I've read a couple of books that this author has written. That being said, I have not read this series. I did however buy one after reading this. I loved this book. It hit my heart strings and was so well written. I cannot wait to read more.

4 so many well written stars! Thank you Netgalley!

This is a good story about a veteran Shaylene Crawford a veteran who has come home to take over her family’s ranch after her father had a stroke. She has hired three vets as wrangler’s to help her on the ranch and to help them with their PTSD. She is dealing with own issues as well. Now a fourth veteran has shown up in town looking for work. Reese Lockhart was a Captain in the Marine Corps but PTSD forced him out of the corps and you find out that his wife also divorced him. Now looking for any type of work Shaylene decides to give him a job at the ranch. It turns out that he also has a degree in business and is able to help her go over her father’s books which he did not keep up. The story goes along you become familiar with the other men at the ranch and also her father who is in a home but is a piece of work in a bad way. When Reese steps in and stands up for Shaylene you can see he is coming back to himself as an officer, but also as someone who cares for her as well. Attracted to and she to him he is scared because of nightmares, and not wanting to hurt her. He does not think he is worthy to have another relationship because of his PTSD and the effects it did to his marriage. There are some characters from the first book that appear in this story that help this book along and give it the moments it needs for the story to move in the right direction. Without giving too much away this is a very emotional, but powerful book and issues other than PTSD are discussed like being verbally abused. Overall a very good story well written and very good characters.

I was a little leery of tackling this second novel in Lindsay McKenna's Wind River Valley series, because I was somewhat disappointed by the first novel in the series, Wind River Wrangler, but the Lindsay McKenna whose books I've enjoyed for decades is back in fine form and I'm happy to be able to give this novel 4.5 stars.

Let me start by stating that I'm no stranger to PTSD, I've been married to a Vietnam veteran for 40+ years, and so I fully understand the challenges faced by the characters in this novel. Over the past 20 years, more and more veterans have been returning to the U.S. as wounded warriors, not only in body, but especially in mind and spirit, and the suicide rate among them has never been higher. So, kudos to Ms. McKenna for doing a first-rate job in attempting to make the uninitiated reader familiar with and sympathetic to the struggles, both personal and financial, that our returning veterans face. The photos of these broken, hopeless and homeless men and women have certainly been gaining attention and their shame is really our nation's shame because programs and help for these brave soldiers who've put their lives on the line for all of us is and always has been too little too late, and I applaud Ms. McKenna's efforts in writing a wonderfully readable novel that, although fiction, is all to real for so many.

This is Shay and Reese's story. Shay, whose mother died when she was only 10, joined the Marines at age 18 to escape her abusive, alcoholic father but had to return home to run the family ranch after her father suffered a stroke that left him incapacitated. She'd been beaten down emotionally by his abuse for as long as she could remember, and was shocked to discover that during the time she'd been away, her father's alcoholism and gambling had left the ranch in deplorable condition and near foreclosure. It didn't help that she was also dealing with her own PTSD, but because the ranch was in no shape to again support a cattle operation, she decided to hire down-on-their-luck veterans to help her rescue the ranch, and to become a place of healing for these emotionally wounded warriors.

When we meet Reese, a former Captain in the Marines, he's been homeless and wandering from place to place for two years. He's thin, starving, bedraggled, dirty and hopeless--picking up odd jobs here and there just to keep himself alive. When he wanders into the Wind River Hay & Feed store looking for enough work to pay for a meal, he meets Charlie, the owner, a man with a very open heart, and is soon, fed, washed, clothed and ready to be interviewed for a job at Bar C ranch. His boss, he soon discovers, is the very pretty Shay Crawford, and his life is about to change for the better in ways he cannot begin to imagine. He soon meets the other ranch hands, all veterans with PTSD like himself, and slowly but surely, they form a bond of family.

While I complained about the lack of relationship building and character development in my review of Wind River Wrangler, it's certainly more than abundant in this novel. Ms. McKenna has embued these characters with real depth, and made their struggles so real that she at times reduced me to tears. Granted, the openness, willingness to help and giving nature of almost every character in the Wind River Valley was somewhat hard to imagine really existing, but this reviewer would like to believe that there are still places just like it to be found in America.

I absolutely loved that Reese and Shay took their time, and their relationship and respect for one another grew slowly, as did dealing with their individual issues before getting involved with one another--I've never been a fan of insta-love, and I'm so happy that Ms. McKenna didn't take that route. I also liked that the daily chores of a working ranch were included, when so often in western romances, it seems the ranch runs itself. It's also important that we see the benefits of a hard days' work and the feeling of accomplishment to be gained from it.

This was not an action-packed story, but an emotional one, and the only thing that kept me from giving it 5 stars was the abruptness of the ending. I felt a bit cheated at being told there's a HEA coming, but not getting a chance to share it with these wonderful characters. Plus, there's a dangling plot element at the end of this story, and I hope it's dealt with in the next installment.

I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this novel.

I really loved the characters of Resse and Shay, I loved how Lindsay built each of the characters up and how she worked the war veterans in and the telling of how they have to work through so many demons that they bring back from conflicts. Thank you Lindsay for this.

Wow! This was a gorgeous an emotional story about healing and not being alone. Shay and Reese- I loved them so much. This book really made me think about our soldiers that come home with PTSD and don't get the support they need after giving so much of themselves for our country. I loved this book and can't wait to read more by this author.

"Wind River Rancher" is the 2nd in the series, with some familiar friends from book 1. That being said, it is a stand alone book and as always from Lindsay McKenna, a well written love story. I will say that Shay and Reese's story seemed to be more emotional. The struggles that Reese was enduring with his PTSD, and the healing process he went through, did have me in tears at times. Shay and Reese's story had a lot of ups and downs in it, a lot of emotions, as well as being romantic with a HEA. I love all the guys on the Bar C ranch and look forward to their stories and HEAs as well. The book is inspiring and may not be to everyone's taste when they are reading something that may have some truth in it when dealing with PTSD and everyday struggles for Vets. I loved it and look forward to the next in the series. I would like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books and gifting me "Wind River Rancher" and asking for my honest opinion. This is mine. 4.25 Stars!

Shay is a veteran and had an abusive upbringing. She struggles to keep her ranch. Her principles include only hiring other vets with PTSD. Enter Reese. He has fallen on very hard times dealing with his illness. There is an instant spark between them, but they slowly get to know each other until the time is right. I enjoyed the interaction of Shay, Reese, the other veteran ranch hands, and the all the locals. I read the first in this series, and look forward to the next.

I received a copy of this story through Netgalley, and this is my unsolicited review.

Reese Lockhart showed up in town fifty pounds underweight, malnourished and begging for someone to believe in him because he couldn't believe in himself anymore. He was suffering from PTSD and his time in the military serving in the Middle East and the horrors he had witnessed while serving there.

Shay Crawford ran the Bar C Ranch in Wyoming. Her dream was to hire veterans who were suffering from PTSD and help to heal them. She, herself, was a veteran who was struggling with PTSD, too. She knew how they felt and what they had lost and she wanted to help them find their way again. When she first met Reese, she was concerned because he was so thin and obviously hurting. She could see something in him that he couldn't though. She saw someone who desperately needed a break and for someone to give him a chance. She had already hired three other veterans who were working on her ranch and she felt that Reese would fit into their team nicely. Everyone had their own story. None of the vets had gotten into drugs or alcohol but their every day struggles were very real.

I loved the premise of this story about helping our veterans. Shay had a big heart and struggled with her own demons but she wanted to help others who had similar struggles of their own. The story was fairy well written. My only real criticism of the story was the descriptive sex scenes toward the later part of the book. I don't feel the need to read the details but I know that is a personal preference. I did enjoy how Reese and Shay's love story came together and how protective Reese was of Shay throughout the entire story. He wasn't a hard core alpha male but he was always quietly standing beside her to protect her and he let her develop the strength within herself to stand up to her father and feel success in that.

I was given a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The publisher provided with a copy of this book to review via NetGalley.

I’ll admit, that I was a bit leery about reading this book at first. When I read the first book in this series, Wind River Wrangler, it was so agonizingly slow, that I didn’t think I could make it through this book if it was the same way. While this book wasn’t as slow as Wind River Wrangler, it did have it’s dragging moments.

The characters in this book were alright. I didn’t feel any real connection to any of them, which makes it hard to feel sympathetic toward their issues. Though it felt a bit tedious at times, being a large focus of the book, I also enjoyed the fact that the majority of the characters suffered from PTSD because often times it is overlooked and written off by many people as not worthy of the attention. So yes, it was good to see not only the two main characters, but a lot of the side characters dealing with this in various ways, because like many diseases, each individual will heal at their own pace and need different treatments and help to get through it. But it also seemed like such a huge focus of the book that everything else was put on the back burner to keep the issue front and center. Like sure, there was ranch stuff going on, but even then, PTSD was always being mentioned. I feel that if it had have been a little less in your face, I would have enjoyed the book more.

It took a while for there to be any real connection between this book and the first in the series. In fact, there were a few times during the first half of the book, that I kept checking to make sure that they were indeed a part of the same series. I was expecting it to be more closely connected to that first book, and eventually the connection came, but a little too late to feel like a sequel. Even so, I get that this series is encompassing more than just a single ranch and it’s employees, it is clearly going to focus on the lives of everyone within the Wind River Valley, and hopefully that will work out in the end, as I’m sure there is plenty of good characters to come along as the series progresses.

I found that the first half of this novel flew by fairly quickly. I sat down to read it, and then next thing you know, I was about fifty-seven percent done. It was the second half that really slowed down. I don’t know if this is because of the small break I took in reading or not, which really was only overnight, but something about returning to the book felt daunting. Once I started reading the second half I noticed how boring and long the conversations between the characters were. More so, the descriptions of just about everything were drawn out, to make sure you knew every single detail, whether it mattered or not.

The ending was pretty abrupt and almost feels like something is missing, that there are still some unresolved issues. Perhaps these will be resolved in future books, but it would have likely made more sense to deal with them now in this book, instead of in the future.

Overall, the book was alright. It was certainly an improvement from the first book in the series, and if this improvement continues, then the series has a chance of becoming something special. If you are looking for a book that deals with the issues of PTSD then this series may be for you.

This is Book 2 in the "Wind River Valley" Series and it was a very entertaining read. The book is heart wrenching but also a beautiful romance showing that there is always hope to find love and happiness.

Reese Lockhart is suffering from PTSD. After being a captain, the last two years has been a nightmare. He lost everything. Now he is starving, with no hopes, feeling himself beyond any hope...He arrives to the small town of Wind River, Wyoming and his luck is about to change.

When he goes into the Hay and Feed Store he meets Charlie Becker, the owner. He helps him find a job as a wrangler for Shaylene Crawford, also an Afghanistan veteran who only hires veterans as a way of helping them. There Reese finds four other vets who are working at the Bar C Ranch.

The relationship between Shay and Reese develops little by little and the book is rich in describing the hurt and pain that veterans suffer when they get back after being discharged.

The book is entertaining, sweet, very well written, with amazing main characters and second characters that I am sure will deserve their own stories.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGelley

I received a copy of this book in exchange for a totally honest opinion.

Reece has been wandering for 2 years, trying to outrun his demons and find a place where he can go on with his life while dealing with his PTSD. He was a Marine and commanded his own squad in Afghanistan.

Shay also served and when she came home, it was to a failing ranch and her father having a serious stroke. Her father, an alcoholic and gambler, basically ran the ranch into the ground but that isn't how he sees it. He also never thought women were much use so he wasn't ever really a father to Shay. All he ever gave her was cruel criticism and no self worth.

When Reece wanders into town looking for work he doesn't know his life has just been saved. He is dirty, smelly and bearded, looking more like a bum. This town appreciates their vets. When he asks about available work, a wonderful business owner calls Shay because he knows she is looking for another hand at the ranch.

Shay has 3 vets working at her ranch, 4 when she hires Reece. She wants to give back also and while trying to save her ranch hopefully the vets will find their place in the world. The only problem is, she is so busy trying to take care of the ranch and her vets while dealing with her father when she visits him 3 days a week at the rehab he is in, she is neglecting herself physically and emotionally.

Can Reece finally find a place to call home? Can he and the vets help Shay save her ranch, her legacy? Will her father ever see how smart and wonderful she is?

I loved this book! he author writes really well and there were many times that my heart broke for this group of people and then sang when they made a breakthrough that would make life easier for them.

The camaraderie of this group and the town was amazing! I wanted to live with these people. I would definitely recommend this book.