Hold Me, Cowboy (2015 Montana Born Rodeo) by Alissa Callen

Synopsis:

The Copper Mountain Rodeo has returned to Marietta and cowboy reputations aren't the only thing at stake...



Marietta home town girl Kendall Dixon knows who she is and what she wants, even if the stubborn and slow-smiling cowboy who owns her heart is long gone from Montana.



Rancher Brent Ashton returns to Marietta to care for his sick mother. Haunted by the death of his father, he is determined to save his derelict home and to resist rekindling the romance with the only girl he's ever loved. He can't let sacrifice her dreams for him.



But the shy and sweet Kendall he left behind has become a strong and determined woman. A woman who won't let her cowboy walk away for a second time.








My Review:

A sweet second chance romance.

It's been four years since Kendall Dixon last saw Brent Ashton.  After Brent's father's death he moved to Australia to live with his cousin.  Now he's back in Marietta and Kendall swears she is over Brent, but deep inside she is just hurt that he never returned her phone calls.  She still wants him.

If there were any spark left of Brent’s feelings for her, she’d find it.  Even if she had to find a way to make him talk, she wasn’t losing her cowboy for a second time.

Brent is home for good and plans to help his mom and to get Fire Weed Ranch back in business again.  He would have returned sooner, but his mom didn't tell him the truth about the ranch or her health.  The first person he sees after returning to town is Kendall at Big Z Hardware.  Kendall is the reason he stayed away so long.

Kendall didn't know that her mother had gone to see Brent the day before he’d left town and told him if he really loved Kendall, he would give her the freedom to follow her own destiny.  Hazel had made it clear the only reason why Kendall wouldn’t accept a Harvard offer to complete a postgraduate landscape qualification was because of him.

With Kendall staying at the ranch, Brent works hard fighting the feelings he has for her.  How long will he be able to resist Kendall?  He doesn't interfere with her future.

I enjoyed this sweet story.  Kendall and Brent's heartbreaking pasts made a great story line and the slow build up to romance made it seem very true to life.   With Brent and Kendall and their friends and family, the book had a lot of depth to it.