Summer at Mustang Ridge

Mustang Ridge, Book 1

By: Jesse Hayworth

Narrated by: Randye Kaye

Recovering from a difficult divorce and having problems with her daughter, Shelby accepts a summer job cooking at a family-run dude ranch. She hopes the animals will be just what her daughter, Lizzie, needs. Little does she know that ranch life will work some healing magic on her, too.

When Shelby meets the head wrangler, Foster, she is put off by his brusque nature, but Lizzie takes an instant liking to the cowboy and his horses. While both Foster and Shelby have been scarred by love, it's not long before Shelby is drawn to the rugged cowboy and his thoughtful ways. But with summer nights in short supply and Foster wary of falling for a city girl, a simple summer romance soon grows complicated.

As the days dwindle, Shelby will have to decide not only what is best for her daughter but also where her future - and her happiness - will be found.

©2013 Jessica Andersen (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The Wyoming backdrop is beautiful, watching a foal being born is miraculous, ranch life sounds like a lot of fun." ( Publishers Weekly)

Lot's of potential

I really enjoyed Robyn Carr's series about a small town and then Linda Lael's series about cowboys and this book kinda reminds me of a blend of both. I liked the idea of the dude ranch and the city girl traveling there to do something to help her daughter that has selective mutism. Some things that were neat were the descriptions of the beauty, the barn, the horses, their stories. The most romantic thing about this book was the male lead sharing his horse with the female lead - I don't want to say too much about that though and spoil it for others who may read the book. I liked how the two characters falling in love didn't jump in the sack immediately like some of Linda's Lael's stories ... leaving something else to be desired (like an actual relationship and some commitment). Some things that were pretty rough in this book were the repeated references to junk food. I winced learning about comic books, movie posters, and then the male lead's reference to not looking at his internet history (porn habit?!). I get that real guys are into these things but when I read a romance novel about cowboys I'm not looking to hear about male leads that do things that are a complete turn off to me. I thought the female lead could be pretty harsh and rude. I think the whole fiesty and tough girl angle is awesome (Why I like a lot of Lael Millers books) but Shelby came off like a total you know what several times and then almost immediately was apologizing (so confusing- that "over reaction" and then immedietely everything gets resolved? maybe if the reaction was less intense but her reactions were pretty outright rude, accusing, controling, and bossy). Anyways ... there are other things like how there is WAY too much detail about things like what movie they are going to watch on a date at home (I think she talked about like seven movies or more before choosing one). I really wanted to love this book but I didn't. I may read the rest because there are enough good things about it that I want to give it a chance, but I hope in the future the male and female leads are a little more like-able to me!