Love comes to the rescue to save a broken soul.

Joshua Chastain is finally done with his FBI undercover assignment that almost killed him. After spending months in detox to get off heroin, he needs a place to recover. His Uncle Tucker owns a ranch and offers to let him work and live there. Eli Kelly has been the foreman for Tucker’s ranch for years and spends his time rehabilitating abused animals. Eli will now have to try to see if he can help out Joshua.

Joshua didn’t have an easy time while he was undercover, especially when he was forced to kill other criminals and watch innocent people die. He has a long road of recovery ahead, both physically and emotionally, and living on the ranch really seems to help him. Although we are repeatedly told how strong and smart he was before the assignment, the person we see through most of the story doesn’t come close to resembling that man. He’s now just a shadow of himself, and you could feel the pain he was suffering.

Eli is presented as the most patient man in the world who everybody looks up to. Unfortunately, he seemed to lack patience with poor Joshua. The first time these two get together, which is almost halfway through the book, was actually painful to read. They also argued quite a bit which was mostly due to misunderstandings. I’m not really sure that they are going to get their final happy ending, since they still hadn’t learned how to communicate by the end. I would have really liked to have seen a lot more development of the relationship and deeper discussions between Joshua and Eli. They did spend a lot of time together working on the ranch, and there were some really sweet and sexy moments.

We also get Tucker’s point of view throughout the story which was a bit of a distraction. He was a confusing person to listen to, on top of making a lot of insensitive comments. If you like horses and ranches, there are a lot of details here on those aspects. A good portion of the story is spent showing us this kind of life. There was also quite a bit of time devoted to Joshua’s dealings while working undercover with the drug lord.

If you enjoy romances with broken characters healed by love and vivid descriptions of life on a ranch, than I think you’ll enjoy this interesting tale.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

Brain and brawn connect to create a romantic reaction.

Brendon Marcus is the socially awkward genius professor with a heart of gold. Josh Horton is the hunky new assistant football coach who loves to help people. After a chance meeting in the hallway, they begin a sweet romance while dealing with college politics.

Brendon was presented as almost childlike in his behavior and responses to others. After losing both of his parents, he found himself alone in the world. However, since he was a genius, he was able to lose himself as a college professor and research scientist. Although completely inept at interacting with others, he never came across as mean or arrogant, but simply clueless.

Josh managed to see past Brendon’s social issues to find the kind man underneath. Josh was also a really strong character who cared deeply for his team and wanted to help them become better people. They made a great couple, especially as they worked to resolve issues with Brendon’s department head. The only issue with this story was some of the dialogue. At times, Brendon sounded like a young child while talking which hurt the romantic angle and took you out of the story.

Otherwise, it was a quick and easy romantic read with really nice characters and a sweet ending.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb