police, firemen ..etc, who keep us safe, should be paid what the bureaucrats and politician in DC are paid- and the bureaucrats and politicians deserve the salaries that our first responders are paid. This is the first book in a new series about veterans coping with PTSD and physical impairments and abandoned dogs who can be trained to help them.
Adam and Emma Collins’ parents were killed in an auto accident and they came to live with their grandparents at their ranch in Big Chance, Texas, where their grandfather trained dogs. Emma’s BBF was Lizzie Vanhook, who had a crush on Adam. Adam was angry and didn’t think he was good enough for Lizzie and left for the military right after high school graduation. As a Ranger he trained dogs, but on one mission, Tank, his dog failed to detect a bomb, which went off. Meanwhile, Lizzie is also returning to Big Chance after her business partner/ boyfriend turned out to be not a nice person and her father has prostate cancer. She is coming home to help him with his real estate business. On the way, when she stops at a gas station, a large dog stows away in her car. The dog had been abandoned and the attendant had named him D-Day and he refused to get out of Lizzie’s car.
Emma is now a widow, their grandfather is suffering from dementia and Adam’s has been living at the ranch, trying to fix it up so he can sell it, give Emma money to start over, get their grandfather in a home and then disappear. Along with the PTSD, he feels that the FUBAR is his fault and does not want to be responsible for anyone. But then Lizzie comes for assistance with D-Day, several of his men come to the ranch for help and more rescue dogs show up. There is a mystery about a missing dead and illegal dog fights. Adam finds that both Lizzie and D-Day calm him. Will he realize that those people and dogs needing him also are there for him as well, before it is too late?
This is a beautifully written story, with wonderful characters, easy, witty banter, endearing dogs and I look forward to reading the next book in the series. I have read several similar stories about veterans coming home and finding ways to help their fellows with working on ranches and farms. More of these facilities are needed and deserve funding more than the waste of tax dollars by those in DC who just want to buy votes.
I read an ARC from NetGalley.com. This is my unbiased and voluntary review.
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Sarah –
This was a completely unexpected reading treat. I was hooked by the idea of veterans, cowboys, and dogs, but I really didn’t expect such complex, beautifully written characters and a story I couldn’t put down.
Lizzie is a fabulous heroine. Back in her small town, she’s nursing a broken heart and taking care of her family business when she finds herself suddenly saddled with an enormous dog to care for. I love Lizzie’s heart and the way she chases her passions. Adam is an equally wonderful leading man – even if he spends the first half of the story being as miserable as he can and chasing away anyone who tries to get close. His military experiences feel real and raw and when we meet him, PTSD is breaking his spirit. I loved Adam’s journey in this book, and I love the animals who force him to feel again.
Even though this book tackles some tough topics sensitively and thoughtfully, it isn’t a dark or a heavy read. The wonderful dogs in this book keep the story relatively light and the motley mix of oddball characters that congregate on Adam’s ranch kept me smiling. I love Adam and Lizzie’s town and I love the quirky mix of characters. This is a low heat romance with great sexual tension between Adam and Lizzie. I love the little bit of action at the end and I love the way Adam and his friends slowly grow into a sense of purpose on the tumble down ranch.
Reviewers received a free copy of this book to read and review for Wicked Reads.
4 1/2 STARS!
BIG CHANCE COWBOY is the first book in the delightful new Big Chance Dog Rescue series by Teri Anne Stanley and brings us the story of a former soldier and a fill-in realtor who are each returning home and reconnecting.
Adam catches a reader’s heart quickly with the pain he’s wearing on his sleeve when he returns home after his last mission gone wrong with a broken heart and soul. He wants nothing to do with anyone, but life just won’t leave him alone and keeps foisting one lost soul after another off on him to take care of.
Lizzie is a complex character who isn’t thrilled to be back in town either. Her dreams were shattered and now her dad’s sick and she needs to be useful. She crushed on Adam years ago, but the man who has returned home isn’t he man who left.
I highly recommend this story to anyone looking for a band of soldiers with hearts of gold, some adorable animals in the mix, and most of all a gentle love story in the making as the world slowly falls into place. I’m looking forward to more to come in this heartwarming series!
This story addresses real issues that are so often ignored in a beautifully written book with very well developed characters. The horrors of the aftermath of war in many of our veterans, the devastating effects of dementia on patients and their families, and the abandonment and abuse of animals. All of these issues are creatively spun in a tale that is peppered with quite a few humorous moments centered in the small Texas town of Big Chance. Lizzie is a force of nature to be reckoned with, Adam doesn’t stand a chance, and I stayed glued to the pages from beginning to end.
Thanks to Source Casablanca and NetGalley for a copy of this book to review and for introducing me to another author. This review represents my own thoughts and opinion.
I so enjoyed this first book in the series and really look forward to reading the next. Lizzie Vanhook is back in Big Chance, Texas. She has no job and is living with her parents. Stopping to check her tire pressure, she finds a large dog in the backseat, a stray that refuses to leave. Lizzie approaches former military and dog handler Adam Collins to help her with D-Day, the dog. Adam is dealing with PTSD, his guilt over the loss of his K-9 Tank and a mission that went so wrong. His plan is to sell the ranch, make enough money for his sister and grandfather (who has dementia) and then head out of town. That is before he meets Lizzie who turns his life upside down. Such a wonderful story of a man who feels responsible for everyone around him, his former military buddies who show up at the ranch and the dogs that need his care. Danger soon enters his world as a dog fighting ring has been exposed. Can he save the dogs and his future with Lizzie? I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)
This is going to be a good series…wounded veterans, dogs, small Texas town….couldn’t ask for more!
I love small towns and when they are set in Texas…well then I’m all in! Big Chance is one of those dying towns, but Lizzie returns home to help her family and has big hopes and dreams for this sleepy little town. There are only a few things standing in her way, but nothing that can’t be resolved. Adam has also returned home to Big Chance, but just to help get the family ranch ready to sell to help out his grandfather that has dementia and his sister that cares for him. He doesn’t realize that perhaps this is where he is meant to be and there might just be someone that will keep him here.
I really enjoyed this story between Lizzie and Adam. They have a past that didn’t quite end well but have the possibility to start fresh. Their interactions weren’t rushed and made me chuckle at times. Then there are the dogs. First, there is D-Day, a mutt of some sort that decides that Lizzie’s car is the one to ride in when she stops at a rest stop on the way home. He is a sad looking creature but there is potential. My heart broke when they found a mother pit bull and her puppies and they knew that someone was up to now good on that land. Adam doesn’t want anything to do with any of the dogs despite his background and training and he is really the perfect person to help these dogs. Then some of his buddies from his Army unit show up, perhaps not what Adam wants but sometimes the last thing you want is the one you need. It is like this ranch is becoming a second chance for many to heal and become better versions of themselves.
Parts of this book are predictable but the story weaves a tale that while you might know the end result, you don’t know the path it will take to get there. The characters have real problems and are ones you might meet in your own town or may even be people you know.
We give this 4 paws up and can’t wait to see what is in store for Big Chance, Texas!
Big Chance Cowboy by Teri Anne Stanley is one of a new breed of romances featuring those soldiers damaged at war: either PTSD, missing limbs, other injuries, and their attempts to fit themselves back in to society. This story opens with Adam, the dog handler whose dog died during an attack on a terrorist’s hideout. In that same attack, one of Adam’s compatriots had died, three had walked away with serious injuries, and Adam with survivor’s guilt and PTSD. He had returned home to Bog Chance, Texas, something he swore he would never do, to fix up his grandfather’s farm for sale so the money could be used for his grandfather’s care (dementia), freeing up his sister to have a life. Enter Lizzie, who has always had a crush on Adam, but is currently returning to Big Chance to make a life after dumping her fiancé and quitting her job in Houston. She knows she has no chance with Adam and really isn’t looking for one. One by one Adam acquires dogs that need homes and disable veterans that he feels duty-bound to help.
The reader can feel Adam’s PTSD. It is so real that it vibrates through his character. Stanley has done us a favor by trying to put it into words so we readers can all understand what happened to him as a result of his service. Talbott and Jake concisely show other injuries and Granddad explores the mystery that is dementia and the challenges with caring for each of these injuries. Heart wrenching describes it but heart-warming as things improve, slowly and sometimes temporarily. Lizzie’s recovery from the emotional abuse she suffered at the hands of her fiancé is another startling revelation. This is a book about survival and recovery and it’s charmingly couched in the genre of romance. It is complicated and difficult, sometimes, but warm and wonderful as well. I recommend it. In the end it is an upliftng read. I recommend it.
I received a free ARC of Big Chance Cowboy. All opinions and interpretations contained herein are solely my own. #netgalley #bigchancecowboy
3.5
What I liked:
The writing style
The characters
Part of a series: Big Chance Dog Rescue
Standalone
HEA
I look forward to reading the next book in this series.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC from NetGalley.
Quite frankly, this book had me at dog rescue. Throw in a veteran turned cowboy, second chance romance, small town drama, a little intrigue and you have an emphatic yes from me. I found the writing a little disjointed and the actual romance only lightly delved into (it seemed to be a secondary story to Adam’s emotional development) but the story line and character development kept my attention to the end. The author touches on some serious topics such as PTSD and dog fighting but does so in a perceptive and realistic fashion. Looking forward to reading more about the characters at Big Chance Ranch Rescue.
I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. This review was posted voluntarily.
This is the first book I read by this author, and now I am hooked.
Adam Collins, a former MP Army Ranger, is back in Big Chance after his last mission. One that not only changed his life, but also that of his unit. He’s now become a hermit and suffers from PTSD.
Lizzie Vanhook has decided to return home jobless, heartbroken and with little self esteem.
A dog not only brings them together, but also gives Adam and his friends a purpose in life.
This was a touching story that at times was heartbreaking, and one in which the author reminds us of the effects war has on the brave men and women who fight for our freedom. Some return with physical injuries, others with psychological and emotional ones. We as a nation, need to help them integrate back to civil life and in this case a way to help might be with support dogs.
This was a well written , engaging story with complex characters you will come to love. The secondary characters were just as interesting and have the potential of having their own story in the future.
I was entrusted a copy of this book by Netgalley and Sourcebooks. The opinions expressed are solely my own.