The Rancher Next Door

Another favorite Susan Mallery book of mine now At the moment I am trying to read all of her books and I am enjoying everyone of them especially this one. This story felt so real at times I felt like I was right their with them watching their love grow as they grow and watch them get torn apart but come back years later. A read I will recommand to any romance reader.

Darbys and Fitzgeralds have been feuding as long as Texas has been a state. Nevertheless, Katie thought Jake was nice, especially after he taught her how to ride a bike. That incident resulted in her brother and friends beating Jake soundly, before her father joined the fray. Nevertheless, their young attraction blossomed into love before Katie graduated from high school when Katie promised to love Jack forever. When Katie had gone away to college she had begged Jack to join her. Jack refused, and in less than a year Katie married, had a child and divorced. Eleven years later Katie has moved her son Shane back to her home town to open her business as a physical therapist. One of her first patients is Hattie Darby, Jack's mother. Jake couldn't leave his family's ranch. Leaving would make Jake like his father, who abandoned his mother and seven children. Instead, he set out to provide well for his family and his forays into oil and horse breeding assured his mother of a comfortable, modern home. Jake had given up the idea of marriage and family, even if he can't squelch his attraction to Katie. Even if their attraction feels just like eleven years ago when they were young and in love and "close to dying if they didn't kiss one more time."Katie's father provides tension to the story, presenting a harsh and abrasive character. Not only does he keep the ancient feud alive between the Darbys and Fitzgeralds, but he also expresses his displeasure with his grandson Shane's masculinity. Shane is terrified of his grandfather, preferring computers to cattle. Katie and Shane's temporary new home with Aaron was supposed to bring the family closer together while their own home was being built. Instead, the plan seems to be a miserable failure. Yet Katie loves her father, despite his rough edges and old-fashioned ways. THE RANCHER NEXT DOOR by Susan Mallery is a terrific read. I admit to enjoying Mallery's language choices, such as when she describes Katie as "a gallon of trouble in a pint-sized container." In addition to a fantastic hero and heroine, the secondary casts of characters are remarkably vivid with their individual defining characteristics. No character feels gratuitous, rather, each character adds to the spice of the whole, lending the novel a lovely complexity and depth. I especially love Hattie, whose zest for living led to a barrel racing accident, neatly providing Katie with her link to her lost love. Highly recommended.

I enjoy Susan Mallery's work, especially after reading her *Desert Rogues* Trilogy. This is the first in her *Lone Star Canyon* Series, and I recommend it very much! Very believable.