A Hero’s Heart

Excellent story line with heat!

For anyone who has lost a friend, spouse, child, grandchild to suicide. 22 veterans a day. The message is clear: be there for them in their darkest hours; listen, encourage to seek help over and over again until they do. Don’t wait for someone else to do it.

A competition between children, a rivalry between teenagers, a feisty partnership between adults. Their relationship grows and evolves into something full of sparks and spice. Whether it will last beyond the fundraising events that brought them together this time around will depend on if Emma can let herself fall for a charmer. But none of that will matter if Sterling can’t let go of the end of his buddy’s story.

Emma is on her way up. With immense success in her career and a drive to see her hometown healed from the tornado’s devastation she gets to work with promoting Prairie’s businesses using her professional talents and connections. One of those projects is helping Resolution Ranch get the funding it needs to really get off the ground. Emma is a bright breath of fresh air. She’s fiery, quick-witted, fiercely intelligent, and incredibly motivated. Sterling always provided the bait needed to push that much harder to achieve success. He’s also kind of an ass. A hot one. She can’t seem to keep her libido in check around him anymore and he’s doing nothing to stop that fire.

Sterling is coming home from the Army Rangers a bit broken. An injury has left him only fit for desk duty and a buddy’s suicide has left him reeling. Determined to never fall in love and get married, he heads back home to help with Travis’ Resolution Ranch as the ranch foreman where he hopes to find solace. What he finds not long after starting is a stunning blond, Emma, all grown up.

When Sterling and Emma come together in a somewhat reluctant partnership things heat up between them quickly. It isn’t long before they give into temptation and add sexy times to their heated bickering. Feelings nip at their heels but Emma reins it in because Sterling is clear with his intentions. He’s determined for their relationship to remain a fling and to end by returning to just friendly rivalry. But matters of the heart can’t be dictated.

The relationship angst is predictable but really well-written here. It’s believable and we feel for both of the characters. It’s clear who’s “at fault” but we understand the motivations behind the actions and we’re left hurting for both of them. But what was unexpected was the purse theft and the fall-out from that. One video was bound to be leaked but the way it was done was surprising and has implications for the next story, A Hero’s Haven.

Hearing Sterling’s heart while he bumbles his way through his confession and intentions is endearing, sweet, and makes me believe in his commitment to his own healing and their future together. I loved the graveside moment because it was from the heart, honest, sad, and yet so very full of hope. This is probably the best story from Tessa Layne that I’ve read yet. I’m really looking forward to Cash and Kaycee’s story and seeing more of Emma and Sterling in their periphery.

ARC for honest review with no compensation

A Hero’s Heart: Restoration Ranch is book 2 in the Flint Hills Military Heroes series by Tessa Layne and what a way to continue this series bringing back one of Prairie’s favorite sons.

Sterling Walker is a retired Army Captain and one of Prairie’s own boys decides to return home after getting a call from Travis to join Restoration Ranch, a ranch designed to help veterans to ease back into life after leaving the military and all they have seen and done during war times. But when his childhood friend and biggest rival shows up at the ranch to help with marketing and fundraising for the ranch little does he realize that she is what helped him along the way to become the man he is today…

Emma Sinclaire, a rising media star and hometown Prairie daughter has agreed to help do the marketing and fundraising for Restoration Ranch. Little does she know that she must work closely with her childhood friend and rival Sterling, who she has always had a crush on until they meet in the boardroom and she can’t deny the attraction is still their…

Can these two find a way to work together without one upping and bring the much needs funds to the ranch or will the battle of wills be the downfall of them and the ranch??

Captain Sterling Walker is a West Point graduate and former Army Ranger whose career was cut short by an injury that occurred in a training exercise. He didn’t want to spend the rest of his Army career sitting at a desk, so he retired. He was unsure as to what direction his life would take, but the last place he wanted to be was at a funeral for a fellow Ranger. He would never understand how his friend Johnny could have left his wife and young daughter alone when he had such a perfect life. Sterling vowed to never fall in love because it would only end in heartbreak.

After the funeral, Sterling received a phone call from a friend from his hometown of Prairie, Kansas. Travis Kincaid was the former Police Chief who was now involved with establishing a ranch for veterans where they could ease back into society, and he offered Sterling the job as Foreman at the ranch. Sterling was reluctant to take the job, but he decided to accept the position in Johnny’s memory so no more families would be left alone. He would devote all of his time to helping the veterans and spending time with old friends, with absolutely no time for romance. Or so he thought…

Emma Sinclaire is also a Prairie native who now lives and works in Kansas City for a media company. She was friends with Sterling in high school, but he never asked her out. He teased her, competed against her, drove her crazy, and made her cry. He was such a player back then and she was sure he hadn’t changed at all, so she would certainly never trust him again. Emma loved being in Prairie for the holidays, visiting her family and hanging out with her girlfriends. She was also looking forward to working with Travis on fundraising ideas for Resolution Ranch. She would do anything to help veterans. It was New Year’s Eve and everyone in town was celebrating at the Trading Post. Emma was looking at the songs on the jukebox when one of her girlfriends poked her in the side and told her to turn around. It was Sterling, and he looked incredibly hot and dreamy, but she wanted nothing to do with him. Of course, he sauntered over to her with his sexy smile and confident swagger. He apologized for being a jerk in high school and asked her if they could start over as friends. Emma didn’t know why he was being so nice to her, but she would soon find out.

Can Sterling and Emma put aside their differences to work together to make the Resolution Ranch Fundraiser a success? Or will their past prevent them from working as a team? Will Emma realize that Sterling has changed and give him a second chance?

“A Hero’s Heart” is the second book in the Resolution Ranch Series by Tessa Layne. The companion series, Cowboys of Flint Hills, also takes place in Prairie. This series revolves around military heroes and their return home to the small town. Sterling is fearless, determined and a loyal friend to everyone. He returned to Prairie a different man than when he left, but he knew that with Emma by his side, he would never be alone. I love this series because it highlights how important veterans are to our workforce and our communities. Tessa is a passionate and talented author and I am looking forward to the next book in the series, “A Hero’s Haven.”