He’s not the only one who needs saving… But maybe they can save each other? Dark, brooding, dangerous…and possibly suicidal. Renegade rancher Justin Cade was exactly the kind of man former army chaplain Brielle Thompson needed to avoid after escaping the horrors of Afghanistan with an honorable discharge–and PTSD. The whole point of moving to the remote Rocky Mountains of Colorado was to … of Colorado was to leave the darkness behind, not fall back into it. But falling she is…
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I have enjoyed each book in this series and have generally felt an emotional connection with the characters and their circumstances, but this book laid down the feels and I found myself wiping the tears away on more than one occasion. Like this author has done to me before, my heart was breaking continuously in just the first few chapters. I hadn’t even imagined the depth of pain Justin was feeling prior to this book. Add in a heroine with a fascinatingly atypical profession dealing with her own grief, guilt, and PTSD and this book just tipped the scales to FANTASTIC. The friendship, conflict and passion between Justin and Brielle was superbly written and well thought out. Although this is a category romance, Rock’s books never simply focus on the H/h. The extended Cade family, a new baby, the Fresh Start residents, as well as the Loveland Clan all make poignant appearances that help create an even more deeply satisfying story.
This author has managed to write a genuinely moving and realistic story about two broken individuals coming together and helping each other through their grief and guilt. I loved every minute of it!
A fictional romance that is too real.
This is a beautiful, clean romance with the harsh realities of ptsd, among others.
I felt ALL the emotions while reading. Justin and Brielle were honestly meant for each other.
Their journey wasn’t easy, but totally worth it. It just made me sigh with happiness and relief at the end. I feel there is more coming to their story, or maybe I hope there is with the next in the Rocky Mountain Cowboy series.
These are all part of a series. Each has their own main characters with an HEA, but they do include ongoing references to the whole family and I love it.
Can be read alone, in any order, but recommend starting at the beginning so you can fall in love with the whole bunch
BAD BOY RANCHER by Karen Rock is the third book in the Rocky Mountain Cowboys series. Even though it’s part of series, it can definitely be read as a standalone book. However, after reading it, if you haven’t read the other two in the series, you will be rushing to get your hands on them to see what you have missed. It’s that good!
The series deals with the Cade’s and Loveland’s and their century old feud, how their paths keep crossing and even a little fence mending as feelings are laid out and misconceptions are cleared up.
BAD BOY RANCHER centers round Justin Cade’s story. His bad boy appearance and his love of death defying danger is both attracting and scary at the same time. He keeps everyone, including his family, at a distance because he doesn’t feel he’s worth their love. After all, he is only one half of a whole – one of a set of twins – the other whose death he feels responsible for.
Justin managed to literally run into former Army chaplain Brielle Thompson. Their attraction is almost immediate, but they both carry so much baggage from their past that makes them both leery of any sort of personal connection. Brielle was released with an honorable discharge from her military duties due to PTSD after serving in Afghanistan. She’s trying to adjust to civilian life and control her PTSD by moving to Carbondale to run Fresh Start, a facility to provide treatment for mental health and addiction problems where clients come for help and ways to find a second chance.
It’s through her effort to help one of her clients that Brielle is finally able to share her problem to help another and possible start her road to recovery. It’s then that she fully realizes how much Justin means to her. But is she able to live with his taste for beating death adventures? At the same time, through finally reaching out to therapy, Justin realizes that he wants live again, that he didn’t die with his brother and he would want him to LIVE again. Not only does he want to live – he wants a life with Brielle that includes children and home, but he also wants to have adventures and see the world. The problem is can he have it all?
Their common goal is to keep Fresh Start open and both work towards that goal. Can they work to convince the naysayers and haters to gain support for the place bring them both to facing their fears and ultimately to each other? Maybe succeeding in both!
Along the way, Cole Loveland and Justin Cade find out they have more in common than they thought and fences seem to be coming down between the families old feud. Justin even shakes hands and give his blessing to a Loveland to seek out his Mom’s hand in marriage.
BAD BOY RANCHER will pull at your heartstrings, make you laugh and definitely keep the pages turning. At the end of the book, you can’t wait for the next installment in the Cade-Loveland story wondering whose adventure you will read about next.
I love the way the author brings to light the need for great places like Fresh Start that help real people deal with problems such as PTSD, eating disorders and other mental issues as well as all sorts of addictions like drugs and alcohol. They are not labels that society may want to stick on them but real people who need help and a second chance.
I, also love the way the author gives us a continuing glimpse into the stories of the folks in the previous stories in this series keeping us up to speed with them as the big story continues to unfold.
I highly recommend BAD BOY RANCHER to anyone that loves a totally awesome book, wants to feel the emotions that the characters in the book are feeling and likes a book with values and teaches us all how great life is with love and family in our lives!
Oh, Justin. He is NOT a nice person in the beginning of this book, but he has some very compelling reasons for why he is the way he is! He and Brielle are perfect for each other since both of them are avoiding their pasts and not truly living in the present. As they learn to confront their issues alone and together, we get to follow along on their romantic yet very realistic journey! I love that Karen Rock doesn’t sugarcoat any of the topics covered in Bad Boy Rancher. I could’ve done without the couple of uses of the Lord’s name in vain, but overall a brilliant story!
***I received a copy of this book from the author and am under no obligation to give a positive review. All thoughts are my own.
I was not sure what to expect when I started reading this book. I always like Karen Rock so I was all in, but the blurbs were always brief and the cover clearly a white hat. When I started reading I was blown away. Rock captured utter desperation and clawing your way home in a way I have seen few authors accomplish. Both Bree and Justin need each other, but they need to forgive themselves even more. This book draws you in from the very beginning and doesn’t let up until the very last page; Rock’s storytelling genius shines throughout.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this novel.