Jan 2021 - audiobook ( )

Wild Ride Cowboy (Copper Ridge) by Maisey Yates  
Wild Ride Cowboy is delectably stunning, emotionally intense and hard to let go of. She wants love, he needs love, but guilt and a promise stand in the way. For Clara life has been one devastating loss after another. Now the sole survivor of her once abundant family, she buries herself in work and unrequited dreams.  Alex is a reminder of a loss too fresh to endure.  Her brother's best friend is dealing with his own grief and guilt.  A promise has brought him face to face with  destiny.  Clara is the missing piece of his soul.  Will he allow fear to deprive him of his heart's desire? The feelings are heartbreakingly real, after all Copper Ridge is the place where second chances go to begin. ( )

So when I got Wild Ride Cowboy, I will honestly admit, it was for the name and the cover! And while the old adage states that I shouldn't judge a book by its cover, there was just something about this cover, I had to read it, and I will say, the cover is one of my favorites! It's simple, I haven't seen it on a bunch of other books, and it portrays love, which for me, is perfection.

Now for all clarity, I have only read one other Maisey Yates and Copper Ridge book before, and that was the Christmas novella, Snowed In At Copper Ridge, so I haven't been heavily invested in this series….until now!

Oh My Goodness, I absolutely loved the story of Clara and Alex…From their shared heartbreak from their families, to Alex's survivors guilt, and everyone underestimating the level of maturity that Clara has! It truly was one scrumptious tale!

The writing was smooth, and the plot detailed, even if the pace did dawdle there for a little, the book was overall enjoyable, and is totally going to make me read the other books in the series. And don't worry if you haven't read the other books, Wild Ride Cowboy can totally be read as a standalone, and you will not be lost.

I give Wild Ride Cowboy 4.5 stars! ( )

'm behind in this series--the last book I read was Last Chance Rebel , which coincidentally had an overly prickly heroine (Rebecca Bear) who reminded me so much of Wild Ride's heroine, Clara Campbell. (So, yeah. I still need to read the first two Donnelly brothers' stories--and I even have them already! No. Excuse.) Clara and Rebecca had vastly different reasons behind their antisocial-ish tendencies, and in both instances Ms. Yates took me from thinking OMG, what is up with this chick? to OMG, you poor thing! Come over here and let me give you a hug. Oh, no? Okay...how about you let Gage/Alex give you a hug instead? Or...something else? ;)

Oh, this book. It made me laugh one minute (so many highlighted passages!) and darn near weepy the next. And their big grand gesture moment? Sigh worthy. You'd better believe I'm going to read Finn and Cain's books as soon as I get the chance ( Slow Burn Cowboy and Down Home Cowboy ), and am soooo reading Liam and Sabrina's story ( Christmastime Cowboy ) as soon as humanly possible, because this series.

In the meantime, I'll leave you with some words of wisdom from Clara. I don't share her unholy love of Spaghetti-Os, but these words spoke to me:
"Life is too upsetting to try to force yourself to eat kale on top of everything else."
Preach it, sister.

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book. ( )

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

I’ve enjoyed books by Maisey Yates before, but fell off reading her for a bit. This is an excellent reintroduction. Wild Ride Cowboy could so easily have been a simple story. It also had the potential to be a bemoaning story, and does have a lot of dialogue, both internal and external. But despite having grief as a major theme since Clara and Alex are brought together by the death of her soldier brother and his brother-in-arms, this is a powerful story about learning to know yourself, the impact of life experiences, and how easy it is to internalize how others see you.

Clara’s life experience is measured in loss. Where others were having their first dates, going off to college, and exploring the world, she suffered from hit after hit, losing both parents and then her only brother. Alex had a very different experience. Instead of loved ones being torn away by fate, they rejected or left him every time, right up until Jason, who chose to die for him as though he meant something.

These are complex issues, and Alex believes survival lies in keeping things shallow. His brother taught him to smile even when he’s shredded inside when they were kids, and that’s what he’s done. Laughing, smiling, nothing touches Alex who never lets anyone close enough to hurt him. He has a form of survivor’s guilt, but it’s more complicated than that because his childhood taught him he had no value. Not only did he survive, but at the cost of a better man, or at least that’s how he sees it.

The story forces both of them to really look at the shadows inside, to recognize the strengths they each hold, and to stand up for what they need, even when it goes against what they think they were supposed to do. The last hits Alex hard, as he’s pretty sure Jason didn’t mean for him to introduce Clara to the joy of sex, especially when he knows he doesn’t have what it takes to stick around.

Clara, though, she was a delight and a surprise. She started out closed off with grief and anger at the world, but even then she wasn’t a pushover. She made plans and she stuck to them…until she figures out she’s pulling for a fantasy while fighting the reality.

This isn’t some sweet story about two wounded souls finding and healing each other, or rather, it is, but there’s a lot of fighting themselves and each other. Things come out that they weren’t ready to share, and Clara especially isn’t willing to let him keep his pain hidden. There’s a whopper of a twist toward the end that makes total sense, but I didn’t see coming, and can’t see beyond it until the happy ending works out.

For all the book is about broken families, horrible parents or ones who died too soon, it’s also a deep look at the bonds of family and friendship. It’s not just Alex who had a rough childhood. He has two illegitimate brothers and one legitimate brother, all of whom were cast aside by their father in some manner. Their grandfather’s will brought them all together, and they’re making a real go of trying to be a family. Well, everyone but Alex who always has one foot out the door.

It’s a romance, and one with detailed sex scenes. There’s no question about that. But it’s also a really strong growing up and life experience novel where the characters (youngest 22) face tough issues and find their way to acceptance through the willingness to take the risk, even when it’s clear they’ll suffer in the end, and suffer they do, until they don’t. It also shows both how tragedy matures a person and how maturity and age have little to do with one another. Then it’s got agency and decision making aspects that really drive home how one person can’t make the decision for another. I was both impressed and moved by the emotional journeys.

P.S. I received this book from the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review. ( )