Title: Midnight Wrangler
Author: Cat Johnson
Series: Midnight Cowboys #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel
Available: Nov 24th
One Lonely Widower…
Rohn Lerner is a successful Oklahoma rancher. He’s old enough to know what he likes, and still young enough to enjoy it. But losing his wife five years ago wore him thin. He’s not ready to date, but he needs someone to share a meal with as badly as someone to warm his bed.
One Woman with a Secret…
Bonnie Martin fled her Oklahoma home years ago, leaving behind her abusive father, and Rohn, the lost love she never forgot. Now she’s back to settle her father’s estate, but she has no idea that she’s about to bump into Rohn or that they’ll fall for each other all over again.
One Night That Changes Everything…
Source: ARC from Zebra Books (Kensington) via NetGalley
This second chance romance stars an older than usual couple, with both Rohn and Bonnie in their forties. He’s lonely and wondering if he’ll ever fall in love again, she’s returning home to deal with her father’s house, and they both have so much unfinished business from their teenage years. Mostly this is a sweet read, cutting between what happened that summer in 1990 and what’s happening in the present as they meet up again.
However… Bonnie. She annoyed me, and the way the story drags out the past revelations didn’t help. In many ways she doesn’t seem to have matured any further than her naive eighteen-year-old self. There were several moments when I just wanted to shout at her to grow up. She avoids all conflict by running, doesn’t deal with her past and gets embarrassed about the stupidest of things. She’s frustrating and I often wondered why Rohn bothered with her.
Because Rohn is a sweetheart. He fell in love with Bonnie when he was eighteen, was broken hearted when she left, but he’s not bitter about it. In fact he welcomes her warmly back to town and is eager to get together again. He doesn’t rehash the past, he just moves on and thinks of a happy future. He’s just lovely, really, and his relationship with his three young ranch hands was fun – even if it did seem like Rohn never actually does any work, other than grumbling at paperwork.
So this was a mixed bag for me. The plot moves pretty slowly and Bonnie is irritating, but Rohn is worth the effort and the younger boys are always fun. If you’re looking for a slow-build, second chance romance and you don’t mind it taking its time to get anywhere, then you’ll enjoy this. It was okay for me, not as good as the first in the series but not terrible either. I’ll certainly want to read the next one. Why do I have the feeling that some secrets aren’t finished with yet?
Midnight Wrangler is out November 24th!
Visit Cat Johnson for more details.
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