Rocky Mountain Romance by Vivian Arend (Six Pack Ranch #7)
Contemporary Romance
October 21, 2014
Self Published
Reviewed by Helyce
From Goodreads: It took a spectacularly embarrassing break-up to knock Steve Moonshine Coleman off his lazy butt. In the ten months since that night, he’s changed his ways, and now that Melody’s back in town, it’s time for this sweet-talking cowboy to convince her to get back in the saddle with him.
A return to her veterinary position in Rocky Mountain House was always in the cards for Melody Langley. Getting back together with Steve? Never part of the plan. He had lots of potential but zero ambition, and there’s no way she’ll accept anything less than a man who can keep up with her, in and out of bed.
But the new-and-improved cowboy is impossible to resist, so Melody issues a challenge. Three months to prove he’s reformed. Three months of Steve orchestrating one sexual indulgence after another—wicked distractions from the old boys’ club Melody faces at work and Steve’s growing responsibilities.
He’s got one shot to prove with more than words what’s in his heart and soul.
I put off writing this review for a bit because I thought I needed to let my thoughts settle some so they didn’t come off in a way that might be misconstrued. It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Ms. Arend and especially of this series. This book, for me, felt a bit out of place though and I didn’t enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed previous books in the series.
First, I don’t remember Steve or Melody from previous books. Steve is a cousin of the Six Pack Coleman clan and he had been in a relationship with Melody until they had a huge falling out prior to her leaving Rocky Mountain for a year in order to do additional training toward being a large animal veterinarian. This “falling out” unfortunately becomes a bit repetitive as we are reminded several times throughout the first third of the book, of the “time Melody pours a pitcher of beer all over Steve’s head and runs off”. My not remembering them is all on me if they were in fact small side characters in a previous story-but I think it had a lot to do with my not being able to make a connection with them.
Steve may have been a guy with no ambition, but when we meet him in this book, he’s come a long way and I liked him. We don’t actually experience his full-on character growth because his change occurred over the year of time that Melody was away at her training, but we do learn about some of his past shenanigans and can see him making a huge effort to convince Melody of these changes.
I wasn’t crazy about Melody but there were a few things I liked about her. I really liked that she was a big animal vet and had to deal with the male ranchers who expected her to fail just because she is a woman. I did like that she stood up for herself and didn’t take any crap from all the older ranchers that are set in their ways. I liked that she continually proved that she could handle everything that was thrown at her. Her confidence in herself and her ability to take care of her animal patients is clear and done really well.
As a couple, though, I adored Steve and thought Melody should just get over herself. The whole Steve having to prove that he’d changed got a little tiring especially when she only gives Steve three months to prove he can be the man she wants and needs-but then her job is such that they go days without seeing each other. Steve does step up in every way, and goes out of his way to prove that he has changed and is the right man for Melody.
One of the things that I love about this series is also the thing that kept me interested and invested in this story. Ms. Arend is always so generous as she brings back previous couples in such a wonderful way as to include them and update their lives without taking away from our main couple. In this story, I began to look forward to any scene that included previous characters. It kept me reading!
I like the second chance at love trope and for the most part, it’s done well in here. Steve does most of his growing, off scene, but Melody comes face to face with these changes through their 2nd chance courtship. I disliked Melody’s mistrust of Steve’s commitment. Though she must have had her reasons, I don’t think it is explained enough in this story to warrant her mistrust of the “new and improved” Steve.
When I first marked this book as read on Goodreads, I wrote: “This felt a bit like a filler book to me. One of those that revisits our favorite characters and is “comfortable” but doesn’t really hold up to the previous books’ level of expectation. It was just ok.”
Yep – it was just ok.
Rating: C+
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I like the Six Pack Ranch series, too. But I don’t recall these characters being mentioned in previous books. That may be due to the fact I read so much that characters and plots tend to meld into each other sometimes. Which is disconcerting since I used to have a pretty damn good memory.
Getting older sucks! lol
LOL! I certainly can relate to getting older and characters kind of melting into each other. The good thing with this one, though, was that everyone else who was part of this story was well known from previous books.