Annemarie Garrett had a clear plan for her future. Getting pregnant at eighteen by a man twice her age wasn’t part of it. Shifting directions at the unexpected fork in the road, she moves across Wyoming to secure a future for her son from the wealthy rancher who fathered him. But a gift of five hundred acres unwillingly given isn’t the boon it seems. Annemarie knows nothing about ranching, and … this barren tract of land is just a stone’s throw from a man and his family who hate her and everything she represents.
With six older brothers ahead of him in line for his family’s ranch, Gabriel Collins knew from a young age that he’d have to find his own way in the world. Now he’s a master electrician with a successful business. Something is missing, however, and when Ms. Garrett calls in desperate need of his expertise, he finds out exactly what. The indomitable young mother, her adorable little boy, and their struggle to turn Garrett Ranch from a money pit into a profitable operation might just be the family and the cause he didn’t know he was searching for.
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I thought it was an OK, nice romance but needed better editing. It seemed pretty repetitive in the way the relationship progressed.
Easy read, emotional but has a happy ending.
Charming characters and a well written classic modern romance. It was very predictable, lacking any twist of plot or imaginative turn, so it could have been better. But, its definitely an enjoyable quick read.
This is a story about strong family ties, Love, and forgiveness.
Gotta love those cowboys!! Sweet story with a happy ending.
This was Book 1 in the Two-Lane Wyoming Series and was a free offer on Amazon.
Rating: sensual scenes and language [mild profanity]. I had to buy this… you understand… I could not let this pass. The title just grabbed me.
At the tender age of just barely eighteen, Annemarie Garrett made two mistakes that cost her dearly. The first was to trust a smooth talking, tall drink of water and let him seduce her. The second was to trust in her protection which let her down and led to an unplanned pregnancy. That tall drink of water turned out to be twice her age, married with kids of his own and wanted nothing to do with her or ‘her problem’ after she confronted him with the consequence.
Skip forward several years and we find Annemarie and son Cody living on a spread she called Garrett Ranch. Actually, it was five hundred acres of useless scrub brush, rock, with no access to water, or appropriate grazing land. Annemarie did the best she could with what she had. The house was a fire trap or money pit and reminded me of the movie The Money Pit with its slogan ‘Home Crap Home.’ Throwing electrical breakers on a daily basis was becoming old and dangerous. She needed help.
Gabriel Collins, master electrician, grew up with six older brothers and no hope of getting any part of the family ranch. So, he went out on his own trying to make a name for himself establishing his electrical business. When he arrived at the Garrett Ranch… he found things worse than he imagined and better than he imagined when he met Annemarie. You could feel the chemistry between them.
Our author did an excellent job establishing the chemistry between our main characters. It was a slow simmer before going into a full-on rolling boil. I hate when authors jump straight into bed with characters without establishing a relationship between them. That was what got Annemarie into trouble in the first place and she was a bit gun-shy where men were concerned.
What I liked: I loved young Cody, Annemarie’s five-year-old son. He was adorable and made the story. You just knew Gabe, Annie, and Cody would make a great family. They hit it off from the start. Cody adored Gabe and Gabe adored Cody and he adored Annie [his pet name for her]. I could hardly wait before they made it official.
So, where was the angst? Well, with the SOB that got her pregnant in the first place. When paternity was proven, Annemarie demanded he take responsibility for his child. Thomas Grant Jr. had to fess up to having had an affair and producing a child. His wife believed him when he said it wasn’t his fault. Was it ever? Thomas Grant Sr. adored his grand child and forced Junior to set aside a parcel of land for Cody’s future. Junior… of course picked the worst section of the Grant Ranch to sign over for Cody. It had a house with subpar wiring [it was a fire-trap]. There was a barn, dilapidated out buildings, and had a fencing problem. The worst was the washed-out access road to her house that Grant neglected and Annamarie couldn’t afford to fix. It forced her to travel a longer route across Grant property that took her right past the main complex at the Grant Ranch. Yeah, sign him up for father of the year.
When Thomas Jr. saw Gabe hanging around Annemarie, you knew there would be trouble ‘cause Thomas had the attitude… ‘If I can’t have her… no one will.’ What a sleaze. His wife was no better throwing shade at Annemarie every chance she had. She was blatant and cruel. Her son was no better and bullied his half-brother who was half his age. Yeah, that acorn didn’t fall far from the tree. I am angry that Thomas Sr. didn’t rein in his toad of a son. He kept thinking he would get better while in the mean time Annemarie and Cody suffered. Nope… didn’t like that one bit.
This was a delightful story about family, loyalty, doing the right thing, and simply being a human being rather than a rattlesnake. I loved Gabe’s family and their support of him with Annie and Cody. That was sweet. Annie’s family adored Gabe and her together. Everyone was supportive except… Thomas Jr and he showed out big time. The comeuppance was deserved but I wanted more. Guess that was my blood-lust for his hide and my desire that his wife shouldn’t get off so easily. Although she is stuck with Jr. and that brat of a son. That should be pain enough… shame on me.
What I didn’t like: long stretches of what I would call filler. I enjoyed the characters but lots of dialogue and stuff… got in the way of the story. However, that was the way the author wanted to go so… I will leave it there. When the story ended, there was an excerpt from Once Burned a Northstar Novel. [3.5-stars rounded to 4]
I couldn’t put it down.
Couldn’t get into it.
I liked the book it was easy to read and I really liked the characters they where people you would like as friends. It’s a book that I will reread again one day.
Great book
Happy, escape read.
Would read more from this author.
Great book with a good story line