Janie Adams has been a single parent to her nephew since he was a baby. Fifteen years later, she’s finally found out who his father might be, so the two of them travel across the country to find him. She’d do anything for this kid. But when they arrive in the small town of Wishing River, Montana, and Janie finally meets the ruggedly handsome cowboy she’d been told had abandoned his son, his shocked response changes everything.

Aiden Rivers can’t dispute this is his kid when he sees his own features staring back at him, but he had no idea Janie’s sister was pregnant when she left him. He didn’t even know she had a sister—clearly, they’d all been lied to. Now he has fifteen years of fatherhood to make up for and no idea how to be a dad. This was never in his plans.

Janie sticks around to help him ease into parenting, everything from showing him how to lure a sulky kid out of his bedroom to keeping up with the latest teen-speak. Together, they surprisingly make a good team, this city girl and country boy. But when the past catches up with them, Aiden and Janie must decide what’s best for the boy who’s connecting them, not only for each other…which could mean splitting them apart.

Titles in the Wishing River series include – The Trouble with Cowboys – Cowboy for Hire – Wishing for a Cowboy –

Title:  Wishing for a Cowboy
Series:  Wishing River #3
Author:  Victoria James
Genre:  Modern Western Romance
Published:  March 9, 2021
Publisher:  Entangled Publishing
My Rating:  4.5 stars

Wishing for a Cowboy is the third title in the Wishing River series – and this one is full of emotions, questions, assumptions, and figuring out the past in order to move forward to the future for two unlikely people and one teenager searching for answers.  I was easily swept back into this world by Aiden’s and Janie’s romance.  Discovering he had a son, a fifteen-year-old son will rock Aiden’s world.  Learning that Will’s father wasn’t anything like she’d expected may change the course of Janie’s life.  These three need to go beyond a past that is about to creep up on them once again – will they do that separately or as their own unique family.

There is so much that I want to say about Wishing for a Cowboy, yet without giving away major spoilers I can’t really go into the detail that this story deserves.  Janie has raised her nephew, Will since she was a mere 18 years old and he was only around 4.  The sacrifices she made for this sweet boy are realistic, and sometimes painful.  She raised a good kid, but now hard times have hit and she needs to find Will’s biological father for financial support.  What she discovered upon finding Aiden was that she and Aiden had been lied to by her sister, deeply lied to in ways that changed lives forever.

For Aiden, there was no denying the mini-me standing in front of him was his son… a son he had no clue existed for fifteen long years.  How could Will’s mother have done that to them all?  Now, Aiden has to work from ground zero in gaining Will and Janie’s trust, to help them as he learns about his son and about the minute details of parenting a teenager.  Slowly they will build relationships from strangers to friends – and perhaps more.  When the past comes back rearing its ugly head once again will this newly formed “family” be able to stand together or be torn apart once more… this time with Aiden knowing full well what he’s losing.

I absolutely loved Wishing for a Cowboy.  It’s realistic where it needs to be, believable even relatable at times.  Both Janie and Aiden are holding onto secrets that need to come out into the open for their relationship to thrive.  Aiden and Janie are strong, stubborn people who haven’t had the easiest of lives yet together they work, they fit, and watching them come to that conclusion and act on it was a delightful journey.  If you enjoy a romance that goes a bit beyond the happy ever afters into consequences of actions and how they enriched lives, then Wishing for a Cowboy would be a perfect fit for you.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher, Entangled Publishing via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story.  It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

Available in paperback, audio, or for your favorite e-reader, mine is the Kindle