Title: His Outback Cowgirl
Series: The Wildflower Ranch #4
Author: Alissa Callen
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Published: March 18, 2015
Publisher: Tule Publishing
My Rating: 4 stars
Source: NetGalley
Story Blurb:
Australian cowgirl, Bridie Willis, travels to Montana to meet her half-brother and to escape the pain of losing her father. Headstrong and determined to live life to the full, she plans to spend the summer photographing wild animals in the back country.
Cowboy, Ethan Morgan, has been shaped by a childhood spent on the run. Cautious, steady and conservative, he must ensure the risk-taking cowgirl he is entrusted to babysit doesn’t come to any harm.
But the biggest challenge Ethan must face is to accept how Bridie makes him feel. And the biggest risk Bridie must take is to trust in her heart.
Read on for my thoughts on His Outback Cowgirl. No true spoilers, promise.
It’s never easy losing a parent. Everyone reacts and grieves differently, there is no “right” way to move forward – there is only “your way” to do what is needed.
Bridie has lost her father, even though she has found her half-brother, the grief, the emptiness of not having her dad to turn to is weighing heavily on her. She knows with certainty if she could just get to the mountains, if she could just be alone in the vastness of the wilderness she could let her deep grief go, release it into the heart of the solitude of the mountains – she could start to heal. But she has to get there first.
Ethan is the quieter twin, not a risk-taker. Even though Bridie pulls at him, he feels that her live life to the fullest, risk-taking view of life would clash with his quieter, slower way of looking at life. That doesn’t stop the longing though. He just can’t see how they could ever make it together. Not to mention she lived on the other side of the earth and was obviously still grieving over her father’s death.
But his dad, Henry, the old matchmaker, has a different idea of Bridie and Ethan’s chances. And when Bridie ask for permission to head into the upper areas of his property, up into the mountains – Henry sees a plan in the making.
Ethan understood Bridie better than she thought. He had lost his mom about a year ago, so he knew the release that would eventually have to come in order for Bridie to be able to work through her grief to get to the other side. He just didn’t think babysitting her on her trips into the mountains was the best way to give her the solitude she craved. And it sure didn’t help that every time he was with her, she pulled him in a little bit more.
His Outback Cowgirl is a short read – but a powerful one. It’s tender where it needs to be and realistic when depicting the ultimate release of Bridie’s grief. I enjoyed learning Ethan and Bridie’s story. The love slowly building between them was just right for this type of story.
This one gets a 4 outta 5 rating from me. I would recommend this one for anyone who simply loves a good romance, anyone who has dealt with grief and wished for a strong shoulder like Ethan’s to turn to.
*I received an e-ARC of His Outback Cowgirl from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. That does not change what I think of this novel.*
