Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy (Cold River Ranch, #2) by Caitlin Crews ... I enjoyed this and would give it 4 1/2 stars.. thanks to the publisher and #NetGalley for letting me preview this book. This is Ty (broken Rodeo star ) Hannah ( ex Rodeo Queen) he returns to Cold River Ranch to heal ...she goes there to confront him...will she tell him she is his wife and they have a son..or will she ask for a divorce. This is a heart wrenching story will lots of angst, a few laughs, lot of tears and getting a look back at Brady and Gray and Abby's life ...all to get us to a HEA. Looking forward to THE LAST REAL COWBOY Brady and Amanda's story.

Reasons I enjoyed this book:
Great world building Romantic Informative Easy-to-read Unpredictable Page-turner Happily Ever AfterS teamy Tear-jerker Wonderful characters

The second book in the Cold River Ranch, Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy is a good, romantic read. I enjoyed the story but did find the inner dialogue overdone and frustrating at times. Hannah and Ty are well suited and over all the story sweet and romantic. I look forward to reading more and would recommend

4.5 Stars

The first book in the Cold River Ranch series (A True Cowboy Christmas) was one of my favorite romance stories from 2018. I couldn't wait to move onto this second book in the series featuring middle brother Brady as the focus. What we saw of him as introduced in book one had not prepared me for what brought him back to Cold River and what he left behind.

I'm a new reader to Caitlin Crews with A True Cowboy Christmas being my very first book from this author, but I'm quickly becoming a fan. Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy was full of the same quality writing, story development, and fabulous characters as the first book. The characterizations amazed me. I already knew I liked Brady, but as described, I wasn't sure Hannah would be a character I connected with. Crews managed to describe a heroine who at all appearances would seem superficial and shallow, but instead erased those preconceived ideas. Their romance was unique, tender, and hopeful. Along with that, we get glimpses of series favorites Gray and Abby. I couldn't ask for a better way to spend my time than another wonderful story by this author.

This book was incredibly frustrating but in a good way. My absolute frustrations with the characters had me pretty thoroughly invested in them at times yelling at the book about what they needed to do and I really wanted to smack some sense into both of them. Both wounded from difficult pasts they weren’t quite capable of managing their feelings about each other and as readers you were along for the ride while they figured it out.

I loved the depth of the characters and the pain you could almost feel radiating from the pages. As some other reviewers have mentioned there is a lot of pages covering the goings on in the character’s mind. While maybe it could go with a little less of this I don’t think it was too bad because it gave you a really in depth look as to how the characters thought and felt and left you rooting for them to overcome their self created obstacles and find their way back to each other.

I really enjoyed the book, I hadn’t read Gray’s story before this and I fully intend to do so now as well as look forward to getting into Brady’s story in the future. I love books that let you get to know the characters in a way it feels like you know them and you ache for them, cheer for them, and know what they want and how they’ll react before you get there in the book.

I received an arc from Netgalley and this is my unbiased. Great romance, characters and writing. Recommend this book.

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy is my first Caitlin Crews book, however I can confidently say it won't be my last. This was such a well written, emotional tale and I was riveted from the outset. I just wanted to know how it was all going to play out!

Ty Everett has known nothing but the rodeo since he left home at eighteen to join the circuit. He had enjoyed plenty of success until one ride landed him in the hospital and while he could remember most things, he lost two years of his life to the amnesia brought on by the fall. Not knowing where his life is headed, he goes back home to the family ranch, which is the last place he feels at home or at peace. Honestly, since the accident, Ty hasn't felt much of anything. He's unemotional and feels numb in most cases.

Hannah Monroe was a Rodeo Queen and she was darn good at it. Having been raised by her mother, a mother who has many deep seeded issues from her own childhood and her distrust of men, Hannah believed that all men were evil since it had been so deeply ingrained in her. Well, that was until Ty. He was the one man that was able to break through and she not only gave him her heart and her hand, but also her virginity. Hannah and Ty ended up tying the knot, but they kept it quiet so she could finish her reign before they made their union public.

Before they had the chance to let anyone in on their marriage, Ty's accident occurred. Not only that, but because of a terrible fight Hannah and Ty had, she left just after the accident and it took her eighteen months to return to find her husband. Her reason for returning isn't hearts and flowers though, it is to seek a divorce. While she has the best laid plans, when Ty learns they are married, he opens up to her about his amnesia and admits that she is familiar to him, but he doesn't remember falling in love with her. What Ty doesn't know is that Hannah has another secret, their son, Jack. While she intends to tell him about his little boy, she's afraid it will send him spiraling. Will these two be able to save their relationship, or did the bull not only stomp all over Ty, but all over their relationship?

I really enjoyed how this entire story unfolded. It was emotional, it was real and you wanted things to work out for everyone involved. I enjoyed both of Ty's brothers and also Gray's wife, Abby, and his daughter, Becca. I'm really looking forward to reading Brady's book when we get to that point. He certainly has me intrigued!

Hannah was in love with rodeo star Ty when he left her and broke her heart - and left her pregnant. She goes to his home town years later to confront him once and for all. When she confronts him, he treats her so casually she can’t figure him out.

Ty was thrown from a bull and has spent the last eighteen months getting his life together after nearly dying. He has kept it hidden from his family that he lost the memory of the last two years of his life before the bullfight by being charming or being drunk. So when Hannah shows up on his ranch and clearly knew him from the rodeo days, he’s intrigued.

This was a book where I wanted to yell just talk to each other already!!! Hannah takes way too long to tell him they are married. And I understood her reasons. She’s telling a man who had no intention of ever getting married that he changed his ways when they met and they fell in love. Being told about something you did with no memories attached is difficult because there are no emotions attached to the memory.

She eventually tells him they are married. He’s shocked. She realized he doesn’t have memories of her, and that means his absence in her life wasn’t intentional.

The problem with a secret marriage is if no one knows about it, when your spouse loses their memory you are working uphill to prove you’re together. And Hannah really struggles when he introduced her to his family as his wife. Not only have they not heard of her, they assume she left him high and dry when he was injured and shows up when he’s getting his life back together.

And she still hasn’t told him about their son.

I liked the rodeo culture. It’s not one I have read much about, so I was surprised when I looked up at how strict the Rodeo Queen rules actually are.

If a contemporary second chance romance with a wounded cowboy and a sugar and steel rodeo queen sounds intriguing - give this book a try.

I enjoyed this book more than I thought I would. The obstacles that must be overcome were well written. Truly a good read

(3.75 stars) This was an enjoyable story to read. Hannah can’t figure out how the man she lived so much could have treated her so cruelly. She’s determined to confront him & get the divorce she’s sure he wants too. Her mother keeps making smart comments to her about him being no good & just like Hannah’s father who abandoned her. Hannah had held out hope but it’s been slowly dwindling as the months passed.

Ty has been recovering at home on the ranch. He was kicked off a bull during a rodeo. He’s determined not to tell anybody that he’s suffering from partial amnesia. When Hannah confronts him, he can’t believe he forgot her. He’s not sure he wants to give her a divorce until he gets things figured out.

I enjoyed reading this story. The character development was really good. You can see that their backgrounds & experiences really impacted their actions & were hard to overcome. Hannah remembered everything her mother has harped on over the years & it made it hard for her to keep an open mind. Her mother’s bitterness impacted her childhood & her relationships over the years. Ty’s background similarly impacted his actions. This was an interesting & entertaining read.

A story of fighting your past demons and finding your way home. It was emotional in all the best ways.
Hannah Leigh Monroe was on a mission, she was going to find out if Ty Everett really forgets her or was just faking it. Then she would decide what to do from there.
Ty Everett was a Rodeo Celebrity a Bull Rider but the last ride took him down and he lost the two years prior. He couldn't feel anymore and felt aimless.
Hannah needs to tell Ty something important so they can truly make everything work, but Ty is caught in a cycle of him being poison just like his father. Will these two be able to make things work memory or not.
Such an incredibly good read.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review. What a great book , I really enjoyed it. Highly recommend to everyone.

I have voluntarily read and reviewed a copy of this title given to me via NetGalley. Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy is the second book in the Cold River Ranch series and it was so good. I loved getting to enter this world and meet these wonderful characters. I just fell in love with this story and these characters and I am so excited to see what this author writes next.

An entertaining and engrossing romance.
I liked the fleshed out cast of characters, the setting and the plot.
It's well written and I rooted for the characters.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

COLD HEART, WARM COWBOY By Caitlin Crews
This is a solid, well written story about a second chance romance between a rodeo bull rider named Ty Everett and rodeo queen Hannah Monroe. These two have crazy hot chemistry, they are great characters in this story, and this was a story I did not want to put down. I give this 4 stars.

I enjoyed the writing and characters in the first book in this series, but really disliked its conservative gender ideologies. I thought I would give this second book a try, to see if the traditional gender stuff was a one-off, or something central to this author's writing. Turns out it's pretty consistent, although the demands of the amnesia-trope plot make it a bit harder to indulge in wholeheartedly here.

We met rodeo rider Ty Everett, the middle brother in the dysfunctional Everett family, in the first book in this series, after he's returned to the family ranch to recover after being thrown and trampled by a bull. Ty's a cheerful, charming devil may care, not a stoic caretaker like his eldest brother, nor a high-achiever like his younger. What only Ty knows is that he's hiding behind his apparent drunkenness and refusal to take anything seriously, hiding from the fact that he can't remember the past two years of his life—and he can't feel much of anything, either.

When a gorgeous glittery Rodeo Queen (it's a real thing, a Rodeo Queen, this New England girl had to research to discover) arrives on the Everett ranch, claiming to know something about Ty's missing two years, Ty's drawn to her like he hasn't been drawn to anyone since his accident. And when Hannah announces that they're husband and wife, well—the one thing his drunken father hadn't done was keep a hold of his wife. Ty can prove that he's different with this second chance Hannah's given him, even if he can't remember Hannah or why he married her.

Turns out that no one else knows about the marriage, because a Rodeo Queen can't be married, so they kept their romance on the QT. And of course Hannah was a virgin, and would only sleep with Ty if he married her, so he did. But he wasn't so happy when she became accidentally pregnant (another thing Ty doesn't remember), and sent her away after his accident. Why she didn't stay anyways doesn't speak very well of Hannah's character. But the demands of the secret baby plot demand a separation, so Hannah's got to run away...

After the big child reveal, there's another round of Ty telling Hannah "you should leave" and Hannah leaving, before she comes to realize that "I always leave before anyone can tell me to go," and Ty finally realizes that he's not destined to become an abusive drunk like his father.

I liked Hannah's pluck and style, although I didn't share Ty's fascination with "the sheer array of products she claimed she had to use each and every day or the sight of her might scare off small children" (2555). And as with the first book in this series, I admired Crews' writing, especially her facility with dialogue. But the conservative gender politics behind the story are just not worth the pleasures it offers, at least to this reader. Some examples:

Hannah's mother's over-the-top man-hating:

"I've spent your entire life so far waiting for your daddy to wake up and do the right thing no matter the hush money his parents paid us. And guess what? It never happened. It's never going to happen. Do you want to know why?"
Hannah had sighed. "Because you can't trust a man."
"You can't trust a man," Mama had agreed, like it was a hallelujah. "Men always lie. They're no good and they're simply made that way" (620).


And this exchange between Hannah and Ty:

"Maybe I don't want to spend my life making meals for monosyllabic men, doing laundry, and seven thousand other domestic chores I would never do if left to my own devices." To which Ty replies, "The ranch runs fine whether you're here or not... What I mean is that anything you do to help is a gift. If you don't feel like giving that gift, don't." Which leaves Hannah feeling "childish and out of sorts, then" (2700)


And the gendered nature of Hannah's climactic realization that she always leaves because she's bought into her mother's man-hating bitterness: "I always leave before anyone can tell me to go. I always make sure that I don't let anyone really, truly hurt me. Sure, Ty said some terrible things to me in the hospital. But what kind of wife walks out and never returns? Never even checks in to see if maybe that was the pain medication talking? What kind of woman leaves her man like that?" (3632).

I don't think I'll be reading the third book in the series.

Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy is the second book in the Cold River Ranch series. This is Ty and Hannah's second chance romance story. Ty suffers from amnesia after having a bull riding accident and therefore has no recollection of what he did for the past two years. It is during those two years that he met and fell in love with Hannah.
Ty was a stubborn one and had daddy issues. He insisted that he was what his father said he was, a disappointment. There's a lot of references of this during the story. I just wanted to smack him on the head. His family and Hannah had a difficult time to convince him of otherwise. Luckily for him Hannah was also stubborn, it is because of her that things worked out at the end.
I would of given it one more star if it had less inner dialogue. Due to this it seemed that the story moved slowly along and at times it felt repetitious.

*Thank you to the publisher for providing the ARC through NetGalley for review.*

My Review:

Plot:

Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy’s plot was simple. A former rodeo queen goes searching for her husband after two years apart. She wants a divorce. Tracking him to his family’s ranch in Colorado, the rodeo queen makes a startling discovery. The former bull rider suffers from partial amnesia. He doesn’t remember anything from the past two years, which includes their marriage. She has some hard decisions to make. Will she give him another chance? Or will her secrets push them apart?

I enjoyed Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy’s plotline. It was simple and to the point. It was the simpleness of the plotline which made the book stand out to me. I didn’t have to remember a ton of plotlines. Just the main one and a few secondary plotlines.

Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy’s plotline was moderately paced. There were times where the plotline seemed to drag. There were also other times where the plotline seemed to go fast. There were no dropped storylines, but there was a bit of a lag in the middle of the book.

I liked the secondary plotlines in the book. I did find that they were a bit sad. They were merged with the main storyline flawlessly.

I liked that Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy was set in Colorado. I felt that it was the perfect place for Ty and Hannah’s story to take place.

Characters

Hannah: My feelings for her were mixed. On the one hand, I did feel bad for her because of what she went through. But on the other hand, I didn’t like how she handled the whole Ty situation (keeping the baby a secret). But, I started to like her after how she dealt with Brady. By the end of the book, I loved her. She put everyone, including Ty, in their place. I did think that her Southern sass was too much at times, but that’s me.

Ty: He was a hot mess for most of the book. He was abused by his father growing up. The lack of self-esteem and self-confidence that his father hammered into him was evident during the entire book. His actions kept showing that. He became everything that his father said he would be and then some. Becoming a bull rider was the tip of the iceberg with him.

I didn’t like Hannah’s mother. She was bitter. Her scenes with Hannah left a bad taste in my mouth.

Even though he was dead, Amos was also a considerable part of the book. He lived on in Ty’s head. It was Amos’s voice that urged Ty to do the things he did. I wanted to cry during those scenes. That man did so much harm to Ty and all because he looked like his mother.

Brady was also featured in this book. I wasn’t fond of him. While I understood where he was coming from each time he went toe-to-toe with Hannah, it left me shaking my head. I am not letting how he acted in this book color how I look at him in his book.

Thoughts on the book:

I enjoyed reading Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy. I thought it was a fantastic fit in the romance category. Even with three troupes in the book (secret spouse, secret baby, and amnesia), it was still able to deliver on the romance.

Hannah and Ty had instant chemistry and sexual attraction. They were apparent the minute she confronted him at the ranch. What I found refreshing was that the author had Hannah and Ty hold off on having sex until halfway through the book.

Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy was a great romance. Even though it had the three troupes that I don’t like/are getting sick of, I still enjoyed reading it. There were things that I didn’t like. I didn’t like how Hannah and Ty didn’t discuss their issues. I didn’t like how most of the book were Hannah/Ty talking about how they felt, in their head. I didn’t like Hannah keeping Jack a secret. I didn’t like what Hannah’s mother did. I most definitely didn’t like what Ty did at the end of the book.

I would give Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Romance with slightly more of a story to it than some. Flawed hero and feisty heroine set around ranches and rodeos.

I received an ARC from Netgalley and St Martins Press for an honest review.

I loved this book. I did not know who’ve I first started it that it was part of a series. It completely stands on its own as a fantastic book. It has just what I live bights that made me laugh and smile. Lows that made me cry and put the book down to take a breath. I loved the different twist to your typical cowboy romance book. I will be going back and getting the first one and looking forward to the next one.

If you enjoy pure romance books that are light reading then this is the book for you. It is not my usual type of book to read, but the cover seemed interesting. It seemed a little slow and repetitive with a lot of drawn out conversations and events. I thought there might have been a little more mystery or intrigue involved.
It is a very predictable romance story without a lot of depth.

I received this book as a complimentary copy for an honest review. The opinions expressed are my own.