Can this tenacious beauty tame Royal, Texas’s savage beast? Find out in the latest Texas Cattleman’s Club: Ranchers and Rivals novel from Karen Booth.
One New Year’s Eve kiss is all it takes…
To tame a handsome beast.
Thanks to a bogus inheritance, rancher Heath Thurston has a score to settle. Seducing his sexy land surveyor, Ruby Bennet, is not part of his revenge plan…nor is the snowstorm that leaves them stranded with nothing but a connection they can’t deny. As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, will Heath’s icy heart finally melt, or will he remain a vengeful beast for good?
From Harlequin Desire: A luxurious world of bold encounters and sizzling chemistry.
You’ll be swept away by this bold, sizzling romance, part of the Texas Cattleman’s Club: Ranchers and Rivals series:
Book 1: Staking a Claim by Janice Maynard
Book 2: Boyfriend Lessons by Sophia Singh Sasson
Book 3: On Opposite Sides by Cat Schield
Book 4: Rivalry at Play by Nadine Gonzalez
Book 5: Vacation Crush by Yahrah St. John
Book 6: An Ex to Remember by Jessica Lemmon
Book 7: Cinderella Masquerade by LaQuette
Book 8: One Christmas Night by Jules Bennett
Book 9: Rancher After Midnight by Karen Booth
Review:
Rancher After Midnight starts out with oops, we’re snowed in, and now we’re out of power, oh well, we’d better snuggle together for warmth bang (though not *quite* a bang, because our MCs are responsible adults). It smoothly moves on to some NYE magic–a sparkly dress for our heroine and a swanky party with our tuxedoed hero–before settling down into the more serious story featuring a heroine who is still trying to start over after tragedy and a hero whose need for revenge threatens to leave him mired in the past.
I really liked both Ruby and Heath–they were very sympathetic characters, and really cute (not to mention hot!) together. I loved that Ruby knew what she had to do to move forward with her life, and wasn’t afraid to stand up for herself when she believed that anyone (*cough*HEATH*cough*) might be going in a direction that would threaten that. Heath became an even more sympathetic character when he was with Ruby–she really brought out the best in him, and started smoothing out his prickly edges–but man, was it hard for him to let go of his need for revenge.
I don’t blame Ruby for feeling betrayed by what Heath does, even if he didn’t technically do it *to* her–ugh, readers can see that blow up coming, even if we can’t see how bad it’s going to be beforehand. Fortunately, Heath 100% puts the effort in to making things right again, and we get a purely satisfying ending for everyone and a lovely HEA for him and Ruby.
Rancher After Midnight is the 9th book in the multi-author Texas Cattleman’s Club: Ranchers and Rivals series, but even though it was clear that there was history with secondary characters, both with and without this book’s MCs, I had no problem starting the series here. (Not saying I *won’t* go back and read earlier books, but I didn’t *have* to have read them first to enjoy this one.)
Rating: 4 stars / A-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.