Cowgirl Unexpectedly by Vicki Tharp
Lazy S Ranch #1

Loved, loved, LOVED this book! The main characters are strong, intelligent and full of courage. They are people I admired and would love to call friend. The Lazy S Ranch is a place unlike most and one that I want to revisit in the next book when it comes out!

Mackenzie “Mac” Parish is a strong ex-marine with PTSD that has been on the road for a year when she lands in small-town Montana in need of money. She is taken on at the Lazy S Ranch and then works hard to learn the skills needed to be a member of the team. Her biggest help is ex-rodeo-bull-rider-pro Hank Nash. Hank is a man with many layers. He is strong, dependable, a man who cares and gives while also trying to reengage with his teenage daughter, Jenna. The supporting cast of characters is great and they are people I want to know more about, too, in whatever books may follow.

The ranch has suffered some trouble in the past and trouble is something Mac wants to avoid BUT as the pieces of her heart and self begin to realign in the peace she finds on the ranch (and with Hank) she begins to want to find out who is behind the meanness being dished out and deal decisively with the perpetrators and the road seems to call to her less and less.

There are two love stories, a rodeo, old west style rustling, shooting, a mystery, suspense and more in this wonderful book that I did not want to put down. The writing is great, the story well plotted, the characters have depth and I am thrilled to have found a new-to-me author that I would love to read more of.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Lyrical Press for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars ( )