Who doesn’t love a small town second chance romance? This book filled that bucket up for me. The story is from both Dakota and Wes’ point of view so you get to hear how they are both thinking. It discusses PTSD so if that’s a trigger then just beware. There is a lot of outside drama throughout the book that keeps you entertained but you know won’t ruin any relationship. It was a quick read.

This was an enjoyable read for me. This is a new author so I was not sure what to expect. I was not let down. I thought the plot was interesting and engaging and the characters well thought. I thought it was a pretty quick read & easy to get lost in. I look forward to reading more books by Jennifer Milikin.

Thank you NetGalley for the digital eARC. I loved this book! i am a sucker for second chances and this one was no exception. This is my first read from this author and I look forward to the rest of the books.

This was my very first book by Jennifer and I absolutely enjoyed it! Small town romances aren't really my jam but still I felt invested in the characters and the world she created. I love a fake engagement and all the shenanigans that comes along with it. Her writing style is pleasant and I definitely want to read more of her. Sweet, enjoyable, and heartwarming!

This was a sweet & steamy Wes Hayden, a veteran suffering from PTSD working his family ranch & Dakota, a woman with such an overwhelming sense of guilt that she punishes herself. Their romance is at times both obvious and surprising but always a page turner. They hold each other at arms length for so long that I was excited to them get their happy ever after.

I enjoyed how the author set up the Hayden family and the town of Sierra Verde. The land & the town were as much characters in the story as were Dakota & Wes. The Hayden family was such a fun cast of characters that added so much texture to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed this book & recommend it to anyone seeking a Cowboy romance. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Loved It!!
If you like the TV Series Yellowstone then this book is for you!!
I will definitely by reading the other books that get released.

This one started a little too slow for my taste and was very lack luster until around 70% in. Not a lot going on and I ended up taking several days to read it. But once we got to the last 30%, it got better and I was pleasantly surprised with the turn of events. I mean, I kind of figured how some things would come to play out, but it was still a good, strong finish. It even had me interested in the books that will follow for the Hayden men. I am definitely glad I read it after how it finished. I need a book like that every now and then to balance out all the angsty ones I am used to reading lately. I will be checking out more of this author's work. .All in all, a good, 4 star read by a new to me author.

This was a cute read, nicely written and sweet characters, but it just seemed a bit cliche to me. It was very predictable, whilst a nice read, I don’t think I’ll remember it in a week or so.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

Jennifer Millikin’s first book in The Hayden Family series, The Patriot, will draw you in from its onset, keep you engaged and turning the pages, then leave you looking forward to the second book in the series, The Maverick. With subtle, wry, and quite witty humor/banter...Dakota kept me smiling with her quips...and the added element of danger and tension layered under the surface, the story unfurls effortlessly.

Wes’ tortured soul is written with such realism...this author’s empathy and ability to convey such emotional pain, with it nearly leaping off the pages...is a testament to Ms Millikin’s gift for creating a mind’s eye three dimensional world from within the two dimensional page. Each character was unique and multi-layered...creating emotional investments that remained long after the story concluded.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

WOW! This new-to-me author has just knocked my socks off!
Wes Hayden, a veteran military soldier who has returned home to his family’s ranch. He is trying to move forward in his life but is suffering some challenges from PTSD. When Dakota enters (or re-enters) his life, they have some other challenges and misunderstandings to get through.
Author Jennifer Millikin has written an incredible, deeper romance in The Patriot. I loved the characters and the families involved, the storyline was fantastic, and the backstories were so dang good! I will be reading more of her books after reading this one! SO good! 5 stars!

I read this story and my heart hurt for those veterans who are not able to get the counselling they need for PTSD. I enjoyed this story with its well developed characters, the angst and the suspense. While there is definite heat, there is not the play by play details. My only hiccup was during the love declarations. The “when did you love me” scene didn’t seem in character.

Total awes and all the girly feels for this beautiful book! I loved Dakota and Wes and how they met and met again and finally realized they couldn't ever be a part again. This book will have you sighing. You won't want to put it down. Together they make a phenomenal couple that you won't want to say goodbye to.

The entire Hayden family are incredibly interesting and have lives that need to be further discovered. I wasn't too thrilled with the mother but she does thaw once she understands that there is more happening than just an arrangement between Wes and Dakota. I really like Beau and he is the perfect father figure.

I love that the duty and honor theme runs so paramount in Jennifer Millikin's work. She takes these heros and finds a way to bring hope and love back into their hearts. There is always a tragedy or stumbling block and she expertly traverses the terrain and the journey is eloquently beautiful and breathtaking. Don't hesitate to lose your heart to her wonderfully written words.

I'm loving this new series so far! I've read a few books from this author before and they've all been addicting. I loved how much was going on in this book. There were a lot of characters but they were introduced well so that it never felt overwhelming. It was so easy to root for Dakota and Wes, each with their own issues, but so similar to each other. I can't wait for the next book!

This story opens with an older son Wes who is also a former soldier who is running the family's cattle ranch, well sort of. You see the only way he can really run it is if he is married which is part of the trust, so his father is still running the ranch. He has told him that he wants to sell off some land yet he wants Wes to be the person in charge of it.
Dakota Wright works for her father and lives with her sister and husband and two nieces. When called into her father’s office she is not expecting to be told that they will be taking a trip to the Sierra Grande to be in the running to purchase land and develop it. She has her own issues with debt collectors calling and also finding that she was with a married man which really messed her up.
When she finally meets Wes and his father, she does feel something for him as he does for her but she thinks that the realtor is after him. Staying in town to come up with a plan she meets people around town and also finds out that Wes was different when he left and when he came back from his service. She realizes the more time she spends with Wes that he has PTSD after his three tours and suggests a program at the VFW that has other vets as well. The father takes ill and Wes comes up with an idea that will help both of them with their problems, his by getting the ranch and her getting out of debt.
This though is not a quick fast story it takes time as she stays in town working with the project and she and Wes become friends and that is really what makes this story special, they become friends before they become anything else then they realize that they each want more but must find a way to tell the other one. What a wonderful story that touches so many issues besides PTSD, also with addiction, and some others. A very good story with really good characters.

Okay, I’m just gonna get this off my chest right at the start...it’s the freakin’ 2020s. What’s with the “you have to be married to inherit the land” for a storyline malarkey? Is anyone really writing wills that say that anymore???

Anyway, moving on.

Fun fact...Jennifer Millikin’s very first book (The Day He Went Away) was the first book I downloaded and reviewed on NetGalley way back in December of 2016! It was evident then that Ms. Millikin is a skilled writer, and her writing has only gotten better since. However, it wasn’t the writing I had issues with in The Patriot…

Wes is the oldest of the four Hayden children. After 12 years in the military he’s back home in Sierra Grande, Arizona working at the family cattle ranch. He wants nothing more than to inherit the ranch but there’s this pesky stipulation in the will that says only a married Hayden can be declared the owner. And this means he’ll never be the owner because he’ll never marry (due to guilt and PTSD, which he thinks will keep him from finding someone to love him).

Dakota Wright has her own set of matching luggage packed full of guilt (due to poor choices as a teenager and blaming herself for a tragedy which happened that wasn’t actually her fault). So when her dad takes her with him to bid on a piece of land being sold by the Hayden family, there’s nothing she wants more than to have things go right. Even if that means working with the man who ghosted her after a one-night-stand five years ago.

Wes is initially shocked - then secretly pleased - to be working with Dakota. When he proposes a marriage of convenience, it’s a way for them both to get something they want. But the more time they spend together, the more they realize there are feelings still lingering from the first time they met. Except before they have a chance to declare their true feelings, past trouble from the Hayden ranch comes back and puts the ranch and their relationship at risk.

Unfortunately, several of the plotlines in this book could have used some more development (I'm leaving those unmentioned because I don't want to spoil anything). Also, so much of this book felt contrived to me. The will, the marriage of convenience proposal, Dakota’s grief (in addition to how it manifested in the current choices she made), never really made much sense to me. So the basis of a lot of the book didn’t work for me.

BUT…

There was a lot that did! Ms. Millikin’s writing has an almost poetic quality to it, making for an enjoyable read. Wes and Dakota were extremely likable characters. I loved how Dakota was quick to call Wes on his crap and that Wes was open to dealing with that crap, as well as his PTSD. I loved the Hayden family and their dynamics. Overall, this is a good start to the Hayden Family series and I’m looking forward to reading about the three remaining Hayden siblings.

* thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

A soldier/ cowboy romance what could be better, it was steamy romance at its best with PTSD and suspense beautiful story of Wes ad Dakota, perfect for me. I voluntarily reviewed this book.

I always love a small town romance, and this man is full of all the things I love a small town community, the ranch family, and of course are romance. This one is a marriage of convenience, fake engagement, second chance romance to encompass its tropes. I love the romance was to hurting people coming together and through their romance the two of them helped each other on the path to healing.

There was only two things I feel were slightly missing from this particular book the first one was more of the running of the ranch. I want to see a bit more personality from the ranch hands and I feel that we got to see more of Dakota’s work life than actual running of the ranch. Secondly, I would have liked Dakota’s dad to be slightly more involved with the healing process, I feel like we get to see him at the beginning and then you very much dropped off the radar of the story would be nice for him to even just popped in with a couple more phone calls in the course of the story. However there are two minor things I really enjoyed this romance!

[thank you to the publishers and netgalley for my review copy, this hasn’t impacted my opinion of the this voluntary review]

4.25 stars- THE PATRIOT is the first instalment in Jennifer Millikin’s contemporary, adult HAYDEN FAMILY romance series focusing on the Hayden siblings (Wesley, Warner, Wyatt and Jessie). This is thirty-seven year old, former US army explosive specialist and rancher Wes Hayden, and real estate developer/ investor Dakota Wright’s story line.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Wes and Dakota) THE PATRIOT follows Dakota Wright as she is tasked by her father with purchasing and developing several acres of land owned by the wealthy and powerful Hayden Cattle Company in Sierra Grande, Arizona but the surprise is on our heroine when she discovers that her one-night stand from five years previous is none other than heir to the Hayden Cattle Company Wes Hayden. Struggling to maintain her professionalism Dakota comes to realize that Wes refuses to acknowledge what was, and struggles to accept the sale of some of the family land. What ensues is the building romance and relationship between Wes and Dakota, and the potential fall-out as the Hayden Cattle Company has been targeted for sins of the past, and our heroine is caught in the cross-fire.

Wes Hayden struggles with PTSD, and his one-night stand five years earlier with Dakota Wright has left our hero with issues of guilt and embarrassment in the wake of his need to run. Reconnecting with Dakota brought with it the palpable sexual attraction to a woman he believes he does not deserve but an outdated family mandate forces Wes to make Dakota an offer she cannot refuse.

The relationship between Wes and Dakota is one of immediate attraction; a second chance romance wherein five years has past, and Dakota struggles to forgive the ma with whom she will fall in love. Wes returned from three tours of duty a changed man, and in this, his family worries that Wes is no longer the son to take over the ranch. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text.

There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and energetic secondary and supporting characters including Dakota’s father Mitch Wright; Wes’ siblings Warner, Wyatt and Jessie; their parents Beau and Juliette Hayden; real estate agent Jericho Barnett; café server Josephine; several townies, and ranch hands Dixon, Troy, Josh, Ham, Denny and Bryce. I am hoping the author has plans for Josephine as well.

THE PATRIOT is a story of family and relationships; betrayal and revenge; guilt and acceptance; romance and love. The premise is heart breaking, engaging and captivating ;the romance is seductive and sensual; the characters are broken, impassioned, and dynamic.



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I was intrigued by the cover so I went in blindly. I'm glad I did. I feel as though I had a better experience. Lets get the bad out of the way. It was slow in some parts. With that said, Dakota and Wes reunite after 5 years being apart. They get another chance with each other. Wes and Dakota are perfectly imperfect and fit together. Their story is sort of bittersweet just because of what they go through. Overall it was a good and sweet story.

The Patriot (Hayden Family, # 1) by Jennifer Millikin

**I received a copy of The Patriot from Net Galley and Victory Editing Net Galley Co op in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. My opinions expressed are mine alone and not solicited in any way**

I have to say this book blew me away because of the slow build up of love between Wes Hayden and Dakota Wright. The clincher for me was how she asked the town what "They needed" not here is what you are going to get when everything is finished. Yes the rule of Wes being unmarried and not taking over the ranch was old fashioned and I'm still scratching my head on how Dakota accrued her debt but all in all this book is worthy of a five star 5***** rating.

Dakota Wright wants to prove to her dad that she can bring to life the newest project being built at Hayden Ranch in Arizona but this time she wants make sure The Orchard will be everything that is truly needed for the town. Little does she expect to meet Wes Hayden whom she had one night with 5 years ago. Will he break her heart again or when he proposes a mutual agreement between them be all that he wants? When there's a fire on the ranch and a disgruntled employee who wants revenge will Wes find Dakota in time when she's kidnapped?

Wes Hayden still has night terrors from his years in the Army but what he really wants is to inherit the Hayden Cattle Company when his dad retires but clause states he must be married. So when Dakota and her father make a bid for the land being sold can he rekindle his past feelings with her while the project is being built? There will be a emergency with his dad and of course some wild west justice when she goes missing with a possible HEA in the end. I can't wait for the next book which I hope will be Warner's.