Secret Nights with a Cowboy: A Kittredge Ranch Novel

Caitlin Crews

Dec 2020 · Kittredge Ranch Book 1 · Sold by St. Martin's Paperbacks

About this ebook

USA Today bestseller Caitlin Crews returns to Cold River, CO, and cowboys, with an emotional second chance romance in Secret Nights with a Cowboy, the stunning first installment in her new Kittredge Ranch series.

A man holding on...

Riley Kittredge has always known exactly what he wanted. His land, his horses. His woman. He met and married Rae Trujillo far too young, and their young love combusted right after they said their vows. But their passion has never managed to burn itself out. Yet when Rae shows this time, it's not a night of pleasure she demands, but a divorce.

A woman letting go...

Rae should have moved on a long time ago. She knows she and Riley just don't work. They might make great lovers, but that doesn't make a marriage. And now Rae wants a new life, complete with a baby. But when her husband offers to be a father, to give her the family she's always secretly desired, she and Riley will both have to face demons from their past—and choose love over fear at last.

“Loaded with charming characters [and] wit....will win the heart of any romance fan.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) on A True Cowboy Christmas

Ratings and reviews

This is the start of a new series and the first story belongs to Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujillo. They married young, and with it came the immaturity of not being able to handle the ups and downs of a marriage. The passion was there, but so were the tempers. While the town thought they were no longer together, in fact they continued to meet some nights always sparking their passion. But once morning came, Rae would leave Riley’s bed. She finally decides she needs to divorce Riley , date and have a baby. Much to her surprise, Riley offers to help her have the baby. These two individuals had a great deal of issues from their past. In the end , would the love and communicating overcome the past or will they finally go their separate ways? I have to confess, I had a hard time getting engaged in the story and reading all the way through. While I loved Riley, I never warmed up to Rae. I wanted to shake them and give them a piece of my mind. I was entrusted a copy of this book. The opinions are solely my own.

This book will engage your emotions as the main characters get their second chance at a HEA. As much as I liked Riley and Rae, I have to admit they also had me feeling pretty frustrated with their dogged stoicism and resistance to just simply talk to one another and admitting their feelings. If you like your chemistry simmering, your emotions long suffering and a whole lot of angst, this book is right up your alley. As for me I thought it was a good romance and an intriguing start to this new series that I want to read more of. This is my frank, freely posted review.

Riley Kittredge and Rae Trujillo got married right out of school. In a small town that usually only means one thing, but they proved the gossips wrong. Then one day Rae moved out of Riley's house and back in with her parents where she has stayed ever since. The whole town thinks they are divorced, only Riley and Rae know they are still very much married, and not averse to sneaking around behind everyone's backs. Then Rae realises she is stuck in a perpetual teenager mode: working for the family business; living with her judgemental family; no home of her own; and no chance of a family while she's still in a friends-with-benefits arrangement with her husband. When Rae announces to Riley that she wants a divorce and she wants to move on he thinks he's heard it all before. After all, that's what they do, shout and scream at each other then rip one another's clothes off. When he realises she is serious Riley has some serious thinking to do, can he win back the woman he still madly loves? How far is he willing to go? I don't know what it was about this novel that tugged so hard on my heartstrings, maybe it was the tragedy of two people madly in love who just can't find their way back to one another. Maybe it was because Riley had no idea why Rae left him. All I know is that I literally dripped tears practically the entire time I was reading this book (and I devoured it in a single day), I just couldn't stop. The way in which their split had broken apart friendships between the families was so sad. Second-chance cowboy romance that sweeps you along on an emotional rollercoaster. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

About the author

USA Today-bestselling, RITA-nominated, and critically-acclaimed author Caitlin Crews has written more than seventy-five books, including Frenemies, Princess from the Past, A Royal Without Rules, and Undone by the Sultan's Touch. She has won fans with her romance, Harlequin Presents, women's fiction, chick lit, and work-for-hire young adult novels, many of which she writes as Megan Crane (including the dystopian Viking romance Edge series). These days her focus is on contemporary romance in all its forms, from small town heat to international glamour, cowboys to bikers to military men and beyond.

Crews has taught creative writing classes in places like UCLA Extension's prestigious Writers' Program, gives assorted workshops on occasion, and attempts to make use of the MA and PhD in English Literature she received from the University of York in York, England. She currently lives in the Pacific Northwest with a husband who draws comics and animation storyboards, and their menagerie of ridiculous animals.