Slow Burn Cowboy by Maisey Yates (Copper Ridge #7/The Donnellys #1)
Released: April 18, 2017
Contemporary Romance
Harlequin

Reviewed by Mandi

I just love the town of Copper Ridge and with this book we meet the entire Donnelly family, or at least the brothers. Finn is our hero, but his three half-brothers come back to his ranch after their grandfather dies and leaves each man a quarter interest. Finn has put his entire life into this ranch and hasn’t seen his brothers for many years. He assumes his brothers will want to be bought out, and be back on their way, which is totally fine with him as he wants the ranch all to himself.

His blood, sweat and tears were there. Soaked into the ground, the wood and basically every other damn surface in the place. Like the rest of his brothers he had spent summers here as a kid. Unlike them, when he was sixteen he had decided that he was here to stay. Finn had never felt anything quite like the peace that came from working his body boneless out in the field.

But his brothers have other plans. One is fresh out of the army, one has a troubled teenage daughter, and one just wants to cause trouble – and they all want to move in and live at the ranch. I could spend the entire review talking about them because I enjoyed them so much but I’ll save it for each of their own books.

Finn is a rancher, a very sexy rancher who has a best friend named Lane. They complete one another on so many levels. He helps her around her house if she has a problem, and she gives him food (she has a passion for cooking) and generally keeps him happy on a daily basis. They are besties and that is the way it has always been.

Lane owns a specialty grocery store in the town and really wants to expand it to include more local items. She starts to put the pressure on Finn and his dairy ranch to start producing organic cheese and milk, knowing she has the clientele for it – but he won’t hear of it. He thinks his money is better spent in big dairy contracts. When his brothers all come back to the ranch, they seem to each have an opinion, giving Finn an extended headache. As they invade his house and his quiet, Finn finds himself spending more time at Lane’s to get away from the chaos. And one night their friendship turns into more. But then there is resentment, and questions, and doubt and basically they are both scared about losing their friendship should their romance turn sour. It’s well done and realistic.

Finn is so sexy with his scruffy face and hard abs. He wears a Stetson and is grumpy – just how I like my romance hero. His banter with Lane is fun – they are both grumpy at times and they know each other so well they know just how to push each other’s buttons.

“It’s probably just a fuse, and it’s probably just going to take me a minute.”

“I told you I flipped the switches,” she said, sounding grumpy.

“I know you did,” he said.

“You think I flipped the switches wrong,” she said accusatory.

“I’m sure you’re a great switch flipper,” he responded, deadpan, as he continued to the fuse box.

Finn is the one to push for the relationship to start, and Lane is the one to fight for it in the end. They both had crappy childhoods and some drama, and once they get it all in the open and are there to support each other, their relationship gets stronger.

As I said above, Finn’s brothers really add a lot to this story, as well as Lane’s girlfriends. I really enjoyed their inclusion and I can’t wait to get more from this family. A super sexy, best friends to lovers story that worked very well for me.

Grade: B+

Goodreads l Kindle l Nook