“Your secret is safe with me.”

Science teacher Vanessa Cruise is spending her summer working in Bronco.

Rekindling her short-term fling with the hottest rancher in town? Not on her to-do list—especially since commitment is her number one don’t.

But Jameson John promises to keep their relationship hidden from the town gossips, then finds himself longing for more than just a summer affair.

Convincing Vanessa he’s worth the risk might be the hardest thing he’s ever had to do…

Titles in the Montana Mavericks: The Real Cowboys of Bronco Heights series include –The Rancher’s Summer Secret by Christine Rimmer – For His Daughter’s Sake by Stella Bagwell – The Most Eligible Cowboy by Melissa Senate – Grand-Prize Cowboy by Heatherly Bell – A Kiss at the Mistletoe Rodeo by Kathy Douglass – Dreaming of a Christmas Cowboy by Brenda Harlen –

This is an adult 18+ story that contains language, possible violence, and sexual situations geared to an adult audience.

Title:  The Rancher’s Summer Secret
Series:  Montana Mavericks: The Real Cowboys of Bronco Heights #1
Author:  Christine Rimmer
Genre:  Contemporary Romance, Modern Western Romance
Published:  June 29, 2021
Publisher:  Harlequin Special Edition
My Rating:  4.5 stars

The Rancher’s Summer Secret starts off the multi-author series, Montana Mavericks: The Real Cowboys of Bronco Heights with a poignant romance between one man who has finally found his “one” in a woman who is determined to never, ever be hurt or humiliated by love again in her lifetime, which means she doesn’t do commitment – at all.  I loved Jameson and Vanessa together, yet I also have to admit to being more frustrated by Vanessa’s logic than any other character I can recall reading about recently.  I understood that her reasons need to make sense to only her but the love of her life was standing right in front of her practically begging for her love and still she held on to a painfilled past for so very long.

Vanessa has a very emotionally painful past in her hometown of Bronco.  Young love went bad with betrayal, high school “mean girls” doing what only the nasties can do best which is destroy confidence and happiness for anyone not in their circle, and cruelty as only the young can dish out – those are things that Van doesn’t want to remember or to even be in the same town for longer than short family visits.  She’s a teacher in nearby Billings, yet even there heartache has found its way to her doorstep time and time again.  She has reached the point emotionally that she isn’t even trying for happiness or love anymore.  At the moment could be her new motto, which is exactly what she considered New Year’s Eve with Jameson… until she couldn’t forget The Night That Never Happened.  Summer became a second chance to reconnect with Jameson… on her terms.

I adored Jameson, hands down he is my favorite in The Rancher’s Summer Secret for several reasons.  I think, most importantly though it was his patience with Vanessa that went above and beyond to nearly a candidate for sainthood that won my heart so completely.  He’s been hurt in the past as well, yet he (like most of us) has learned to put it behind him and still has hope for the future.  He’s sexy as sin, a compassionate man, a great big brother, and a man any woman would be proud to have by her side for a lifetime.  A lesson that will take Vanessa way too long, in my opinion, to finally get.

I had such fun with the secondary characters I’ve met so far.  Some will find their own happy ever after at some point in the series, others will always be the secondary characters that often make a story or series believable by their dependability in always staying true to form.  I loved Vanessa’s great-grandmother and I hope we see more of her throughout the series – the world needs her kind of wisdom with a touch of “otherness”.

In all, I had fun with The Rancher’s Summer Secret and I’m definitely looking forward to discovering what comes next for the residents of Bronco.

I own a Kindle edition of this title.

Available in print or for your favorite e-reader