COWGIRL BRIDE: A Heartwarming Second Chance Story of Cowboys and Small Town Romance

Montana Mavericks: Return to Whitehorn #4.5

by Susan Mallery

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery, a fanfavorite short story about love, returning home and second chancesCowgirl Sierra Conroy doesn’t need anyone. She’s tough, independent and more than capable of holding her own on the ranch, despite all the grief the cowboys give her about being a woman. Sierra certainly doesn’t need love. She gave up on that the day Dylan McLaine broke her heart and left town.Dylan knows he did wrong by Sierra, and he hasn’t been able to forget her, even after all these years. And now that his marriage is over, he’s bought a ranch in his hometown and he needs Sierra’s help to run it. But will the woman whose heart he broke give him another chance?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary, Westerns

93 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 20, 1998

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling author Susan Mallery writes heartwarming and humorous novels about the relationships that define women's lives—family, friendship, romance. She's best known for putting nuanced characters into emotionally complex, real-life situations with twists that surprise readers to laughter. Because Susan is passionate about animal welfare, pets play a big role in her books. Beloved by millions of readers worldwide, her books have been translated into 28 languages.

Critics have dubbed Mallery "the new queen of romantic fiction." (Walmart) Booklist says, "Romance novels don't get much better than Mallery's expert blend of emotional nuance, humor, and superb storytelling," and RT Book Reviews puts her "in a class by herself!" It's no wonder that her books have spent more than 200 weeks on the USA Today bestsellers list.

Although Susan majored in Accounting, she never worked as an accountant because she was published straight out of college with two books the same month. Sixteen prolific years and seventy-four books later, she hit the New York Times bestsellers list for the first time with Accidentally Yours in 2008. She made many appearances in the Top 10 before (finally) hitting #1 in 2015 with Thrill Me, the twentieth book in her most popular series, the Fool's Gold romances, and the fourth of five books released that year.

Susan lives in Washington state with her husband, two ragdoll cats, and a small poodle with delusions of grandeur. Her heart for animals has led Susan to become an active supporter of the Seattle Humane Society. Visit Susan online at www.SusanMallery.com.

Reviews

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves]

Ditto to shms's review as she's written it just so!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Plus ...
Details of the past were so sketchy.
So they went to school together and stayed together till when?
When did he study law?
Who are his parents/family and where are they now?
No connection to the past is shown here. No town name*, people, her boss, his people.
She's this amazing and capable cowgirl who barrel raced too and has nothing to show for her life? Just a bunkhouse bed at the ranch she works at and stuff she can pack in an hour!
I'm sorry but he becomes a big shot lawyer and a politician-in-making but she doesn't even own a place of her own? I liked her tough cowgirl character/persona and she starts out like a h never seen before and I instantly loved her but the author lets her down.

And who writes letters?
And who keeps them to show their complicity in hiding them?

*We know it's Whitehorn because it's the 'Return to Whitehorn' series!

[shms]

I felt the h's angst in this second chance romance, it was well done. She would have been an awesome h, what with being a strong woman making it in a man's world, but that went down the drain with one kiss. I found myself aggravated, given that it had been 10 years since the separation and yet she just gave him a pass. Make him work for it girl!

Reading between the lines she hadn't been on ice, not physically anyway but emotionally certainly so. Least that's how I interpreted it. He had been in a marriage in which he chose to stay until his wife walked out. Nothing says 'I loved you all along' until the man you love gets kicked to the curb and comes looking for his 'one and only'. It was just so aggravating. I confess I mellowed a little with the explanation and excuses but it still wasn't enough to smooth out the aggravation. Hence the 2*'s.

[Maria]

An interesting second-chance romance. Trust issues are usually at the core of the problem of getting back together, and this is no exception. Although I enjoyed the story, I didn't feel that the trust issues were adequately resolved and should have been explored further.

[Kathleen Booker]

Sierra fell in love with Dylan and he ends up breaking her heart and marring someone else. Ten years later she is working on ranch and he comes back divorced with his son and wants to hire her to run his ranch. He tells her that he still loves her but she has hard time believing him. After he convinces her to ask her big brother about the letters he wrote her she discovers that the woman he married tricked him into believing the child she was carrying was his but the baby was not his but he stays with her and raises him as his own. His wife leaves him because she knows he still loves Sierra. Sierra still thinks that he will be better off without her but finally she sees that they belong together.

[Susannah Carleton]

There’s an unbelievably quick recovery from ten years of a broken heart when the lady’s first love returns—after marrying someone else. He was tricked into marrying his wife, but even after that is explained, through five letters he wrote the heroine during the first six months of his marriage (which her brother kept from her), the fact that the heroine still loves him and is willing to give him another chance is difficult to believe.

[Sue Stewart]

Great second chance love store - full of secrets that, when revealed, will hopefully change their direction for the future. Sierra and Dylan were great characters but Rory truly stole my heart.
Sweet, feel good story!

[Karen Geurts]

I like the second chance at romance stories

Sierra and Dylan had 10 years apart but were still deeply in love. They had a short time to find their way back to each other. Also, Dylan has a son who wants Sierra for a Mom. I like the characters and the story is wonderful.

[Pauline Frost]

A well written perfectly paced story pulling you in from the start. A story that opens up communication between Sierra and Dylan after ten years apart. Promises made but didn't hold up to stay together and Rory who finds a family he can depend on.

[Janis]

Another great book

Well done as always Susan. I love cowboy romances.. highly recommended. I really enjoyed this book. hi Nikki and cats

[Beth]

Nice short story.

[Lu Anne]

A novella originally published in 1998.

[Jess]

This book was enjoyable in the moment, but next time it goes on sale on Kobo, I’ll have to check and see if I’ve already read it.

[Missy]

Betrayal, heartbreak, and a second chance.........

Strong and independent Sierra has tried to forget the love she shared with Dylan...but it has been tough. 10 years have passed and in rides Dylan with a son. One look at him and she starts quivering....One kiss and she is gone. Their passion has not died and they are still in love but she sure forgets the pain and the past in a hurry. One month! And they are hot and heavy again. He sure didn't have to suffer long.

There was so much passion and angst in this novella. The characters are well developed and of course the kid is too cute.

[charmaine White]

Enjoyable

Susan Mallory always comes through.When you pick up one of her books you know,from the very beginning that your holding a winner.

[June]

Dylan's back after leaving Sierra years ago, he's back and he wants her.

[Nikki]

This book needed to be longer for it to have more impact. I liked it but it wasn’t very believable in the end.