The Second Chance Rancher

The Second Chance Rancher by Kate Pearce The Millers of Morgantown #1 Returning to Morgantown was a delightful way to spend the afternoon and although Jackson Lymond did seem a bit clueless at times he eventually managed to get the HEA he was looking for. Who does he end up with? Not the woman he started out thinking he wanted...nope...he realized rather quickly that he really wanted florist Daisy Miller instead of Nancy the bartender. Why? Well, she was more suited to him and...Nancy wasn’t interested. As an introduction to the Miller family we realize that with five brothers to marry off there are a number of books to look forward to – hooray! In this book there is a bit of the fake relationship to hide a secret one of them is keeping and they cut it close enough that their HEA might not have happened had the two not realized that they really did belong together. Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington-Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest review. 4-5 Stars

A great start to a new series. While The Second Chance Rancher technically begins a new series, The Millers of Morgan Valley Ranch, it's also kind of a continuation of the Morgan Ranch series, with characters from Morgan Ranch playing secondary roles. You don't need to have read any of the books from that series to enjoy this one but you might just be intrigued enough to want to read it (and they are great books). Jackson Lymond has left his military career in the Air Force behind to return to Morgan Valley to help his brother, Cuay, with the ranch he inherited. He seems to be pretty happy-go-lucky and not have a care in the world but, of course, that isn't true. He has emotional scars from his time in the service but he doesn't want to show that side to anyone. Daisy Miller runs the flower shop in Morgan Valley but she also has a secret that she's keeping from her family (five older brothers and their father). A few years ago, she returned to Morgan Valley a broken person and they helped heal her. She promised she wouldn't return to what broke her but she broke that promise and it's eating at her that she hasn't told them the truth. Jackson is attracted to Daisy but they kind of get off on the wrong foot. Once they come to an understanding Jackson agrees to Daisy's terms of a friends-with-benefits/fake boyfriend arrangement because she's not ready for a serious relationship. There's quite a bit going on in this story: a mystery about coins found in a silver mine, what Daisy is really doing other than running her flower shop, the feelings that Jackson has buried under the facade he presents to the world. We are also introduced to all of Daisy's brothers, who I suspect will each get a book in the future. I enjoyed this story very much and liked how the relationship between Daisy and Jackson wasn't always lovey-dovey. In real life partners argue and have misunderstandings and it was nice to see that represented well in this story and yet you know that they care for each other even as they are arguing. The set-up for additional stories was great but didn't leave me with a cliffhanger feeling at all. The romance between Daisy and Jackson is resolved but my appetite for additional stories was definitely whetted. 😊 A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

I am loving the Millers of Morgan Valley and even though this is the first book in this spinoff series it feels like going home again. While you don't have to have read the original Morgan Ranch books to enjoy this one I do recommend them to everyone. In this book we get Daisy Miller's story. She grew up in Morgantown along with her five brothers. She broke away and left for a while but now she's back and not surprised to see that some things never change. Her family is just as overbearing and interfering as ever. Jackson Lymond, also newly returned to Morgantown, may be the most interesting person she's met in a while but does she really need or want another man in her life? These two are fun characters and the journey to their HEA made for a great story. I highly recommend it.