In this unexpected pregnancy romance, they’ve both had a change of heart, but secrets make it hard to trust.Witnessing a horrific rodeo accident causes cowboy Sawyer Delgado to re-examine everything… between nightmares. Back at his family’s Montana ranch, he seeks for meaning in his life and for the woman who ghosted him a few months earlier.Anna Winter left Saddle Springs for good reason. She’s … for good reason. She’s pregnant after a one-week fling with a popular local rodeo star. Now, as a new believer, she’s back to tell him (almost) everything and get his signature on the forms to give the baby up for adoption.
But when Sawyer counters with a plan to keep her and their child in his life, how can she give in? Because there are untold secrets that could change everything.
About the Saddle Springs Romance series
Welcome to Saddle Springs, the fictional western town that’s home to these Montana Ranches Christian Romances! Revel in the lush mountain scenery with rocky peaks, tumbling rivers, and peaceful lakes. Meet the cowboys who ride the ranges, mend fences, and are lassoed by romance in this new Christian cowboy romance series.
1. The Cowboy’s Christmas Reunion
2. The Cowboy’s Mixed-Up Matchmaker
3. The Cowboy’s Romantic Dreamer
4. The Cowboy’s Convenient Marriage
5. The Cowboy’s Belated Discovery
6. The Cowboy’s Reluctant Bride
More Christian Romance to buy or borrow from USA Today bestselling author Valerie Comer!
1. Urban Farm Fresh Romances, ongoing series, starting with Secrets of Sunbeams
2. Garden Grown Romances, complete 4-book series, starting with Sown in Love
3. Farm Fresh Romances, complete 6-book series, starting with Raspberries and Vinegar
4. Christmas in Montana Romances, complete 3-book series, starting with More Than a Tiara
5. Riverbend Romances, complete 5-novella series, starting with Secretly Yours
If you love Christian contemporary romance series that focus on engaging characters, strong communities, and deep faith — clean, wholesome, sweet, and inspirational romances — you’ve come to the right place! This is cowboy Christian romance at its finest.
That’s for later. Right now?
Why not pre-order THE COWBOY’S RELUCTANT BRIDE today and fall in love with a cowboy?
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Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over: https://margaretmcgaffeyfisk.com/category/reviews/
This novel is the perfect full circle for the series in a lot of ways. The Christmas connection is the most obvious, but themes and history intertwine between the first novel and this one. The emphasis on faith is stronger than in many of the Saddle Springs titles, and more on par with the focus seen in the author’s other Christian romances. Not that the earlier Saddle Springs titles were lacking in faith, but they seemed more about people already confident in their beliefs, barring a stumble or two. That is not true of this novel, where without the return to faith and the struggles to maintain that choice, none of the story would have turned out this way.
Sawyer seems very changed from his carefree rodeo days, and with good reason. Memory of his friend’s tragic injury haunts him to the point of PTSD, stealing him out of the present and throwing him into the terror, horror, and helplessness of when his friend was trampled. This is a wake-up call not just for his choice of careers but also for how he separated himself from family and especially faith.
Still, it’s not as if he flipped a switch, and everything is perfect. He hides the trauma and focuses on fixing everything to the point of bullying others along. This last is never more clear than in how he treats Anna. He’s confident she’ll give in to his charms and persistence, and ready to force her hand if she holds strong with her plan to adopt out their child. Sawyer treats the situation as a competition, a contest of wills. It’s not until he stops pushing that they have hope of another way.
Between the loving support and shared wisdom of his parents, brothers, and sisters-in-law, Sawyer has a lot of help realizing how mono-focused he is. Community is one of the author’s strengths, and it is very evident in this book.
Speaking of family, Anna’s comes up in fragments here or there until we learn everything…and it’s a doozy, I’ll tell you that much. Even better, we get to see some of her situation firsthand. Anna’s upbringing is the mirror image of Sawyer’s, maybe even the funhouse mirror image. The specifics of her history and the personalities involved helps the reader understand what drove her to seek Sawyer in the first place and why she behaves as she does now. It’s a bit of a miracle she turned out so well, but she’s much more complicated than when we met her as a waitress some of the series’ lead characters had befriended.
Whether primary or secondary characters, they didn’t have all the answers, made missteps they had to resolve, and weren’t always the perfect examples of good Christians. If romances offer possibilities for conflict resolution, inspirational romances add possibilities for resolving faith struggles into the mix. This story depends heavily on the belief that everything should be released to God. This can seem to be abdicating responsibility for free will choices. In this novel, however, the characters accept responsibility for their actions and choices. They’re not separating their decisions from the consequences. Rather, they are allowing for God having a plan and trying not to interfere with the plan by being bull-headed and thinking they know all the answers.
Beyond complex characters who earned my sympathies even when I didn’t agree with everything they did, the story explores a difficult situation where both main characters have changed since the irrevocable decision to sleep together in a previous book. This is a novel about consequences, but it’s more than that. It’s about trusting in God, accepting forgiveness, and not standing in judgment over others.
Sawyer is back home on the ranch, trying to not let the recent past derail his current job duties. A text from Anna whom he’s not heard from for a few months, leaves him hoping for a renewed relationship. Russ and Gloria Delgado agree to give Anna a trial run at an office job. Anna has things she’s struggling with that come to light slowly throughout the book, but the main situation comes to light towards the end of the book. Sawyer also has some insights he needs to learn. We see the rest of Sawyers family (Trevor/Denae and Kade/Cheri) as well as a few other familiar names. Another easy to get into story and hard to put down. Sad to see the end of this series, but am looking forward to the next cowboy one featuring Adam, whom we meet briefly in this one.
Totally engaging book by this author. Her cowboy love stories are terrific. This one is no exception. Consequences always occur after decisions….is this good or bad??? Old behaviors, coming to know God in a personal way, changes…..it is all there. Excellent!!!!! I received an advance reader copy. Opinions are my own.