Once a cowboy, always a cowboy Ten years ago, Jack Everett left his family’s ranch without a backward glance. Now, what was supposed to be a quick trip home for his father’s funeral has suddenly become more complicated. The ranch Jack can handle–he might be a lawyer, but he still remembers how to work with his hands. But turning around the failing vineyard he’s also inherited? That requires … also inherited? That requires working with the one woman he never expected to see again.
Ava Ellis broke her own heart the night she let Jack go. She was young and scared–and secretly pregnant with Jack’s baby. Now that he’s back and asking for her help, Ava sees her opportunity to right the wrongs of the past. But how will he feel about the son he’s never known? Could this be their second chance–or their final heartbreak?
“A fabulous storyteller who will keep you turning pages and wishing for just one more chapter at the end.”—New York Times bestselling author Carolyn Brown
“Cross my heart, this sexy, sweet romance gives a cowboy-at-heart lawyer a second chance at first love and readers a fantastic ride.”—New York Times bestselling author Jennifer Ryan
“A.J. Pine’s writing is superb.”–Romancing-the-Book.com on Six Month Rule
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I love the family drama, emotional storyline, and intense chemistry. You’ll fall for this cowboy.
Sweet & Sexy – my kind of romance. Pine did a great job of weaving back story into present day while keeping the storyline moving forward. Romantic scenes between Ava and Jack were squirm in your seat worthy and well written. Once I started, I couldn’t stop as it was a good old fashioned – but modern day – romance that included realistic issues and baggage to keep me turning the pages. I enjoyed secondary characters, especially the Everett brothers, and am intrigued to read their stories!
This book is an easy read. I could not put it down. Pine creates lovable characters that readers fall in love with!
Second Chance Cowboy by A.J. Pine is book One in the Crossroads Ranch Series. This is the story of Ava Ellis and Jack Everett.
Ava and Jack were once young sweethearts but they ended up breaking up. Ava had a secret that she thought might mess up Jack’s plans. Jack was headed away from his home town. Jack became a lawyer and now about 10 years later he back for his father’s funeral. Jack plans on it being something that won’t take long but finds that the ranch is manageable but vineyard is failing and he needs help.
Which leads him back to Ava…will this be their second chance at love? How will Jack feel when he learns Ava’s secrets.
Another amazing read.
I read the second book in this series first. I loved it so much that I had to go back and read this one and it was definitely worth reading.This book had amazing characters and a seamless storyline.I can’t wait to read the next book in this amazing series
You know what’s exciting? Reading the first book in a new series, loving it and the characters and knowing that really great books are coming. That’s what happened when I read Second Chance Cowboy, the first book in the Crossroads Ranch series by A.J. Pine. Contemporary Westerns are one of my favorite subgenres, and I’m so stinkin’ excited to have this series to look forward to.
The three Everett brothers — Jack, Luke and Walker — are poster children for a troubled childhood. They endured their beloved mother’s death and their father’s complete falling apart and drowning in despair, anger and alcoholism. Jack Sr. took out his anger on his boys, and because Jack was the oldest, he became the shield. This abuse took its toll on all of them in different ways. Jack left town to be a lawyer, Luke is a jovial risk-taker/bull rider who is obviously covering up his true feelings, and Walker, the youngest, is a hot mess who self-medicates with alcohol. I adore each one of the brothers. They are hilarious, and they do love each other in their own way.
After leaving 10 years ago, Jack is forced to return to Oak Bluff for his father’s funeral. He doesn’t want to be there because the ghosts of his past loom very large, especially in the house he grew up in. So, while he and his brothers give each other a pretty hard time, which can be a little jarring at first, there is a current of love between them. It’s just been buried for a while due to their estrangement.
Jack has plans to leave after his father’s estate is settled, but two things happen that convince him he needs to stay longer. He runs into his long-lost high school love, Ava Ellis, and he’s required to breathe life into a vineyard his father purchased on their land before his death. Talk about two big speed bumps! Well, it gets better.
Ava Ellis comes face-to-face with the man she fell in love with at 18, whose baby she carried, Owen, who is now 9. The whys and hows of Jack not knowing about Owen are quite complicated, but I appreciated and came to understand why Ava handled things the way she did 10 years ago. (If you’re not a fan of secret-baby romances and the complications it presents in the story, I understand. For me, Pine deftly handled this plot point.)
As for Ava? She’s AWESOME. She’s such an incredible mom to Owen, and while she feels terrible for what happened with Jack, she always believed she did the right thing by sending him away. She knew the household he grew up in and knew he had to get out of Oak Bluff. Another reason I love her: She’s not a doormat, but she is a truly selfless person, and to top it off? She never stopped loving Jack.
“I loved you, Jack. I loved you every day we were together, and I’m pretty sure I’d fall for the man you’ve become if I had the chance to.”
Once Ava and Jack meet again, she doesn’t waste time telling Jack about Owen. Obviously, this is a big shock for Jack, and anyone would expect him to be angry and he is … but not for too long. (Thanks to his father, Jack has some serious inner demons to wrangle with throughout the book.) There is a little hemming and hawing, but Jack makes no bones about wanting to meet Owen. Jack and Ava communicate well, making the difficult circumstances somewhat easier to navigate, where other authors might be tempted to let miscommunication and assumptions rule, leading to over-the-top and unnecessary drama. Not the case here.
Ava and Jack have to navigate how to introduce Jack to Owen. Who is Jack? How does Ava know him? Will they tell Owen exactly who Jack is? Will Jack stay in town and be a father even though he has committed to leave in a few weeks? This is a lot for these characters to work through, and it doesn’t just impact Jack, Ava and Owen. There are also his brothers, Luke and Walker, and his Aunt Jenna, who stepped in and raised them when their father checked out. So many pieces to this puzzle.
Can we talk a moment about Jack and Ava together? Goodness gracious. The chemistry blazes between these two, and that’s an understatement. Ms. Pine creates a connection between the characters that is strong and even deeper than “chemistry.” There’s no question that Ava and Jack belong together.
“As soon as you leave I’m going to have to take a really cold shower and think about doing my taxes or something.” He leaned forward like he was going to kiss her but instead let his lips brushed against her ear.
“I could do your taxes,” he murmured.
While the family issues are heavy and complex, they don’t drag the whole story down, and it’s easy to feel compassion for the Everett brothers and Aunt Jenna. They all deserve an HEA, but there is so much work to be done. I loved the family dynamic. Even though they’ve been through hard times, they love each other and willingly pull Ava and Owen into the Everett fold.
Ms. Pine’s character development, strong family building and interesting secondary characters add layers to the story that jacked up my enjoyment of Second Chance Cowboy to maximum levels.
*copy provided by publisher
There was something about this book. The chemistry between Jack and Ava was scorching. There’s a lot more to this book that is worth mentioning, but it isn’t very often that the chemistry between characters sparks this strongly from their first meeting (well, the one 10 years later) and continue throughout the title.
This is my first book by A. J. Pine, and I absolutely loved it. I thought Jack was authentic, and my heart broke for him and all of the things he was denying himself because he was afraid he was like his father. I loved all of the moments he had to prove to himself, and those around him, that he was nothing like the man and the past that he was running from.
I liked Ava, a lot. I thought she was strong, and I respected the reasons for the decisions she made, even though I am not sure I fully agreed with them. Choosing to keep from someone that he is going to be a father is a big secret to keep, and she knows this. And, she owns that she did it without really making excuses. She gives explanations, but not excuses. Did I totally agree with her? No…although I see her logic.
But, it doesn’t matter if I agree with the choices of the characters as much as it matters that I believe they do…and, I believed in the characters.
The best thing about a second chance, and it worked so well here, is that there is a history between the characters that heightens not only the first meeting, but the subsequent interactions. It was done so well in this title that you felt the tension between Jack and Ava, the longing, the desire to reconnect and the fear that them not making it this time would destroy them both.
This is also the first book in a new series yet it doesn’t fall into the trap of being too much about the secondary characters in order to build the story (which is a pet peeve of mine). I think this worked so well because the secondary characters are his brothers, and other members of his family, so their inclusion in the story feels more natural than other first in the series titles.
This was an emotional read with amazing sexual chemistry. I loved it, I recommend it, and I can’t wait for the next in the series!
This is an amazing start to this new series!!!
Ten years ago, Jack left home but he didn’t know all that he was leaving behind. Now that he’s home for his father’s funeral, Ava decides that the time is right to share that Jack is a father to an amazing nine-year-old boy. This book is completely about second chances- for Jack and Ava, for the Everett family, and for Owen.
From the first page, I was drawn into this book and didn’t want to do anything other than power through to the end. I hope every character in this story gets their own book!!
After enduring abuse at the hands of his father Jack Everett couldn’t wait to leave home at the ripe age of eighteen, he was determined to leave all the hatred behind and make a new life for himself, one that he could be proud of, and earn by his own right. And now ten years later he has found that life, working as a lawyer, and doing something that he is quite proud of, but life has just handed him an unexpected blow, his father has passed away and it’s on him to return to settle his affairs. So he packs a bag and heads to the one place he never wanted to return to, thinking he’ll blow into town, put his father in the ground, handle some paperwork, and then be on his way. But once he is there he soon realizes it isn’t going to be that easy, he has inherited a vineyard, which means there are vines to care for, chores to be done, and of course angry brothers to contend with. And a certain beautiful woman from his past with a secret to seek answers from too…
The day Jack Everett left town he took a small part of Ava Ellis’s heart with him, she knows it was wrong to let him go without telling him that he was about to be a father, but she was scared and unsure of what to do, so she just let him walk away. It has been a long ten years without him in her life, but she has never stopped loving him, and seeing him in the face of their child reminds her that she made a huge mistake all those years ago… one that she has paid dearly for too. So, when she hears that he has returned home to bury his father she makes a plan to capture a little of his time and clue him in on the secret she has kept from him all these years, one that she hopes will reunite them… question is will Jack be able to forgive her for keeping it?
Second Chance Cowboy is a touching story about forgiveness, hope, and happy reunions, but not without a little drama thrown in here and there too! From the first page of this one I was pulled into the world of Everett family, quickly finding myself feeling right at home, and also quickly falling quite smitten for a certain brooding cowboy. This was a very impressive introduction to not only a new series but also a new author, Ms. Pine’s beautifully crafted tale left me dazzled and anxious for more, I just can’t wait to see what she has in store for this family next!! The story line was engaging, rich with heartfelt emotion, and had just the right amount of toe curling romance sprinkled in to trigger the swoons too! I highly recommend you take a chance on this one, it’s a second chance romance story that is sure to have you feeling the words and leave your heart overflowing!!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this title.
Jack couldn’t wait to leave home when he turned 18. Being abused and trying tisane his bothers he was ready to get out.
He did good for himself and became a lawyer. Letting his brothers take care of the ranch and sending money back home.
When his dad dies he heads back home.
he has to take care of his affairs and learn they have a Vineyard to now take care of.
Ava was heartbroken when Jack left town. She kept a secret from Jack that she can not hide any longer now that he is back. But will he forgive her.
Hope and love with some drama keeps the reader turning the pages. Second chances sometimes do have a happy ending.
I voluntarily read a copy of this book.
The world according to A.J. Pine is a canvas of past heartaches, mistakes and ever rising stakes. It’s the lessons we learn, memories we make and the moments of laughter that help us through the rough times. From first love to broken heart, Jack and Ava take readers into the eye of a storm. With realism and wisdom, Second Chance Cowboy shows the pureness of heart and the naivete of love. The road is treacherous, the work is strenuous but the reward can be advantageous in the end. Youth broke their hearts can adulthood help mend them? The author and her characters twist and turn their way right into your heart.
Courtesy of Night Owl Reviews