Can this tenacious beauty tame Royal, Texas’s savage beast? 

One New Year’s Eve kiss is all it takes…

To tame a handsome beast.

Thanks to a bogus inheritance, rancher Heath Thurston has a score to settle.

Seducing his sexy land surveyor, Ruby Bennet, is not part of his revenge plan…nor is the snowstorm that leaves them stranded with nothing but a connection they can’t deny.

As the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve, will Heath’s icy heart finally melt, or will he remain a vengeful beast for good?

Titles in the multi-author Texas Cattleman’s Club: Ranchers and Rivals series include — Staking a Claim by Janice Maynard – Boyfriend Lessons by Sophia Singh Sasson – On Opposite Sides by Cat Schield – Rivalry at Play by Nadine Gonzalez – Vacation Crush by Yahrah St. John – An Ex to Remember by Jessica Lemmon – Cinderella Masquerade by LaQuette – One Christmas Night by Jules Bennett – Rancher After Midnight by Karen Booth

This is an adult 18+ story that may contain language, possible violence, and/or sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Booksprout ARC

Title:  Rancher After Midnight
Series:  Texas Cattleman’s Club: Ranchers and Rivals #9
Author:  Karen Booth
Genre:  Contemporary Romance / Modern Western Romance
Published:  December 27, 2022
Publisher:  Harlequin Desire
My Rating:  4.5 stars

At this point in the Texas Cattleman’s Club: Ranchers and Rivals series, it’s going to take one amazing woman’s influence to change my opinion of one stubborn, bull-headed, vengeance-fueled hero.  And, Karen Booth managed to do just that… but not until Heath learned quite a few life lessons on what is really important – a perceived slight or a life with the woman you love and the family your brother has entered into as well.

I have to admit that I have not liked Heath one little bit throughout this series.  Yet, Rancher After Midnight gave me a better look into Heath’s mindset, his reasons for this stubborn quest, and perhaps to find a strong man underneath the layers of bitterness and grief.

I adored Ruby, she’s smart, sexy, and just as stubborn as Heath in her own way.  She won’t cower from his anger or his demands but she will teach him to see things from a different perspective, to let go of his anger and bitterness while finding closure, something he desperately needs.  And, if along the way, their passion, their sizzling chemistry, and their hearts get involved, well, all the better.

We’ll get to see several familiar faces and to be frank some scenes were heart-wrenching.  They were needed for Heath to begin to see reality and gain acceptance of his own part in all of this heartbreak but did those scenes ever hurt as those lessons were being learned!

If you love a series with growing anticipation about what will be discovered by the characters by the ending, if seeing a stubborn man change himself for the right reasons, and simply a really good, well-written romance that will give you all the feels… then Rancher After Midnight is just right for you.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the author or author’s team via Booksprout. The opinions expressed in this review are my own – good, bad, or indifferent.*

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