Guest Review: Winter Cowboy (Whisper Ridge, Wyoming #1) by R.J. Scott

Micah Lennox left Whisper Ridge after promising the man he loved that he would never return. But as his sister begged for help when her life was in danger, the only way he knows to keep her and his nephew safe is to go home. Spending winter in Wyoming, when he'd promised never to return, opens too many old wounds, but he's on the run from justice which can't be far behind, and this is his last chance at redemption.

After a hostage situation leaves Doctor Daniel Sheridan struggling with PTSD, he returns to Whisper Ridge. Joining his dad in family practice is a balm to soothe his exhausted soul, and somehow, he finds a peace he can live with. That is until he meets Micah in a frozen graveyard, and the years of anger and feelings of betrayal boiling inside him, erupt.

Two broken men fight and scratch for their lives and that of their families, and somehow, in the middle of it all, they find each other.

Is it possible that love can be rekindled and become a forever to believe in?


Reviewer: Annika

While I enjoyed reading this book it missed the mark for me just a bit. The first part of the book had be engrossed, but by the second half I was a bit bored of it all. It never really went anywhere new, and then out of the blue there was an epilogue and I was left trying to catch up.

Christmas Eve nine years ago changed Micah’s life forever, it changed the whole town. But Micah lost everything and everyone he loved. Promising never to return he left – or more accurately was driven out of town. My heart broke for Micah and everything he’d gone through, for the loneliness and heartbreak, believing he didn’t deserve anything better.

Daniel had always had a plan. Go to medical school, find a job in a city for a few years and then return back home to work with his dad. Only life happened and he’s taken hostage at the hospital he worked. Suffering from PTSD he returns back home to lick his wounds in piece – or as much as a loving and meddling family will allow him. I will admit I never warmed to Daniel, I never felt for him as I did Micah. I mostly wanted to give him a kick in the butt and tell him to get his head out of his ass. (And I’m not talking about his PTSD, just everything else).

There was a lot of hurt and guilt going around, in truckloads in fact, and from so many angles and people. Some wounds more fresh than others, but bleeding nonetheless. Daniel and Micah dance around each other for most of the book and I don’t really feel any connection between them. There was just too much hurt, for that. Too many issues, issues that were never really resolved for my liking. Their getting together didn’t feel natural to me, it was more out of the blue and all the hurts and past swept under the rug, and miraculously forgotten. It didn’t sit right with me.

This book had an intense start, there were a lot going on and with many hints to people and past events. I will admit that it got confusing at times, but it got better as the story developed a bit more. I was invested in the story and wanted to know more. I’m a huge fan of building tension, getting to know characters and their pasts, so I have an aversion to books with huge info dumps in the beginning. I want to be left a bit in suspense, to wonder about the people and their pasts. That’s what Scott delivered in this book, only not as much as I would’ve liked. After finishing the book I’m still left with a lot of unanswered questions. And what’s even worse, after all the buildup and tension, the angst, it all just fizzled out, it was anticlimactic to say the least and I wanted something more. It felt unfinished and incomplete.

Winter Cowboy is not a light or fluffy read. It’s packed with angst and past hurts and slights. But it’s also a story of starting over, about forgiveness and moving forward. I am probably going to pick up the next book in the series, as I’m interested to see where the story takes us next, perhaps we’ll get more of a closure. One can only hope.

A copy of this book was generously provided by the author in exchange for an honest review



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