Ranch Ambush (Marshals of Mesa Point, Book One)

 

BARB HAN

How acquired: Harlequin Reader Service Subscription

First line: Can you ever go home again?

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I've only read one other book by this author, an older one published about ten years before this one, and I did not like it. I one-starred it, something I rarely do. So I've been hesitant to pick her up again, even though I have around ten of her books in my TBR. But boy, am I glad I took that chance. Sometimes I read a book from a new to me author and love it so much I grab everything I can find by them, and then I'm disappointed when the next one or two I read aren't nearly as good as that first one. I guess that can work in reverse!

RANCH AMBUSH was well written, and I loved both the hero and heroine. In love for a summer at sixteen, then separated about as many years, there's lots of angst as they both internally hash out their feelings when they see each other again and spend some time together. Plus Duke's grandparents both being in the ICU after a car wreck (which I'm guessing will play out over the course of the series), and the mystery of who is out to hurt Audrey. Considering all the plot, the story is still more character over action, which I am always here for.

Now I'm off to look for Book Two!

Synopsis from Goodreads: Fourteen years after the girl Duke Remington loved disappeared, the US Marshal comes home to discover that Audrey Newcastle is in mortal danger. Protecting Audrey, now a sheriff’s deputy, rekindles painful memories and unwelcome desire. But as secrets from Audrey’s mysterious past surface, Duke must find a way to earn her trust and stop a killer lying in wait to complete a final act of vengeance.

Rancher Rescue

BARB HAN

Goodreads synopsis: When a little boy goes missing, rancher Caleb Snow steps in to help…and winds up falling for the child's beautiful–but mysterious–aunt in Barb Han's Rancher Rescue

Getting tangled up with another woman in crisis is the last thing rancher Caleb Snow needs. The handsome cowboy has been badly burned too many times. But this one feels different–Katherine Harper is injured and reeling after an ambush in which her nephew was kidnapped. Caleb wants nothing more than to protect the beautiful, headstrong woman and help her find the missing child. If only he could ignore the feelings she stirs in him. 

But as they search together, it's clear someone wants Katherine dead. Soon the two are running for their lives, dodging bullets, not knowing who to trust…or if they'll survive long enough to bring a little boy home.

Stats for my copy: Mass market paperback, Harlequin, 2014.

How acquired: Bought.

First line: Katherine Harper pushed up on all fours and spit dirt.

My thoughts: I'm glad I only paid 49 cents for this book at a thrift store. Struggled to stay interested. I just didn't connect with the hero or the heroine. There was just no depth to them. Especially the heroine. And after all the trouble the hero goes through to get her to a safe place, she just blithely walks into danger and lets the bad guy capture her. The hero rescues her, of course, a mere three and a half pages later, and it was completely anticlimactic.

The hero also kept talking "deadpan", as did his best friend on one occasion. He would say something deadpan, or in a deadpan tone. But they're just making a serious statement, in the middle of a serious situation, in a serious voice. Maybe I don't understand the meaning of deadpan? I mean, isn't that where someone says something absurd and not in keeping with the mood of the current situation, but in a super serious voice to comedic effect?

But before all the above happened, this passage just made me groan:

"My first big sale was a beautiful paint horse. The man who'd sold him to me when he was a pony said he tore up the ground like no other."

Ugh.