USA Today bestseller Caitlin Crews returns to Cold River, CO, and cowboys, with an emotional second chance romance in Secret Nights with a Cowboy, the stunning first installment in her new Kittredge Ranch series. A man holding on… Riley Kittredge has always known exactly what he wanted. His land, his horses. His woman. He met and married Rae Trujillo far too young, and their young love … Trujillo far too young, and their young love combusted right after they said their vows. But their passion has never managed to burn itself out. Yet when Rae shows this time, it’s not a night of pleasure she demands, but a divorce.
A woman letting go…
Rae should have moved on a long time ago. She knows she and Riley just don’t work. They might make great lovers, but that doesn’t make a marriage. And now Rae wants a new life, complete with a baby. But when her husband offers to be a father, to give her the family she’s always secretly desired, she and Riley will both have to face demons from their past–and choose love over fear at last.
“Loaded with charming characters [and] wit….will win the heart of any romance fan.”–Publishers Weekly (starred review) on A True Cowboy Christmas
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Secret Nights with a Cowboy is Book 1 of Caitlin Crews Kittredge Ranch series which is a spin-off of her Cold River Ranch series. While I enjoyed revisiting characters from the past, this story would stand perfectly fine on its own.
This story was filled to the brim with drama, angst and brought out a ton of feels. I wanted nothing more than to shake Rae throughout most of the story. While her connection with Riley tended to be a bit explosive at times, I really thought he showed a ton of patience, perhaps more than she deserved.
Overall this was a very enjoyable start to a new series and I can’t wait to read more about the Kittredge family.
ARC received via NetGalley.
Rae Trujillo was raised in the shadow of the constant bickering of her mother and her grandmother, and overwhelming criticism from her grandmother of just about everything in her life. Riley Kitteridge was raised with his brothers and his much younger sister who was often left in his care, in a home dominated by the stern silence of a father who had little time or care for his childrenand an eye his work and the plans he’s had for himself since childhood.
From the time they met as children, Rae and Riley knew they were meant to be together. They married right out of high school and moved into the hiuse Riley built for them. Both products of their upbringing, though their love was strong, they simply didn’t know how to be together. Rae didn’t know how to communicate her feelings; Riley had his eyes on the goals he’d set for himself. After eight years, their on again, off again marriage was taking its toll – on them, on their families, on their friends in the small town they called home. Now, when old secrets threaten to tear them apart Rae and Riley need to decide if they are ready to go it alone or can they find the strength to forge a new path together.
This second chance romance is meant to be a slow build, but comes across extremely frustrating and repetitive. Ms. Crews spends too much time and space working through Rae’s inability to communicate and teasing her secret, while not spending nearly enough time on Riley’s issues. I will say that Ms. Crews did an excellent job of expressing the heart and depth of feeling of the characters at the conclusion of the book mostly, I think, by letting the characters share with each other through their dialogue, rather than through her explanation of their thoughts. I really loved Rae and Riley, but I don’t think the book ever reached its full potential.
They married too young and now they seem to be friends with benefits…and not always friends. Rae Trujillo fell in love with Riley Kittredge and they married as soon as she graduated from high school. Years later, she is confused by not only her feelings for Riley, but she has withheld something from her past. Riley has been unable to get her to talk, to really talk to him. Rae realizes that she would like to have a child, but she and Riley had agreed not to have children. He was responsible for his younger siblings and wasn’t ready to go through that again. Rae’s character was difficult for me to understand as she didn’t seem to know what she wanted, but instead of discussing this with her husband, she did so with everyone else. It also seemed unusual that he would wait for years for her to come to a decision about their future. I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)
Riley and Rae married right out of high school. Riley never knew why Rae left him. Rae never discusses Riley or their marriage with anyone, but spends many secret nights with him. Most people believe that they were divorced years ago. With a desire for a baby and a new start in life, Rae asks Riley for a divorce. Riley is stunned and angered by her request, but decides to deal with Rae in a different way than their usual method of fighting and passionate making up. I received a free copy of this ebook from the publisher though Netgallery. This is a powerful story of a couple that still loves each other, but still uses the same pattern of communications as they did in high school. I love seeing Riley starting the process by starting a new way of reacting. Even though I suspected the reason Rae left, it was potent when she dealt with all her feelings. It was equally powerful when Riley understood why. This book really pulled me into the story and had me feeling the emotions of the main characters. I love seeing their characters emotional growth. Even though I felt their emotions very powerfully at times, I am so glad that I read this story. I highly recommend this book.
This book will engage your emotions as the main characters get their second chance at a HEA. As much as I liked Riley and Rae, I have to admit they also had me feeling pretty frustrated with their dogged stoicism and resistance to just simply talk to one another and admitting their feelings. If you like your chemistry simmering, your emotions long suffering and a whole lot of angst, this book is right up your alley. As for me I thought it was a good romance and an intriguing start to this new series that I want to read more of. This is my frank, freely posted review.
Thanks go to the publisher and Net-Galley for the complimentary copy of Secret Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews prior to publication. An emotionally charged contemporary Romance. My opinions are my own and no one has influenced them.
Secret Nights with a Cowboy is a well-written romance with engaging characters and an emotionally charged plot. The pacing pulled me in and kept me entertained. The story gained speed as it progressed and had a fantastic ending, tying up all plotlines.
Rae Kittridge is the heroine, and she is ready to at last end her broken marriage, but it’s incredibly hard because she still loves her husband, and she hates to give up on the sexual chemistry that still exists.
Rae has a deep secret she’s never told anyone, including her estranged husband, even though he has the right to know. I felt her pain as she tries to stop seeing Riley cold turkey, especially when he tells her he’ll sign the divorce papers, but he wants to stay friends before they end their marriage.
Riley Kittridge is a yummy hero. He’s determined to get to the root of what went wrong between him and Rae. To do that, he needs to become her friend and quit clouding the relationship by late night sexual encounters with each other, no matter how fantastic. I loved his determination to succeed. I could sense his bewilderment as to why Rae left him years before while still visiting him at night.
This is a second chance romance, and the couple have been childhood sweethearts who married, and it didn’t work. This story starts when Rae is tired of hanging on to Riley. Their marriage has been broken for years.
I enjoyed Rae’s dilemma because she desperately needs to end things permanently, but her heart doesn’t want to give up. Riley is a dream hero from the start, so I really wanted them to find their way back to each other.
If you enjoy contemporary romances with a hot cowboy, one who isn’t willing to let the girl go, then you will love Secret Nights with a Cowboy. While this one isn’t my favorite novel by Ms. Crews, it’s an enjoyable read, and I’m glad I accepted the invitation to read and review. Happy reading!
A story of love. Of growing up and realising what you always thought you wanted may just be different to how you pictured it and not being able to express that may just be what destroyes the thing you love the most. Sometimes love is not enough, but sometimes, if you trust in it it may just be the most beautiful thing ever.
I have mixed feelings about this book.
The author is new to me and I’m really glad that I took a chance and read this book. I will be looking for more from her in the future. I liked her writing style and the pace of the book.
The part I didn’t like was the characters themselves. I understand that keeping secrets is a big plot twist but yet I found Rae to be so wish washy and bad at communication. I had a hard time connecting with her.
I loved the supporting characters of the book.
When an Ex is Not an Ex.
Whilst the angst in this romance was due to the H and h’s communication problems, their love for one another was never in doubt and though as a reader you want to give Rae a good shake for not giving her husband a reason when she first left him, there is no denying that when the truth finally comes out, the author makes a beautiful job of it. The author made me cry (which is always the sign of a good book) but ends on a HEA. As a bonus there is a separate novella included
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Caitlin Crews pulled out all the emotional stops in Secret Nights with a Cowboy, a second-chance, contemporary cowboy romance, and I loved every minute of this angst-laden novel, which gets 5 stars from this reader.
The main characters are Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujilllo, who married right after graduating high school in the small town of Cold River, Colorado. They built their home, were wild for each other in bed, but outside of that, were both rather immature and spent as much time arguing as they did making love. As often happens with those who marry so young, after only a couple of years, Rae moved back to her family, she and Riley avoided each other in public, and everyone in town simply assumed that they’d gotten a divorce, but were they ever wrong. What they didn’t know about was all the times over the next 8 years that Rae returned to Riley’s home for a night of hot sex and another argument, until finally, she shows up on Riley’s doorstep, tells him she wants a divorce, and that she’s moving from her parents home and into a room at a friend’s house in town.
The attraction between these two characters is still stronger than Rae’s decision to divorce Riley, who has always loved her. What he doesn’t understand is the why of it, although he’s tried to find out Rae’s reason for leaving him for years. We readers learn part of what Rae is feeling long before Riley does. Rae and Riley decided from the very start that they didn’t want children, since both came from somewhat dysfunctional families, but after Rae falls in love with her friend’s baby and realizes that her biological clock is ticking, she assumes that if she wants to have a child, she has to find a man willing to give her one and be a father to it, and she believes that man is not Riley. In addition, there is a secret so profound and so heartbreaking that she’s never shared it with anyone, and certainly not with Riley.
Rather than fight about it, Rae and Riley try to remain friends, and Riley eggs her on to start dating, something she’s never done with anyone but Riley. These characters, although they’ve been together since high school, seem to have grown older but have never matured into adults who could be honest with one another, and not let secrets or resentments tear them apart emotionally, because physically, their new friendship agreement turns into a friends-with-benefits arrangement which makes it clear that neither of them really wants to move on, and the emotional tug-of-war that follows is as gut-wrenching as anything I’ve read in a very long time.
This is a romance novel after all, so we know that there’s going to be an HEA ending for these two characters ahead, but prepare yourself for the roller coaster of emotional highs and lows you’re going to experience before we get to that ending, and keep your tissues handy, because I needed mine more than once in while reading this deeply moving novel.
Bonus Novella:
Sweet Nights with a Cowboy
This novella features another one of the Kittredge brothers, the youngest one, Connor, and it’s another second-chance story, but, at least for this reader, it didn’t pack the same emotional punch as the featured novel did, and it gets 4 stars from this reader.
In his junior year of high school, Connor was dating Melissa (Missy) Minton, who dumped him after seeing him flirting with one of the cheerleaders. As high school romances usually go, theirs was not a forever kind of relationship, and Missy made no secret of her desire to get out of Cold River, move to a big city and make something of herself and her life. One holiday season, she arrives back home as usual, this time sporting a very large diamond engagement ring, yet her fiance isn’t with her. This year, five years after her engagement, that ring is absent from her finger, and it’s something she doesn’t really want to discuss.
When she and Connor start talking again at the local bar, he’s still attracted to her and she to him, and when she mentions that she’s never gone on an actual date, Connor decides to ask her out, and one date soon turns into many dates and a lot of necking. Connor’s family tries to convince him not to get too involved with her because they are sure that Missy is going to leave for the city again, leaving Connor heartbroken.
So, will she leave or won’t she? I’m not spilling the beans, but I will say that this was a far more sweet and simple Christmas-themed romance, but nevertheless, an enjoyable one.
I voluntarily read an advanced reader copy of these 2 books. The opinions expressed are my own.
Rae and Riley have an emotional story. They have been married forever but not living together for years. The story was a different twist on a second chance romance theme. It starts out with them going to end their marriage. The path to their happily ever after was emotional and satisfying. The book also has a second story about Riley’s brother which is a sweet novella. I like the supporting characters and look forward to more stories from Cold River. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Restarting their marriage!
Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujillo married way too young right after Rae graduated high school and everyone in Cold River thought they had divorced when Rae moved out eight years ago and back in with her parents. Little did they know, Riley and Rae were still married and fought like two teenagers that never learned to talk out their problems.
Rae finally decided to move on and file divorce, but Riley knew that there were a still a lot of feelings between them and maybe they could rekindle their romance that never faded by learning to be adults about their emotions.
If you like Secret Nights with a Cowboy, you need to read the Cold River Ranch series because they are related.
P.S. You also get a second book about Connor Kittredge and Missy Minton when Missy returns to Cold River after the end of her long-term engagement.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
DID NOT FINISH
First let me say I have read other books by this author and loved them. But I just can’t get into this one. I have tried to read it three times and can’t get more then chapter four. I don’t like Rae or Riley
Both need to just grow up and move on or work out whatever the main problem is. Married couples that live apart and just meet up for the sex for years need help.
I may try and go back and try it again later—much, much later.
I hate not finishing a book, and giving a bad review but this one just does nothing for me.
Usually, a book has me into the story by end of chapter one.
I’m not even interested in what the big main reason Rae left him in the first place and it seems even Riley doesn’t know why.
I received and ARC from net galley and this is my honest opinion and am voluntarily giving it.
After reading the synopsis, I expected more from Rae and Riley’s story. I was halfway through the book and practically nothing had happened. I was skipping over a lot of fluff that really added nothing to the story. Not enough conversation and interaction. But I was intrigued because eventually Rae and Riley strike a baby bargain, right?
But, I felt like I was missing something. Maybe a prologue of Riley and Rae, the early years, just to show when it all fell apart? I don’t even think I really figured out how long they were estranged…but still secretly meeting most nights than not? It didn’t seem plausible given the amount of time they were supposed to be apart.
I have read a few of Caitlin’s books. Sometimes I can get into the story and sometimes not. This happened to be one of those times I couldn’t really get invested. Rae and Riley seemed damned if they did and damned if they didn’t.
3 stars.
I really wasn’t sure what to expect from this story, simply by the title. I really liked Riley and Rae’s story in this Cold River. series, in fact, I think this one is my favorite so far. I liked the build-up of their story from little snippets throughout the other books. I think Hope, Abby, and Rae have a wonderful friendship that has stood the test of time. I found that when I was listening to the radio and heard the country song Love You Like I Used To; it hit me that this is the perfect song for Riley and Rae’s relationship. Seeing both Rae and Riley grow as characters was an integral part of the story. There was a lot of repetition about certain aspects of their lives throughout the story; yet, I didn’t find that it actually felt as repetitive as it might have; but, actually as an integral piece of the story. This was a very well written story, with “real” characters that have real issues that many people can relate to. I applaud Ms Caitlin Crews for such a deep, intense story-line for these characters.
3.5 stars
Although this is book one in this new Caitlin Crews series, this series is a spin-off/continuation of her Cold River Ranch series. You absolutely do not have to read that series to read this one. But it’s great, so why not?
When the Kittredge family was delved into a bit in the book The Last Real Cowboy, Riley often ticked me off. He also had me really curious. It was mentioned now and again through that last series that Riley and Rae were married…or are married? It was never really explored, so I was excited to see this story was the exploration of that relationship.
I don’t hide the fact that I’m not big on characters having huge secrets. The thing is, usually the reader knows the big secret and that bad feeling in the pit of my stomach from knowing the secret is part of what I don’t like. In this story, the reader is as in the dark as Riley and all of Rae’s friends and family. Nobody knows why Rae left Riley all those years ago. The two had dated since high school and were always, very obviously, desperately head over heels for each other. And since Rae never elaborated to Riley, let alone anyone else in town, as to why the marriage didn’t work out, the small town filled in the blanks on their own. And she let them. I found myself filling in the blanks myself. I had a lot of scenarios in my head. I eventually hit on the right one, but I have to admit that it was a bit annoying to me how long we have to wait to find out the truth.
Rae is not good at speaking her truth. There is a scene with her friends where we learn the reason why she’s so tight-lipped, and I can’t blame the girl. This doesn’t me she’s a wallflower. Rae is actually very strong willed and outspoken…until it comes to things of consequence. She will defend her best girlfriends to the bitter end, no matter the situation. But don’t ask her anything personal about herself.
Riley is not much better at talking things out. Again, knowing his situation growing up it’s hard to blame the guy. But there comes a time when adults need to be adults if they want any sort of real and lasting connection to other adults, especially in a romantic sense.
All through this story I could feel the connection Riley and Rae have. I was rooting for them, for the most part. But I was more rooting for them to stop hurting each other and to actually talk more than anything else. Thankfully, the eventually begins to happen. To me, it felt like it dragged on for too long, though.
Just because this particular story didn’t hit the nail squarely on the head for me doesn’t mean I’m not still in love with this author. I will definitely be continuing this series. There are so many more people I want to see get their HEAs in this town.
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
SWEET NIGHTS WITH A COWBOY
This short holiday novella was included in my ARC of Secret Nights with a Cowboy. From what I gather, it is also included in the final published copies of that story. Therefore, I’m marking it as book 2.5 in this series.
Like I said, this is a novella. Really short and sweet. We get the story of the youngest Kittredge brother; his first and only love Missy, what went wrong, and their fling when she comes back to town to lick her professional and emotional wounds. In other words, it’s a beautiful second-chance romance.
I found this story to be extremely sweet. Missy and Connor have amazing chemistry. And because, at first, Connor believes he has a finite amount of time before Missy finds a new job out of town and moves away again, he pulls out all the romantic stops to give them both some fun and happy memories. Very swoony.
Definitely a feel-good holiday story worth a read.
4 stars
I didn’t think I needed Riley and Rae’s story, but I saw it was in the Cold Creek world, so I grabbed it without reading the blurb. But the more I got to know these two, the more they drew me in. This was a marriage in trouble, it seemed from the start. But I wanted them to succeed, it seemed they wanted to succeed, even though they were trying really hard to make it fail. They kept me on edge the entire book, then they ripped my heart out and stomped on it. But they pretty quickly revived it again, but the strength Rae shows, she blew my mind. And Riley, it was heartbreaking to see him fall apart, and then pull himself back together. I loved these two so much by the end of the book, they were absolute perfection together!
This is the start of a new series and the first story belongs to Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujillo.
They married young, and with it came the immaturity of not being able to handle the ups and downs of a marriage. The passion was there, but so were the tempers.
While the town thought they were no longer together, in fact they continued to meet some nights always sparking their passion. But once morning came, Rae would leave Riley’s bed.
She finally decides she needs to divorce Riley , date and have a baby. Much to her surprise, Riley offers to help her have the baby.
These two individuals had a great deal of issues from their past.
In the end , would the love and communicating overcome the past or will they finally go their separate ways?
I have to confess, I had a hard time getting engaged in the story and reading all the way through. While I loved Riley, I never warmed up to Rae. I wanted to shake them and give them a piece of my mind.
I was entrusted a copy of this book. The opinions are solely my own.
And we are back in Cold River and finally the story about Rea and Rily what happened and what went wrong we find all about in a typical writing style from C.Crews. Another great likable story I loved it. It is a second chance for two broken hearts two souls who as kids didn’t know how to cope with feelings. Story from loving to hating to yet again loving. And in the end, there is another short story and another Kittredge boy finds his love.
I volunteered to review an ARC of this book for NetGalley
Rae Trujillo works at her family’s florist shop. She has kept many troubling secrets bottled up for years. For me she was a difficult main character to like. I liked the other main character, Riley Kittredge a little better but the fighting between the two didn’t sit well with me. I found that I couldn’t relax and really enjoy the story with all the angst involved. The book is well-written though. I like the author, Caitlin Crews’ writing style usually but this story wasn’t my favorite.
I received this ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.