Friday, August 7, 2015

The Rebel Cowboy's Quadruplets - Tina Leonard (HAR #1505 - July 2014)

Series: Bridesmaids Creek (Book 1)

Rebel with a cause

Beautiful Mackenzie Hawthorne is looking for a ranch foreman, not a husband. Good thing, because marriage isn't in injured bull rider Justin Morant's future. Justin is happy to take up the cause of saving the Hanging H ranch -- and then there's the bonus of playing stand-in father to the sexy single mom's four angelic newborns.

Mackenzie doesn't know what miracle brought Justin to Bridesmaids Creek, Texas, but she'd be a fool to fall for the hunky cowboy who wears his rebel status like a badge of honor. Justin's a natural with her daughters and a whiz at ranching…yet one day she knows he's going to gallop off into the sunset. Unless, of course, the marriage-minded townspeople get their hands on him!

Fun book. Mackenzie is the single mother of four infant girls. She needs a ranch foreman to help get the ranch in shape for possible sale. Her childhood friend, Ty, sends Justin her way, but Ty has more than the ranch in mind. He thinks the former bull rider would be a perfect husband for her. But neither Mackenzie or Justin have marriage on their minds.

Mackenzie is in no hurry to marry again after her husband fled from the responsibilities of four babies. She feels that she is just fine on her own, with a little help from her friends. However, she can't deny that Justin's presence makes things easier. He's really sweet with her babies, and a strong support against those who want her ranch. She's attracted to him, but he's made no secret of his plans to stay single. 

Justin is in no hurry to settle down. He enjoyed his travels with the rodeo, and now that he can't do that any longer he has to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Helping out on the Hanging H is a good start. Discovering that his buddy Ty was actually setting him up should have made him mad, but he found himself pretty content with his situation. His attraction to Mackenzie is another reason to stick around.

I enjoyed seeing the relationship develop between Justin and Mackenzie. She's cautious about risking her heart again, but Justin's way with her girls has her walls coming down pretty quickly. She's very independent, but Justin has a way of offering help without making her feel helpless. I liked how he tried to fight his feelings, but jealousy of Ty's other cowboy helpers kept him from leaving. He was also really sensitive to the way she felt about the ranch, and helped her find a way to hang on to it. Both of them fought admitting their feelings, but a showdown with the town bad girl and interference from the town matchmakers had it all coming out. The race at the end was fun, especially with the various shenanigans provided by Ty's friends and Daisy''s posse.

The secondary characters are all great additions. Ty's friends are fun with their attempts to make Justin jealous, and then their own growing involvements with the town. Bad girl Daisy is a real piece of work, and I enjoyed seeing Mackenzie's sister take her on. The matchmaking magic of Bridesmaids Creek is interesting and it's fun to see its influence on the townspeople and the newcomers.

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