*Previously titled Cowboys Don’t Have a Secret Romance*
Called The Preacher, Clay Stryker has lived a life as straight as a North Dakota highway.
Everyone thinks the pen and notebook he carries around is to jot down poetry or possibly notes on Scripture. They don’t know he has a secret…romance.
Reina Hall has never forgotten the night she was rescued from a child trafficking ring. She … forgotten the night she was rescued from a child trafficking ring. She definitely hasn’t forgotten the man who wouldn’t back down, refused to look the other way and risked his life to save hers.
He made a promise to her. And she’s riding west to make sure he keeps it.
Reviews for The Cowboy’s Secret Romance:
★★★★★ “A great story of love for an adopted child. Clay knew his humanity yet did his very best to live right & to do right, following his father’s teachings. Reina was rescued & trying to find her way in life. Great story! This author has story-telling talent.” – Alaska reader
★★★★★ “What an awesome story!! I can’t begin to tell you how much I love this authors books.” – Lorraine
★★★★★ “Oh so many things happen that you will not want to put this book down till the last word. Jessie Gussman has done an excellent job!” – Kindle Customer
★★★★★ “Wow. These books just keep getting better and better. This book was..just..wow. I don’t have the words. I didn’t want it to end! But I am beyond pumped for the next book!” – Michaela
★★★★★ “Clay and Reina’s story was full of twists and turns. At first I was sure if I was going to like him because it seemed like he couldn’t make up his mind between Angela and Reina. I didn’t like Angela at all. She was an opportunist looking out for number one but looking so innocent. Reina was a fully fleshed out character and my heart hurt for her. It had a great ending. I loved this book.” – M. Northington
Books in the Sweet Water Ranch series:
- The Cowboy’s Best Friend
- The Cowboy’s Secret Baby
- The Cowboy’s Beauty
- The Cowboy’s Best Friend’s Sister
- The Cowboy’s Convenient Marriage
- The Cowboy’s Fairy Tale
- The Cowboy’s Secret Romance
- The Cowboy’s Bargain Bride
- The Cowboy’s Enemy
- The Cowboy’s Mistletoe Christmas
- The Cowboy’s Marriage Mistake
more
A strong leading man of his word, Preacher is good to the core. Reina may look a little rough around the edges but her heart is pure gold. I was locked in from chapter one. I stayed up way too late reading so I could see how it ended and I was not disappointed. A wholesome clean romance that is a testament of faith, love, trust and the power to overcome any obstacle.
I received this copy free from the author and am under no obligation to leave a review. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am freely sharing my view of the story.
After reading the previous book in this series by Jessie Gussman, I couldn’t wait to read Clay’s story. Nicknamed Preacher for his strong moral compass, he still has a young daughter that he hasn’t explained to anyone. Though Clay was upright and honest about everything else, I find it strange that he never explained where Gina came from, not even to his family who could have been a great support system for him. I also can’t imagine any man being content to write to someone for 5 years and still not be able to be alone with her. I would think that any man of God would consider that God closing that particular door. I definitely relate more to Reina than to Clay even if I didn’t suffer the things she did. I am flawed. I make mistakes and bad choices sometimes. I’m not the best housekeeper and cook. But I do love deeply! Now I simply have to get on to the next book!
This is another book in the Sweetwater Ranch Series and I enjoyed this one as much as the others. Clay (they call him Preacher) has been romancing what he thought was the love of his life but her parents were making it hard for him to see her. All of a sudden things change.
This is one of those books that would be really easy to leave spoilers while writing the review. I will leave it at this. Between Jessie Gussman’s outstanding writing and Jay Dyess awesome narrating this is a great book that you won’t want to miss
This review is for a free audible copy that I received from the author. This is a good, interesting story of Clay & Reina. It takes Clay a while to figure out he really loves her. He is keeping a secret about his daughter from here also. A very well written story showing Clay’s commitment to Reina. This is my voluntary review.
Wow. These books just keep getting better and better. This book was..just..wow. I don’t have the words. From their histories and the women and the families and friends and everything else.. it was incredible. I didn’t want it to end! But I am beyond pumped for the next book!
Audio:
As I’m beginning to expect, Dyess takes a wonderful book and makes it into an even better experience. I’m sincerely impressed with the little girl voice. 🙂 There was so much happening in this story with the backstory and some secrets and all the characters. I’ve got to say that Clay is a bit of an idiot, but this story wouldn’t be half as good without that.
Clay is man of his word. He rescued Reina, a fourteen year old girl nine years ago from human trafficking and he promised to marry her if she finished high school and got a college degree. Reina is going to prove that he is not the man everybody seems to think he is, that he doesn’t always keep his word. But God has other plans for them and will help realise they are meant for each other. Mr. Dyess IS THE BEST . great audiobook.
The Cowboy’s Secret Romance is a very lively, well written cowboy romance. It was a little unusual but that made it all the more intriguing. This was a secret that had been carried for eight or nine years and it felt like it was finally time that Clay had to come clean about it. The only problem was that when humans are involved, anything and everything can and usually will go into a tail spin. The best part of this story is that Clay was obedient to God. And he felt like things that happened were in God’s time frame, not Clay’s. And it did give Clay a happy ending.
Cowboys Don’t Have a Secret Romance by Jessie Gussman (5 stars)
Preacher and Reina’s story is wonderful! Their lives are so intertwined that it seems almost inevitable that they end up together. They both have waited so long for love and when they find it, the timing couldn’t be more perfect!
I loved how Preacher and Reina have passion but also draw a line.
Jessie Gussman’s characters are flawed and deep and have lived through difficult times. They feel like real people and every time a book ends, I’m a little sad to leave them and their story.
Most books can pretty much stand alone, but are so much richer when you know all the characters from the previous stories.
I highly recommend their series of books to anyone who wants to escape into some good, clean, passionate, non-preachy Christian fiction!
*poor, **ok, ***good, ****very good, *****something special
I was definitely curious from the last book how Preacher had a child when he was clearly not married. His story was definitely not what I expected! It was refreshing to see someone with such strong Christian values not judge Reina or hold her past against her-The true Christian way that doesn’t always happen. I do want to know how Abner knew everything! And I have to say – the first I love you was so beautiful I actually teared up. Clay was something unexpected, and i loved it. The ending wrapped up too quick for me, I would have loved to have read a scene with Reina and Gina after everything came out. But that just shows how much I enjoyed the book because I didn’t want it to end
Clay, who people call preacher, was a harvester, never married and had a daughter. He worked hard and his crew trusted him and helped him raise his daughter.
Reina was a young girl being drugged and trafficked at a truck stop until one night a stranger saved her from all that. She knew who he was as he wrote to her, encouraging her to finish High School and go to college. She did all that and now she wanted to find the man who had saved her life.
After she finds him, things get complicated. Clay hired her to cook for the crew, but she can’t cook. You must read this amazing book. I read this book voluntarily as a review book.
I’ve lost count of the number of books I have read by Jessie Gussman now. I’ve read them all in this series and have loved every one of them.
I was looking forward to reading about Preacher. In the last book, he seemed like such a nice guy with a lot of secrets. He is well respected and looked up to. He is a straight arrow that always tries to do right.
In this book, when Clay was 18 years old, he rescued a young girl from a sex trafficking ring and made her a promise. Now, she has found him and wants to prove that he won’t really keep his promises. If he doesn’t, then she can prove that he is just like any other man she has known. Clay was able to see past Reina’s outward and see the goodness that was within. I loved that they both had a love for Gina, too.
I would have liked to see Clay dump Angela earlier, though he was a man of his word, he knew something wasn’t right.
This story was clean and easy to read.
I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.
Clay’s story is here at last! Clay, a man of high morals and a man of his word. He rescued Reina from a sex trafficking ring and asked her to give up her unborn baby, finish high school and get her college degree. He would then marry her. When she appears back in his life he gives her a job and she helps take care of his daughter, who she doesn’t know is her biological daughter. Reina thinks Clay forgot his promise to her, but he needs to fulfill some other promises he made. I am loving this series! I can’t choose any one as my favorite but I know if it is written by Jessie Gussman that I will love it!
Reina wasn’t a typical heroine. It disgusted me what she put up with from some very sick men at fourteen. Encourage your children to be open with you about what they are doing and who they are engaging with because you don’t know what kind of predators are lurking online. But she survived and made something of herself even if she is a terrible cook. Clay might be called Preacher and stepped up to be a father at eighteen and has been a leader and role model with his strong religious beliefs, but he’s not perfect. Why he would pine for a woman he could only write letters to six years I couldn’t figure out. She certainly wasn’t perfect and shows her true colors in this book. Clay’s brothers and crew were funny and each interesting in their own way. I’m looking forward to their stories.
This story (#7) in Jessie Gussman’s Cowboys Don’t series was so sweet. I think each one is my favorite as I’m reading it but this one really was wonderful. The concepts of worthiness and grace and that we are all saints and all sinners were all cool elements in the story. I really liked how Preacher was a straight shooting guy, but he had very human frailties and strengths and desires. I didn’t like how he let a certain person push him around and take advantage of his distraction or gentlemanliness. But … no one is perfect. And that was the point. Great message and lovely romance. I read an ARC of “Cowboys Don’t Have a Secret Romance” and this is my honest review.
He made promises. Promises that years later would be put to the test. He was a man of his word. All those years ago he had been there when he was needed. Allowed God to use him to protect her. His word was important to him, his father had made sure of that. Now she was there and she was so much more than he had bargained for, now he had to make a choice. Would he follow his heart or would he stand by a commitment he no longer wished to pursue? A man torn in two, walking a fine line. Choices and desires, this author gives us plenty of both in this standalone series. Each book tells of choices and commitments, of standing on the promises and beliefs in God. This author does an amazing job of giving us stories that touch the heart and soul, no matter what deity you serve it hits home. These stories are emotional and fulfilling and the characters will stay in your heart. Besides, how can you not love these cowboys and the women who take their hearts, wrap them in love and make their worlds right.
I enjoyed this book very much. I had to read over a few curse words which surprised me. While not in depth, Jessie did a good job of covering some very difficult topics. Thankful Preacher stayed true to his convixtions.
I received this book free from author. The review above is my honest opinion of book.
Clay (Preacher) has a daughter who had a rough start in life and has challenges. Clay likes to address challenges. When Reina re-enters his life many years after they first met, he hires her because she also needs a helping hand. However, once Reina shows up, Clay starts rethinking the life he thought he wanted with Angela.
This is another wonderful love story from a great story teller. I recommend this book.
I think this one is the most emotional out of the series. I cried and laughed and was unable to stop reading! I am also reminded of how we judge one another based on appearance and background, but God judges our hearts.
This book is like flypaper in a wonderful way, I was glued to the story! The characters were deep, yet identifiable. Through God, they can still find hope in the aftermath of adversity.
Reigna was taken by traffickers as a child, and is forcibly under the influence and used for acts of disrepute. An 18 year old boy named Clay rescued her.
Reigna, judges herself for a past she has no control over, and she decides to tear clay down, to prove that even her idol isn’t perfect.
Though the secrets and decisions of the past haunt them, this lovely HEA, is a story full of assurance and conviction!
I received this book as an ARC, and I am giving a voluntary review.
What an amazing story about Reina, who at the age of fourteen had been lured on the internet into drugs and sex trafficking until Clay “Preacher” Stryker could not believe what he saw at a truck stop and saved her from the drug dealers and was able to later adopt her child after convincing her to give the baby up for adoption, finish high school, and graduate from college. Reina did not know that Clay was able to adopt her daughter. He wrote her letters to see how she was doing at keeping her promises to him.
I liked how God played into the story so many times and helped to reunite Reina with the man that saved her life and her daughter, Gina. This story was different from the other ones in the Sweet Water Ranch Billionaire Cowboys series. I received an advance copy of this book and I willingly chose to write an honest review.