3.5 Stars

I've gone back and forth on my thoughts about this book. I truly loved the writing and the characters as a couple, in the end. I wasn't, however, a fan of the lack of communication and how it kept Rae and Riley at odds for so long.

Basically I have a love/hate relationship with this book. I love the writing and how it all turned out but I hated the idea of the time the characters lost because they were too afraid of sharing their feelings and issues with each other.

Author Caitlin Crews creates characters that feel like they will walk right off the pages into your living room. This is both exciting and emotional as you get more absorbed in the plot. Face it all of us have a lost love, someone we can’t forget or get over no matter how hard we try.

This book is filled with characters that are real. They don’t have perfect lives. They argue, cry, get angry and walk away, hold grudges, and treat each other poorly (or so we think). It is refreshing to be able to feel their emotions in a manner that makes you sad or happy for them or want to be a cheerleader for them no matter what.

Honestly, I wasn’t sure I would like this style of writing since I usually read books to escape life but after spending 2020 and now the beginning of 2021 in a pandemic, I find that I understand things so much clearer and this book made me feel like I was part of a family with real struggles learning things about each other they never knew or understood. It’s about widening your perspective to see that not all things are what they seem and that if you allow yourself you will see love you never knew existed.

Both Rae and Riley are strong characters with fortresses around them creating a very interactive storyline around their long tumultuous relationship. As they volley back and forth trying to find common ground the reader will begin to feel hope for their marriage being saved.

For me the standout theme the author does well is showing each of them choosing to communicate in a different more loving manner while courageously opening themselves to possibly being hurt again.

This read more like real marriage life.
Riley Kittenredge and Rae fell in love when they were 12 and 14. Right out of high school, they were married until Rae decided to move out one day. Rae never filed for divorce and Riley never knew the reason why Rae moved out. They acted like divorced couple yet they were not technically divorced.
Riley and Rae's family life didn't help to heal their marriage. Each of their parents loved each other in some way but in their eyes, their relationship looks toxic. They didn't really have a great role model in marriage. Rae and Riley kept pushing their buttons and argued every time they were together and it led to passion but never resolved their problems.
Riley and Rae deeply loved each other but they really didn't know how to communicate their real feelings so they ended up in marriage limbo. Now Rae finally wants a divorce and this can change everything for both. Living in a small town with all their family, it's not easy for both but they will have to find their way back or they will finally get a divorce.
It really makes you think about marriage and how important communication is. It had a very slow pace but it had enough dramas between Riley's and Rae's families to entertain.
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for ARC in exchange for honest review.

I can’t remember when I’ve read a book with a more irritating, immature heroine or a couple who had a more dysfunctional relationship. As I said in a review for this author’s previous series, someone needs to send a therapist to Cold River...pronto.

Rae and Riley were high school sweethearts who married right after Rae graduated from high school. But eight years ago - after four years of marriage - Rae left Riley, never telling him why she walked out.

Except...she still goes back to the house they shared for booty calls - multiple times a week. Has been the whole time they’ve been separated. AND THE HERO LETS HER. Here’s the thing...if the roles were reversed and the hero was the one who left for an unknown reason and kept coming back just for sex, us romances readers would NOT be down with that. So I can’t be okay with the heroine doing it. So yeah, those secret nights??? Not so romantic...

And what’s with not telling the poor man for EIGHT YEARS? That’s just the epitome of immature right there, and she’s now in her 30s. I finally was able to get through all the arguing, and all the fighting, and all the angst, to get to what actually happened to make the heroine leave her husband, and yeah, it made sense. But you lose me as a fan when you hold onto that info after years and years of being asked what happened.

Even though second-chance love stories are my favorite, there was nothing enjoyable about reading this book. There was so much immaturity, so much arguing, so much dysfunctional behavior. I just wanted to keep screaming “have an honest discussion for crying out loud!” I’m all for wading through family dysfunction and difficult relationship issues, but it can’t be just for the sake of drama and angst, which is what it seems we have here and I want no part of it.

This Kittredge Ranch series is a continuation of Caitlin Crews’s Cold River Ranch series (same town, different family) - and while I liked the first book in that series (A True Cowboy Christmas) and really liked the second (Cold Heart, Warm Cowboy), the third (The Last Real Cowboy) was a hot mess filled with unlikable characters and SO MUCH arguing between pretty much everyone in the book. If this series is going to be more of that, you can count me out. I’m officially tapping out of this series. Will I read Caitlin Crews again? Eh, maybe...but it’s not looking good.

* thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

3.75 stars rounded up because the author had me crying for these two!

This story was so frustrating and beautiful and emotional and frustrating. Did I mention frustrating? Jeez! If two people needed a lesson in communication, it was Riley and Rae. This whole cluster-fest could have been avoided if only Riley and Rae would have sat down and had a serious talk. That being said, I enjoyed the hell out of the resulting "conflict" not having had that talk brought upon.

The author did an amazing job of drawing me into Rae and Riley's story. I felt their frustration, the emotional toll the separation was taking on them and the love they had for each other. I admit, 70% of the time I wanted to shake some sense into them and smack them upside their heads for being so clueless and stubborn, but in the end I was invested in their relationship and wanted them to work their stuff out.

There's not a lot I can say without giving too much away, but I will say that I enjoyed Riley and Rae's chemistry, their camaraderie and their antics. I especially appreciated the range in emotions that was brought to the page. There were some light moments and some that were pretty hard, but they all added to the story and kept me even more invested in Rae and Riley's HEA.

All in all, a pretty good start to the series and a touching, romantic read.

This had a bit of a twist of second chance as Rae and Riley got married very young and it hasn't been working for 6 years, with Rae leaving and secretly coming back but always leaving again. She hasn't told a big secret of why it hasn't work. It took me a bit to get into this one as the angsty no communication part of their relationship was a bit hard to not yell at them. But as time go on and they start being friends and talking it get so much better.

This was my first book by Crews and I look forward to more of this series. Loved the small town Colorado setting and mad me miss it even more. We have the other brother set up for the series and loved some of he side characters!

4 stars
3.5 steam

This book also included a bonus novella, Sweet Nights with a Cowboy, where the youngest of the Kittredge brother, Connor, gets his HEA. Really enjoyed this one!

Thanks to St. Marting and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an advance readers copy of this story.

Secret Nights With A Cowboy, by Caitlin Crews, is available at booksellers on 12-1-2020. With this, book 4, we've come to the end of the Kittredge Ranch series. I've not been happy with the series and book 4 was also not to my liking. In the case of Secret Nights I didn't care for the characters, The female lead is not likeable and the male lead needs a backbone. The plot is supposed to be emotional but the heart of it doesn't appear until too late in the story. As with the other books in this series I found the inner dialog to be long, too much, and covering the same ground over and over. It took me quite a while to finish the story, I kept putting it down. I wish I could give a better review but I just can't.

#CaitlinCrewes #KittredgerRanch #SecretNightsWithACowboy #Netgalley #StMartin'sPaperbacks

One of my favorite cowboy romance authors and with good reason! This was a great, angst filled second chance romance.

I spent most of this book irritated with both of the main characters for years of hurting each other and taking advantage. Once they wised up and started actually talking, it became much more pleasant to read.

Secret Nights with a Cowboy begins the Kittredge Ranch series which is set in the same world as the Cold River Ranch series – in fact, we’ll likely see some familiar faces (if you’ve read the previous series).

Rae and Riley are true soulmates, they’ve been friends forever, married young yet both are stubborn, their physical relationship volatile, and the secrets they’re keeping (or simply things they didn’t know about each other’s dreams, wants, desires for the future) were enough to break them. But not the love, or the physical need for each other. So while their families and the townsfolk tiptoe around their relationship (or lack of one) Riley and Rae would often meet at their ranch, an argument would begin that always lead to explosive sexual encounters.

I liked Rae and Riley but they both had some major growing up to do. Secrets will destroy any relationship and when Rae would not tell Riley why she left him (like he’s a mind reader or something and should have just known) that was the point when Rae lost my empathy. I enjoyed watching them try to work out their differences, but it was a rocky road full of potholes to finally get to their happy ever after.

As always in this world, it is the secondary characters, the known returning characters that bring Cold River/Kittredge Ranch alive for me. Family is often a blessing and a curse, which is obvious for Riley and Rae as they get unwanted opinions about every aspect of their lives – together or apart. I need more from these unique, lively families so I’ll be watching for the next story in this series like a hawk.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher, St. Martin’s Press 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.*

This is a voluntary review of an advanced copy.

While I loved that Rae and Riley got their HEA, I had a rough time getting through about 75% of the beginning of the book. I just had a tough time dealing with the fact that Rae left Riley for EIGHT years and didn't tell him the reason why AND that Riley never make it a priority to get that answer and was ok for the nightly bootie calls.

Their relationship really was toxic as Riley's brother, Zach, tells him and there is so much pain buried in their interactions. It almost felt like they were still stuck in their teenager relationship and were so stunted that they had not matured at all.

I had a hard time waiting to the last part of the book to find out what caused the separation and then they both bared their souls and you saw the hurt and pain they each endured. It was good that they could get past this but I still shake my head at eight years of this miserable relationship.

It was also strange that Rae felt so betrayed by Riley's family that they kind of shunned her but I think they were pretty nice if that was all they did! Not that Riley isn't partially at fault since he just rolled along with this weird relationship - when he could have put a stop to it.

The reasoning seems to be that while they could not figure out where they went wrong, they still loved each other and could not move on from that. When they finally started interacting like a "normal" couple and not get into fights and lash out at each other, then you can kind of get into their pain and angst and feel like maybe they can make it!

I did like the ending and that they worked things out.

Communication is the key in any relationship. Rae and Riley have to overcome their family backgrounds to realize they are not the people their parents and grandparents are.

Once they do realize, they each control their own destiny, the sky is the limit. Rae has to reveal why she left Riley, and Riley has to come to terms with the reason. They learn that love is strong and powerful and they must use it for good.

I received a free ARC eBook from Net Galley and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinions.

Riley and Rae are the perfect second chance couple that have to find their way back to each other after they’ve left themselves in their rut for too long. Their journey is heart-wrenching, but worth it at the end. Perfect for fans of romance that isn’t clear cut from page one.

A very well written romance. Good plot and character dynamics. Romance readers will enjoy this book. I received an advance ebook from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.

Riley and Rae definitely had an... interesting relationship. I’m so glad they finally aired out the dirty laundry.

Secret Nights with a Cowboy is the second installment in Caitlin Crews’ new Kittredge Ranch series. The first book of the series was The Last Real Cowboy, which featured an Everett and a Kittredge, founding ranching members of Cold River, Colorado. The Kittredges are a large ranching family that works primarily with horses. This book involves second to the youngest brother, Riley, and his estranged wife Rae Trujillo, of the flower and foliage Trujillo family.

Riley and Rae were married mere weeks after Rae, two years Riley’s junior, graduated from high school. The young couple was like fire to flame and burned bright until something happened that not even Riley understands, but it. Has driven her from the house they shared and back to her family home. However, throughout the years of their separation, the fire that drove them flared once again each time Rae went back to the cabin for a night of anger and passion before returning to her single bed at her parent’s home. That is, until the night Rae appeared to tell Riley they couldn’t continue in this manner and that she wanted a divorce and a clean start.

Taken aback, Riley soul searches to see how he may affect the outcome in a different way. After all, doing the same things over and over again had resulted in the prospect of a future without her. Waiting for her to tell him what he’d done wrong just wouldn’t make it anymore.

This is outwardly a steamy book about the desires of a disharmonious couple. But inwardly, it is a study of the psyches of two people who came from backgrounds where both had seen arguing, even anger, as a strange love language. As the story unfolds, Riley takes the tact of friend to Rae, their dealings become less fraught with anger, and the benefits are wonderful until the night when Rae finally breaks down and tells him all.

This is a well written second chance story that delves much more deeply into the emotional workings of a trouble couple. I have read each of the Cold River Ranch and Kittredge Ranch novels, including the novella that comes with this book, and have enjoyed the depth of character Ms. Crews develops. I did enjoy this book and I do recommend it!

A second chance at love or perhaps better described as a second chance at marriage. Its a deeply emotional love story about a couple that fell in love as teenagers, married right after high school but crashed and burned when Rae abruptly left the marital home and refused to share what created the rift with anyone even her two besties. Living in a small town this gives rise to a lot of speculation given that she makes late night visits to her "ex"-husband to scratch their itch.
I have to say that I had a hard time getting warmed up to Rae and Riley and frankly the story dragged a bit in parts and felt like it went on a bit too long. It does however give readers an insight to small towns and how the townspeople take sides in an issue even without knowing much about it. It does all come together with a good dose of growing up and all's well that ends well.

With genuine likeable characters and fantastic settings Caitlin Crews delivers another wonderful contemporary romance that will melt the hearts of all her readers

This is a unique second-change love story unlike any I have ever read. It is a poignant example of the importance of communication. Secrets can destroy relationships as well as lives. Rae and Riley have loved each other forever but their communication skills are in need of serious help. They have a magnetic pull toward each other that no one, even themselves, can understand. Try as they might, they cannot stay away from each other. I truly enjoyed this different prospective on western romance.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Publishing for this advanced review copy. In return, I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

Truly an enjoyable read from one of my favorite authors. With a new series starting, it's an exciting new start to a series.