Tender, sweet, clean romance

Sarah is ready to come out of her sheltered life by learning to run her ranch and taking on the world. For the first, she sets out to hire a ranch manager. A cute mix-up with her ad copy sends a lot of the wrong kind of cowboys to her door, but finally a qualified foreman shows up with all the right credentials. Sarah has a lot to learn, and even more to overcome, but her determination and sense of humor were delightful to see and demonstrated a resiliency that few suspected she had.

Cade is looking to make his own way in the world after learning the ropes on the ranch owned by his best friend, whose family stepped up and gave him a home when he had no where else to go. Cade believes that he has nothing to offer to anyone, but he'll work harder than everyone to earn his place at the table.

This is a slow-burn romance with plenty of tension and even more emotional complications. Both Cade's and Sarah's back stories will break your heart and have you rooting for them from the start. The HEA was sweet and satisfying, even if a tad bit predictable. I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book.

This is a sweet and lighthearted romance drama. I really enjoyed reading it and loved all the characters. Cade and Sarah seemed to be meant for each other and I absolutely adored their interactions right from the start. I think this book is a must-read for the fans of contemporary fiction.

A sweet romance. Kade has felt unwanted his entire life. Sarah had lived a life of great tragedy. Two hurting and broken people find their way to each other. It takes opening up and the interference of friends to show them how right they can be for each. It’s a story of trusting in your self worth and coming out better on the other side.

I enjoyed the concept of this book however there was something missing.

Sarah inherit the family ranch after her parents death. After years of living a very sheltered life as a result of withnessing her brothers death. Sarah is determined to take control of her life, that includes the ranch. Problem is she has no idea where to start. Better hire a cowboy then! Cade needs a change of pace in his life. Seeing the ad looking for help at a different ranch, Cade couldn't say no.

Cade the hired help/ cowboy is sweet and protective of Sarah. Sarah on the other hand had an extremely sheltered life. As a result she is extremely needy and at times can be quiet childish and unbearable. She tries to come across as strong willed and determined however she came across as stubborn. "Its my ranch" ok, we get it!!

Cade's friends are sweet and probably the best thing about this book.

This book is part of a series. I haven't read the previous books and I felt it didn't make a difference really. I didn't feel lost and there is an introduction to all of the previous characters.

I was sure that I had read the first part of the Wishing River Series as well. Because the blurb reminded me of a book a had read. But it was Once Upon a Cowboy Christmas of Soraya Lane.
It was perfectly fine to read Cowboy For Hire as a standalone though. We meet Cade Walker, who answers to the (hilarious) add of Sarah. She is in need of a foreman, because she has inherited the family ranch, but she really doesn't know how to run the business.
Cade has been betrayed by a former boss, therefore he is suspicious when his new boss doesn't seem to know what she is doing. However, she tries to learn. When her aunt warns Cade that Sarah is ill and he mustn't let her work on the ranch, Cade is torn.
Should he keep her from the job and risk losing his own job? What a dilemma, especially when sparks are flying between Sarah and Cade. How will this play out? Find out for yourself in this wonderful read. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.

Cowboy for Hire by Victoria James is the second book in her Wishing River series but can be read and enjoyed as a standalone.

I really loved the first book in the series and while this has the same writing style and clean wholesome vibe it just didn't land the same way with me. It has moments that will tug on your heart strings and situations you can't help but chuckle at but the whole story felt to scripted. The character , while individually were nice, lacked chemistry. I wanted them each to find their happy but I didn't need it to be with each other. That big aspects and the fact that I felt the hero needed to do a whole lot more groveling than he did at the end left me giving this only 3 stars

Cade and Sarah both are damaged people. They are both striving to make their lives better. Sarah needs help running her ranch and Cade wants a change and applies for the job. I love reading the journey of these two people. Reading about how they over come their past and learn to work together. How they learn to love and to trust each other. For me this was a really incredible read. Thanks NetGalley. I voluntarily reviewed this book in exchange for an honest review.

I liked this book but it had some problems that I had difficulties overlooking.

The book is about Sarah Turner who just lost her mother and inherited the family ranch. She has lived a very isolated life since her brother died in an drowning accident when she was ten. Since he died the family fell apart and closed of all communication with people all around them and she was homeschooled. She wasn’t allowed to do anything that could hurt her.
Now she has lost both her parents and she can do anything she wants including running the ranch, go on cattle drives, have friends and maybe go on dates and fall in love.
Her big problem is that her ranch foreman left without warning so now she needs a new foreman who will teach her everything about ranch life.
Cade Walker gets the position but is he willing to take her on cattle drives and teach her about the ranch business when he finds out that she has a medical problem that she will not tell him about?
Cade has been a ranch hand on the neighbor ranch for years and now he is ready to stand on his own for the first time in his life. He was the boy from the wrong side of town but was rescued by the owner of the neighbor ranch.
Can these two very lonely and troubled people find a common ground and understanding in the work of a ranch in trouble? And what happens when they fall in love but he doesn’t find himself good enough for the owner of a ranch?

I liked the story plot and I hoped I would love the story but I had big problems liking Sarah who seemed very entitled and spoiled and every time he tried to be levelheaded and say no she through a hissy fit and said “I am the owner I can do what I want”. So when she grew stronger and more mature, he became annoying and immature. The writing was also very repetitive.
Watch I liked was their friendship and that he really wants to help her and some of her growth throughout the book.

I got this book from Entangled Publishing and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you very much.

This is my first book by the author and I was excited to try out a new author and I found the story line intriguing from the start. I really loved Cade from the beginning. Despite his troubled beginning and difficult family life, he didn't let it stop him in life and if anything it made him work harder, though it made his interpersonal relationships a bit more challenging.

Sarah was an interesting character in that she seemed greatly impacted by her family life but in a much different way, and she was much more sheltered than Cade.

I think Cade was great for Sarah because he was pretty much amazing throughout the book, but I think the small amount of angst/conflict in the book was really just an over exaggeration and more dramatic than it really needed to be. I wasn't really feeling the chemistry between them though, and I feel like more needed to be done with regard to their relationship and developing various aspects of the book to make it flow a little better and have some depth. I think the story line was there, but the execution fell flat for me unfortunately.

Two people who have a pretty broken past work together to find a new brighter future together. That is the moral of this story and it is a great read. You get the past, the present, and a view of what the future will bring. The main characters are likable and Sara isn't a naive girl who just needs rescuing.
Overall a great read if you want something not completely fluffy but still has a Happily Ever After.

3.5⭐

Cowboy for Hire is the second story in Victoria James Wishing River series and focuses on Cade a cowboy whose got no real family and who decides to leave the only home he has ever known to take on the job of foreman at the neighbouring Joshua Ranch for sheltered ranch owner Sarah. Who has recently inherited her parents' ranch and needs someone to not only help her run it but show her how.

And it was a nice story with some moments of sweetness and fun as well as being easy and uncomplicated which certainly helped make it more engaging. But it did lack depth and the romance between Cade and Sarah unfortunately didn't ignite the page. Still, it was enjoyable and there's no denying these two troubled characters did grow as the story progressed.

**I was kindly provided with an ARC via Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review**

Second book in the the Wishing River series, although it can be read as a standlone, "Cowboy For Hire" is a moving story where two characters who have suffered a lot in their past , they're both damaged but yet they will find in each other the will and want to be better, to find joy in life.
I liked both Sarah and Cade, I thought they well written. After tragedy stuck her life Sarah pretty much grew up isolated from the world, so there's much she doesn't know or that's new to her but I liked her determination to prove that she can do it. Cade also had his fair share of baggage , though he's made a lot of effort so that no one really knows his past but one can't help but feel for him, specially cause he was so sweet and caring towards Sarah.

The story can feel slow at times but it's a very easy read. You have your fair share of drama, angst and romance and it's all worth it in the end. I look forward to reading more from this series.

Interesting storyline that kept me wanting more. While I enjoyed this book, it definitely left me with a lot of questions and wishing there was more backstory and explaining. After tragedy has continued to strike Sarah’s life, she’s finally getting to a point where she’s on her own and works towards making a life for herself that she had planned with her brother. Cade has a rough past of his own, and when he sees an ad in the paper he responds looking to further his career. This pair navigated their feelings towards each other as well as their individual feelings of personal and professional growth and fought the relationship for a good portion of the book. While I enjoyed the book, I was left really wanting more because I felt like I was missing something or was just getting surface information where I wanted more details.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

Sarah has led a very sheltered life. When her parents pass away, she has to learn to manage her family ranch and to do that she needs a foreman.
Cade is looking for a new place to put down roots and Sarah’s ad couldn’t come at a better time. But when he meets Sarah, he learns that he not only has to manage the ranch but also teach Sarah, all the while trying to fight the attraction he feels for her.
This is a story about two damaged individuals who learn to enjoy life together. It is a sweet and at the same time a sad book but it managed to keep a tight grip on hope throughout. A lovely addition to the series

Sarah Turner inherits her family ranch after the loss of her parents and has the desire is to be able to run it herself, and to no longer be dependent on anyone else. When her foreman up and leaves suddenly Sarah is in desperate need for a replacement, but one who is willing to help her learn the ins and outs of ranching. When her advertisement comes across as an ad for an escort instead of a foreman she is blindsided with a bunch of applicants but no one fits the bill for what she's really looking for.

The final applicant, Cade, shows up late to apply for the job - he's currently working at a nearby ranch but looking to move on to something else, and seems like the perfect fit for what Sarah needs to help her to learn everything that she needs to know. He starts the next week and reluctantly begins to include Sarah in the running of the ranch, She's a quick study and a great horsewoman but as Cade gets to know her he sees how sheltered she's been as she's grown up. With the tragic loss of her older brother when she was about 10 and the way her parents just fell apart after the tragedy, she has been ignored and sheltered and left to being raised by Edna, their older housekeeper. Slowly, over the years, she has had no friends in the area and no one her age that she's comfortable with. Getting close to Cade and his friends shows her what she's been missing.

Cade had a hard childhood and was basically left to raise himself, leaving home as a teenager and showing up in Wishing River. He is taken in by Tyler Donnelly (the focus of the first Wishing River book) and his family and has worked on the Donnelly ranch for years, slowing working up to a managerial position. He definitely has trust issues of his own and has a hard time just going with the flow and getting to know Sarah as anything other than his boss, even though she fascinates him.

Overall, it was a good book, great characters and sub-characters and enjoyable to read. Though I though it could have moved along a little faster without losing the basis of the plot. I'd be interested in reading The Trouble With Cowboys, Wishing River Book 1, in order to get the back story on the Donnelly family and a little more of Cade. This is the second book I've read that was written by Victoria James and I really like her style of writing. She makes the characters seem to come to life. I received a free ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and I'd have to say that I really enjoyed the story.

Cowboy For Hire by Victoria James a four-star read that will keep you riding. This is number two in the Wishing River series and I haven’t read number one and didn’t feel like I missed anything, but I do plan on going back to read it, as this was a good story, its juts lacked in a couple of places. I don’t want to say anything about the story as Sarah and Cade have a story that you need to come at with fresh eyes, they each have something that will push you, but it will also keep you reading. I will be looking for more from this author as this was a sweet and romantic story that made me think.

Just okay. Lacked steam and character development. Slow paced. Lots of cute little moments, but I just wanted more and had a hard time connecting with the characters.

When two people have to let the past go to make half the journey to one another ...

When I have finished a very consuming read, I sometimes need something more easy and this one book looking like to be the right answer for today.
This is the classical girl meets guy, they are from a different background with a very different upbringing, and other expectations in life.
She is afraid to live by fear of losing again while he is scared to love and never be enough.

Sarah’s life was shut down with her bother’s death, from there she lived suspended to others’ whims. She was put in a gilded cage for fifteen years, no friends, no school, only the closest kin. But now everyone has left, she is finally free to get a life for herself but it is not the easy thing when she feels like an intruder and a passive witness of the action which unfolds before her.
She is awkward among people but when in a small setting, she is able to voice her difficulties and doubts.
She just wants a chance to prove she can be more than the little girl who was held at bay for too long.

Cade had never one to count on, he was always the one providing the service, the help. When Sarah’s family was dysfunctional, his was destructive. He has no other role than helping or be discarded like trash why he felt this way, like never be enough.
I first thought he has quite retrograde ideas, like a good caveman, as if he could not bring more on the table than the woman he was not worth her time. When it was only his way to push back others of being rejected because he was of no use.

In all this 4.5 stars read is a cute clean romance with lovable characters, a bit of drama but no real angst as they are mature enough to see in time their flaws and failures do not make them unlovable.

I was granted an advance copy by the publisher Entangled, here is my true and unbiased opinion.

“Victoria James” writes cowboys that make you want to pack your bags and move to wishing river. The story itself was engaging and very easy to read and anyone who likes a story that's set in a small town, features a red hot brooding cowboy and is full of family drama, sweetness and romantic moments, should certainly check it out. This is a keeper for the shelves, to read again! Thank you for a heartfelt and lovely story!! I can't wait to see what Victoria James has in store for us readers in her next Cowboy book. Don’t miss out on this series and book. Happy reading everyone!

The second book in the Wishing River series brings us the story of Sarah and Cade. It starts out with a whoop and some great chuckles when Sarah places an ad for a ranch manage and the ad she placed and what got printed in the paper are two different things, bringing her more applicants than she knows what to do with. After a long and trying day, she got one last knock on the door and Cade applying for the job. He's experienced and wants to break away from his current job and run the ranch on his own. Sarah has a little bit of a different idea on that, she wants him to teach her all the aspects of running the ranch. Something she was never allowed to do when her parents were alive because she was a girl. Overprotected and sheltered are an understatement, add to that is the elderly housekeeper who is bossy, enabling and pretty much got on my last nerve with her meddling.
Cade brings his own set of baggage with him as well, but keeps it under wraps fairly well. No one knows all the details of his past, not even his best friend. I liked Cade a lot determined to do a good job and the right thing and bring the ranch to where it needs to be, all the while trying to engage Sarah and teach her what she was never allowed to do. Sarah was a little harder to warm up to, I wasn't as engaged with her as I was Cade. I wanted a little more tension between the two. I didn't see the hook we see in most of her books between the two main characters. For me I felt the book moved a little slow in some spots, there was a tad too much filler which distracted me from what is really a good solid plot and storyline. Still worth a read, there are adventures to be had here!

arc from NetGalley and Entangled for an honest review