Return to Montana as a tough-talking cowboy meets his match in Jennifer Ryan’s newest Wild Rose Ranch novel.Ex-Army Ranger Drake McGrath has come home to Montana, locked in a battle with himself, lashing out at those who love him most—driving away his ex-fiancée and alienating his family. But Adria Holloway sees beyond Drake’s tough talk to the raw pain beneath.… beneath.
Raised with her twin sister Juliana by a neglectful mother at the Wild Rose Ranch, Adria also struggles to put the trauma from her past behind her. To help them both, she makes Drake a shocking deal—a no-strings relationship that’ll help them both face down their demons. Maybe it’s a way for her and Drake to heal each other, one sizzling night at a time…
The heat between them is instant and incredible. But the biggest challenges are yet to come. With Juliana battling her addiction and Drake working on his issues, Adria realizes she can’t save everyone. But Drake and Adria discover love can survive tragedy and loss—and they can have the life they never thought possible if they just hold on.
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Jennifer Ryan’s Tough Talking Cowboy is the 3rd book of the Wild Rose Ranch series. It is not a typical boy meets girl, and boy gets girl romance. It is an intense and emotional story about two people fighting to overcome their demons. PTSD is not something you tell a person to “get over it.” It is a time-consuming ordeal veteran suffer every day. Substance abuse affects everyone. Jennifer Ryan approaches the two subjects with upmost care to stress the seriousness the how substance abuse and child abuse affect the lives of her characters. Both Drake and Adria represent someone we know and love suffering whether from PTSD or other kind of abuses. I cheer for every small step of their accomplishment and grieve with them when tragedy strikes. Andria is bold and sassy and so determined. I love the way she confronts Drake about his “problem” and laugh at one scene where Drake’s therapist is listening to their exchange. Their romance is sweet yet fiery. I could not put the book down. The plot is superbly written, and the characterization is outstanding. Tough Talking Cowboy is a fitting end for the Wild Rose Ranch series with Drake and Andria overcoming tragedy with triumph.
Ex-Army Ranger Drake McGrath is returning to Montana feeling as though he is half the man he was before, his demons have a strong hold on him, and it’s turned him into a hardened man who refuses to let anyone in. He uses his anger and frustrations to push his family away, and feels as though it’s best he do everything on his own. Then he meets a beautiful woman named Adria who makes him see the light, makes him feel like she truly understands him, and suddenly having a little help with his healing doesn’t seem quite as bad as he once thought.
Adria Holloway has dealt with her fair share of family drama and the pain that goes along with having a fractured childhood and home life. Her twin sister is following in her neglectful mother’s footsteps and it’s rough on her to see Juliana spiral out of control that way. She wants to help her, but the cost of doing so is becoming too great, something has got to give. She has given up so much of her own life for her family, and tossed dreams aside to deal with their troubles, but she is finally ready to start living for herself. And that starts with a sexy wounded cowboy who has charmed his way into her heart…
Tough Talking Cowboy is a dramatic and steamy little page-turner that will grab your attention from the first page and hold it hostage until the last. These two wounded souls come together in a moment of convenience and soon realize they have a whole lot more going on between them than just “between the sheets” fun. They see something in one another that they never knew they needed, but once they find it they don’t want to let it go. I loved watching these two come together, they both had a lot of healing to do and demons to slay, but they found a way to do it together, and sneak into one another’s hearts all while doing it. This was such an enjoyable read, there was bits of drama to keep things engaging, emotional bits to squeeze the heart, and of course lots of steamy bits to curl the toes! Highly recommend you get your hands on this one it’s guaranteed to leave your heart happy!
I requested an advanced copy of this title from the publisher, and I am voluntarily leaving my honest and unbiased opinion.
There are some quite harrowing scenes toward the beginning of this book. Drake has PTSD and experienced some very traumatic things while in Afghanistan. The author does such a wonderful job of portraying one of his flashbacks. It was disturbing, touching, and really got me in the gut. In the author’s note she talks about her husband’s service and it helped me to understand how she was able to get to the heart of such an experience.
Knowing Adria from previous books in this series, we already know she is patient and no-nonsense and tough with a heart of gold. Getting to know her even more here, my heart just broke for this magnificent person. Adria is most definitely good people and those in her circle are lucky to be there. She’ll do anything for those she loves.
Drake and Adria have such a deep and emotional connection almost instantly. This is one of those fun “let’s get it out of our system” stories that makes the reader chuckle knowing there is no way the couple will be able to keep their feelings out of it all. It’s such a deep story and they’ve both dealt with so much in their lives, I don’t know how they thought there wouldn’t be heavy emotions.
Be prepared for the tears, heartache, butterflies, and eventual joy this book will bring you. It’s truly a beautiful story.
This was a touching story with sensitive handling of PTSD, drug abuse, and child abuse thrown into a bittersweet romance. The main characters were so real and had so much baggage to overcome to find happiness. A sweet but not always easy to read story!
not a typical book by this author and was very disappointed .
Tough Talking Cowboy was sometimes difficult to read because the main characters were wounded and finding their way to healthy was fraught with obstacles. Realistically just when they are making progress something happens to highlight their wounded parts. I enjoyed the story, became immersed in the character’s lives and wanted them to find their way. Would recommend this book.
Quit reading the book and cancelled the series. Much too explicit sex scenes for this old widow!
Loved Adria and Drakes story best of the series .
Could not stop reading until the end .
I felt so bad about Juliana.
Hope there will be more about Chase.
Love the ending too.
This book brings all the FEELS. Once again, Ryan writes contemporary characters who endure extreme hardships. She doesn’t shy from tough topics, but she doesn’t hold back on the sexy … and you feel only aching relief and joy when you get to that HEA with these characters.
We are back with the third book in the Wild Ranch series and for me, it is one of the most poignant books of the series so far, as it deals with subjects that a lot of authors would shy away from like drugs and rehab, but Jennifer Ryan has never shied away from any of these real-life subjects and honestly, this is why she is one of my favorite authors.
In Tough Talking Cowboy the main characters are far from pampered souls, Ex-Army Ranger Drake McGrath returns Montana struggling with PTSD and manages to push everyone away. And then there is Adria Holloway, who had a rough childhood dealing with her mother on the Wild Rose Ranch, but then there is her sister Juliana spiraling out of control and into drugs. But now they have a fresh chance in Montana. Fate draws both Drake and Adria together “for convenience”, they try to kid themselves, but they find so much more, as they actually find peace with each other.
I loved Tough Talking Cowboy, it has truly become one of my favorites, I enjoyed Drake’s gruffness and Adria’s softer side and even Juliana’s new lease on life, but the darkness that stalked that young woman will always haunt me. The steaminess level is through the roof in this book and has that piece of escapism that we all need at this tough time in the world.
I always enjoy Jennifer Ryan stories. This was no exception. I’ve been waiting for this story since it was announced. Drake and Adria have much to overcome. Heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time, the road to their HEA is long and hard fought. #edelweiss
This is one of those books that pulled me in and spit me out the other side. I can’t tell you how many feelings that went through me as I read this book. I’ve always felt that Ryan writes emotional books, the type you don’t want to miss out on.
Tough Talking Cowboy is the third book in her Wild Rose Ranch series. It ties up this series and introduces her next series.
I can’t tell you how much I loved this book. I spent a good amount of time in this book crying for poor Adria. What she goes through helping her sister get off drugs is true love. So much happens with them but I think you should read all that on your own. I don’t want to ruin anything for you and some things should be read in the book, not in a review.
I loved how Adria helped Drake deal with his issues. She gave him understanding and love and he grew because of it. He’s had to deal with some much since leaving the military. So many self-doubts. Together they learned to understand and deal. I also liked how Adria helped Drakes family learn that the way they were dealing with their brother wasn’t maybe the best way. They had to learn to understand what he felt.
As a whole, these two are really good for each other. They are there for each other and even when they overreact they know each other well enough that they can deal with it I would love to say so much more about them but I don’t want to ruin anything for you. You really need to read this for your own.
I will say that I’d read the series in order because you really get to know the sisters that way. It’s important to know where they came from and what they’ve achieved.