Back
cover copy: When
the Cavanaugh brothers return home for their father’s funeral, they
discover unexpected evidence of the old man’s surprising double
life—a son named Blue, who wants the Triple C Ranch as much as they
do. The eldest son, Deacon, a wealthy businessman who couldn’t wait
to leave the ranch and move on with his life, is looking to use his
powerful connections to stop Blue at any cost. He never expected the
ranch’s forewoman, Mackenzie Byrd, to get in his way.
Mac
knows Deacon means to destroy the ranch and therefore destroy her
livelihood. But as the two battle for control, their attraction
builds. Now Deacon is faced with the choice of a lifetime: Take down
the Triple C to feed his need for revenge, or embrace the love of the
one person who has broken down every barrier to his heart.
Stats
for my copy: Mass market paperback, Signet Eclipse published by
the Penguin Group, 2014.
How
acquired: Bought.
My
thoughts: I’d
never heard of this author, but when I stopped in a CVS to pick up a
couple of things on the way home from work one day the dude on the
cover caught my eye and insisted on leaving with me.
After
the kidnapping and death of their sister, the Cavanaugh brothers all
hightailed it out of River Black, Texas, as soon as they were old
enough to leave. Deacon, the oldest brother, is a successful
businessman in Dallas, buying and selling properties left and right.
James has become a media sensation as a horse whisperer, and Cole is
an underground fighter.
BRANDED
focuses on Deacon, who has attempted many times over the years to get
their father, Everett, to sell the Triple C Ranch to him. Now that
their father has died, Deacon is determined to completely destroy the
ranch and everything it stands for.
Mac
was best friends with Cass ten years ago, and had a crush on Deacon,
who was four years older and showed absolutely no interest in her.
She gave the sheriff a tip about a mystery man called Sweet who Cass
had been meeting, but the sheriff decided that Sweet didn’t really
exist, and Cass Cavanaugh’s murderer was never found. The Triple C
is home to Mac, and Everett was like a father to her. She loves her
job as foreman of the ranch, and loves her life on the ranch. The
thought of Deacon destroying the ranch, which provides a living for
much of the town, makes her sick to her stomach.
The
back cover copy is a little misleading. Blue is the son of the ranch
housekeeper, and the synopsis makes it sound like he and Deacon are
going to be head to head adversaries, which is not quite accurate.
Blue is actually a pretty minor character.
Throughout
much of the book I could not understand what was driving Deacon. In
addition to trying to get control of the Triple C, he’s been buying
up land nearby and has construction going on there, with the
intention of starting his own spread, Redemption Ranch. He is
extremely bitter about his father, and James and Cole appear to feel
the same way, though not as aggressively about the ranch being
destroyed. Mac of course is also puzzled, and is determined to fight
Deacon every step of the way, doing whatever it takes to convince him
to leave the ranch alone.
The
book was enjoyable enough, and Deacon and Mac were both likable
characters. Well, Mac was likable. Deacon acted pretty unlikable at
times but he was still a strong charismatic character who I was drawn
to. However, I got a little irritated at his constant growling. It’s
sexy when a man occasionally growls, but only occasionally. After
awhile I wished I’d been keeping count of how many times he
growled, it would be interesting to see the final number.
The
sex scenes between Deacon and Mac were explicit, which I don’t have
a problem with, but they weren’t really sexy. The dialogue during
those scenes was not sexy. It was a little awkward and unrealistic.
During
the last quarter of the book, we finally learn just why Deacon is so
filled with hatred for his father, and it was a pretty shocking
moment, and suddenly the book got so much more engaging and gripping,
and that lasted right up to the last page. Which sort of ended on a
cliffhanger about Cass Cavanaugh's death, which I gather will be a
running theme throughout the series.
I
didn't love it enough to want to seek out the author's entire
backlist, but I did enjoy it enough to want to get the next book,
BROKEN, about James.
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