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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Although I think it is a standalone read, this book is part of a series. I like it when walk-on characters have been in other stories as it is like catching up with old friends. SNwaC is about Rae Trujillo and Riley Kittredge. They are what I would call a perfect example of a combustible couple. They were sweethearts for fuh-evah, grew up together, and married right out of high school. They burned brightly and then imploded and split…or did they?
These two are clearly in love with each other but haven’t spoken in years. Or have they? It was a great premise – and I won’t give too many details so as not to spoil the story for anyone – but I wish I could have sat the two of them down and told them to just talk! In any case, they end up giving each other dating advice and in a small town? You can bet some of the scenes are hilarious.
The families are something. Hooboy, everyone has an opinion! At the core, they are right behind Rae and Riley, but there is much drama in both families. Rae’s mother and grandmother cracked me up, most of the time, as I can picture (what I like to call) their rivalry. And Riley’s brothers and father have just as much going on as the Trujillos only they express it in a different way.
I liked this story when it had Rae and Riley actually talking to one another. The results were pretty amazing, considering some of the secrets these two kept from each other.
A story with a lot of emotional depth. Rae and Riley have a tempestuous marriage. She has a secret that she has not shared with her husband. They have dated since high school but have not learned how to be married to each other. Small town life has added to the complexity of the relationship with everyone having an opinion. It gets really intense as they finally confront the issues and sort out their feelings and find that true love still can heal hearts.
Secret Nights With A Cowboy is a contemporary romance with a western twist by Caitlin Crews. Ms. Crews has provided readers with a well-written book and filled it with outstanding characters. Rae is living with her family after leaving her husband. After years of sneaking back to him at night, she’s decided it’s time to end things. Riley doesn’t know why Rae left him but he wants her back where she belongs. Riley and Rae’s story is packed with drama, humor and smoking hot sexy bits. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to my next book by Caitlin Crews. Secret Nights With A Cowboy is book 1 of the Kittredge Ranch Series. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This book was well written but, I didn’t really connect with Rae or Riley. I understood Riley better than Rae. Rae seemed to be stuck in a time warp and couldn’t (or wouldn’t) tell Riley what went wrong when they were young and first married. But, Riley didn’t have a clue and he still loved her. She would get defensive and angry with him even though she knew he didn’t know what he did wrong. Thankfully, secrets were revealed and they can finally live their lives.
4.5 Stars!
Riley and Rae married right out of high school while still a little self-centered, immature, and lacking in awareness. Separated, but not divorced, it’s been nearly a decade since they lived under the same roof and Rae has decided it’s time to move on.
This book might be book one in the Kittredge Ranch series, but it’s setting is in the same town along with familiar characters from Crews’s previous Cold River Ranch, 3-book series. While Grey and Abby’s story in book 1 of that first series will be an all-time favorite, the wonderful characters and emotional story arc of this this book comes close. I love when an author can write a romance about a married couple and give me the same kind of affecting connection that I would feel in the typical boy-meets-girl romance. I could relate to this couple and their hasty decisions from the past, as well as their struggle to confront those choices and move forward.
The writing was evocative as Riley and Rae worked to figure out their future, together or apart. There were intimately sensitive moments and abject character growth throughout, as well as a realistically moving conclusion. When the story ended, I felt like it was only the beginning of their romance and I wanted more. Hopefully, there’ll be significant scenes with them in the next two books featuring Riley’s brothers.
If you’ve read any of Caitlin Crews Cold River Ranch series you have already been introduced to the Kittridge family. I was excited to see that we were going to get to stay in Cold River and get to know more members of their family better.
Riley Kittridge and Rae Trujillo have known one another since childhood and they are truly what people refer to as soulmates. They dated in high school and married young, which was both a blessing and a curse. They found love early, but they grew apart early in their marriage for reasons that Riley wasn’t privy too. Rae left him without explanation. They loved fiercely and fighting and bickering was just a normal part of their relationship.
Over the course of the next eight years, Rae, who works in her family’s flower shop, and Riley, who trains horses at his family ranch don’t speak in public, act like they hate one another and have led the town to believe they got divorced, but did not. They couldn’t stay away from one another. Rae would show up at their home, they would fight and then fall into bed.
Rae has gotten to a point in her life that she’s ready to move out of her parents house and move on. She puts the wheels in motion to do this and further confuses Riley since he doesn’t know what destroyed their marriage to begin with. She’s the only woman he’s ever loved and he hasn’t moved on and isn’t ready to. Will Rae finally come clean about why she left him to begin with? And will Riley be able to understand why she did it?
This novel showcased how experiences you go through influence how you handle experiences in the future. Both Rae and Riley had seen their parents less than perfect marriages and they held on to those memories as they entered their own union. This also was a great reminder that communication is one of the most important parts of a relationship. If you don’t communicate, it can’t get better or be understood. I really enjoyed these characters, but I’d be lying if I didn’t want to shake some sense into them from time to time!
I’m looking forward to more of what the Kittridge Ranch series has to offer!
**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
This is the first in the Kittredge Ranch series. I enjoyed returning to Cold River, CO and seeing the characters from previous series. The hero & heroine definitely had some issues to resolve and I wondered how they could ever come together. Caitlin Crews did a great job telling their story and how they reached HEA. I am looking forward to the rest of the books in this series.
So much hurt, anguish, and tears in this story. I need more of the healing to balance it out.
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There are so many aspects of the story that I could relate to. If you’re married you know that it’s not always easy. I’ve had my ups and downs with my spouse and a lot of the story I can relate to right now!
Both Rae and Riley are way too stubborn. They haven’t grown up even though they’ve been married for years and years.
The problems abound and the fact is they just won’t talk to each other. But yet they have this steaming hot secret connection. If they weren’t married, I’d say they have the best of both worlds. However, this story is full of hurt, anguish, and just brokenness.
I shed too many tears on this book. The secrets are astonishing and extremely sad. It took forever to get to where I could finally see them healing. I wanted more of happiness!
But I have to say Crews once again just completely obliterated my heart. Amazing story with well developed, highly crafted characters. Friends and family we love and hate plus an exciting new series to latch on to!
This wonderful book was a very enjoyable read with the well written storyline and characters that were so well defined that I was glued to my kindle until the turn of the very last page!
“Secret Nights with a Cowboy” by Caitlin Crews
I loved this contemporary romance story, so clean and so addictive, that I didn’t skip a single word. Are we destined to follow the patterns we witnessed our family members living, even patterns we did/do not like? Can we change our patterns? Can love rule the day? Patience and courage can be virtues. This is a worthy read, for sure. Happy Reading ! !
P.S. there was a novella story included in the ARC… Conner & Missy’s story which was just as delicious as Riley & Rae’s, but shorter.
Note: I received an ARC of this story from the publisher with the expectation that an honest review will be posted.
It must be hard having a crumbling marriage and everyone in the entire small town you live in is watching you, weighing in on every step or misstep you take together. It’s not necessarily something I understand, but Caitlin Crews explores this in Secret Nights With a Cowboy and makes us care about Rae and Riley as he struggles to understand why he can’t seem to do anything right for the woman he has always loved.
Rae and Riley were High School sweethearts and got married the summer after they graduated. Maybe they got married too young. Both of them came from households where they witnessed a lot of fighting, Riley watching his parents and Rae witnessing her mother battle her live in mother-in-law. As the story opens, Ray and Riley have supposedly been divorced for several years. Except she makes her late night visits to his house that used to be their home together and creeps back to her parent’s where she’s been living for the last two years. Only Rae & Riley know that they aren’t really divorced. They’re still very married. Neither one can seem to cut the cable and so they keep hurting each other.
Rae is hurting and she wants to make her husband hurt just as bad so she fights with him. Riley wishes he knew what he did wrong to make his wife so upset with him. When she announces that she’s ready to get divorced, he doesn’t know what to think. I can’t really blame him. From the start from the start I could tell that Rae was really upset over this big secret that she’s hiding from everybody and the more rotten she feels about keeping the secret the worst she treats Riley. I wasn’t a fan of Rae.
I’ve been a fan of Caitlin Crew for years and I know she can create an intense story of drama and angst, as she does here. Lots of internal dialogue as this couple puzzle out where they’re going with their marriage. Will they divorce? Will Rae forgive herself and stop fighting with Riley?
Told in third person.
Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read and provide my honest review of this story.
This was quite an angsty read but laced with some healthy doses of humor and sizzling moments of heat, and I absolutely loved it!
I’ve only read a couple of romances where the hero and heroine are married before the book begins. Sometimes they’ve won me over completely, but mostly they leave me unhappy with so much of how their story unfolded. With Rae and Riley I was captivated from the beginning and with a hint here and a clue there, I was determined to find out what had happened to make this couple that couldn’t keep their hands off of each other, disintegrate.
From the first chapter, it was apparent that Rae had some real issues, that she was damaged and carried quite a load on her shoulders. As the story progresses this author begins to unveil the situations that have created the young woman that Rae is today as compared to the girl she was when she first fell in love with Riley. I admit there were times I wanted to shout at her to just come out with it – it being what had caused their separation. Ultimately, I allowed these characters to torment me until the end, and what an angsty but sweet torment it was.
Riley was wonderful! He had a plan to win and keep Rae and his reactions were perfect for what I love in a book hero. He also learned a good bit about himself in his attempts. I initially felt that Riley was the strongest between him and Rae, but once more Ms. Crews surprised me by showing me another side to him that I didn’t see on my own.
While this isn’t a long book, there were times where it felt like it was dragging a bit. It seemed a bit too wordy in places and while I prefer a faster paced read, this was still engaging. There are several secondary characters and I can see where this might be the beginning of a series, but I’m also curious to find if there were previous books as well.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys romance between a husband and wife with plenty of angst along the way to their happy ever after.
**I received a copy of Secret Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews from St. Martin’s Press and Net Galley in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. My opinions are mine alone and not solicited.**
Secret Nights with a Cowboy by Caitlin Crews is the first book in her Kittredge Ranch series it’s also part of the Cold River Ranch as well. I have to say it’s wasn’t one of my favorites but was definitely worth 4 stars I’ve given it. However please note it ends at 80% and there is a bonus novella of Connor Kittredge and Missy Minton.
Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujillo have always loved each other and married right after high school. But something happened to them causing a rift but Rae can’t seem to stay away at night or away from Riley. Rae works in the family flower business running the shop with aspiration of showing her beautiful arrangements, if she can get her Abuela Inez convinced of her talent. The book flirts between Riley and Rae but also Hope and her BFF Hope and Abby who runs Cold Rive Coffee. However, once Riley and Rae start to really date again perhaps there will be a reconciliation in their future if they can get past the one ghost that broke apart before.
Rae and Riley have been married for a few years, but they’ve not been together. Finally Rae decided that past is a paste and she wants divorce. Riley is ok with this, or so she think so. But both of them loved each other for so long. Then Rae tells Riley the secret she hold for a few years and it looks like end of everything.
I did like the book, was not fan of Rae.