Relationships are very complicated and in THE OTHER HOLLISTER MAN by Stella Bagwell it was never more apparent. Intriguing relationships seem to be prevalent in this authors bag of tricks. Love is complicated. Family is as well. And in THE OTHER HOLLISTER MAN we meet two groups of a family whose histories have been separated by more than just time and distance. The two Hollister families have not been aware of the existence of the other.
Vanessa has been hired to research any possible connection between the Hollister’s of Stone Creek in Utah and the Hollister’s of Three Rivers Ranch in Arizona. Other than the surname and the fact that both families are primarily in the ranch business there isn’t necessarily a link, but they do share some what you might call coincidental sameness. Twins, career choices and a love and respect for their families. That might not make them related in any way but certainly creates a reason to seek out more facts.
That’s what Maureen Hollister of the Arizona family was looking for when she decided to pursue the research and asked Vanessa to help. Maureen’s husband Joel has been gone now several years. Joel had been murdered. A crime that still open. But this Hollister family has flourished in their businesses, careers and certainly in the growth of their family. Lots of children and grandchildren.
Jack’s family in Utah has been more contained. Their ranch is small by comparison. And there is only one grandson currently. Most of Jack’s siblings are still single. Jack’s father Hadley appointed him as the one to visit with the other Hollister family. His reasons were more about finding out if there was any concern about them being interested in his ranch. Hadley worried that they might be looking for a means to the mineral rights on his land. His land holdings very important to him and his family.
What Jack realizes, right off the bat, is that the Hollister’s of Arizona were quite wealthy, so his dad needn’t have worried about their motives. Maureen seemed to want to know more about any possible relations of her deceased husband. She automatically welcomed Jack and made him comfortable.
It doesn’t hurt that Jack was going to spent time with the very beautiful Vanessa who surprisingly captured Jacks eye. Jack was distrustful towards pretty women hence his bachelor’s status. He certainly wasn’t looking. There was no denying the mutual attraction that was unfortunately doomed if nothing other than pure distance.
Vanessa and Jack were determined to keep their relationship bounded by friendship and nothing more. Stella Bagwell certainly had other ideas and we are entertained by the budding romance between these two charming characters. In fact all the characters in THE OTHER HOLLISTER MAN are charming as are all those in the Men of the West series. This is the fiftieth book. I had not read any from this series and found THE OTHER HOLLISTER MAN to stand alone quite well. Stella Bagwell created two intriguing locations along with some wondrous folk. She treats her characters with respect and makes them amazingly real. THE OTHER HOLLISTER MAN is a joy to read.

Jack is sent by his family to look more into the family and investigator who claims they might be part of his family. They are well off so incase he's sent to look into things. He never expected to fall for the investigator Vanessa and its only a matter of time before she figures out the family truth and leaves.

This was a pretty good contemporary romance. I enjoyed getting to konw the characters. It was interesting seeing how Jack was personally looking into things. Trying to find similarity or figure out what the links to the family maybe if there is any. Then there was the romance blooming between Vanessa and Jack that I enjoyed seeing and with how things were with the two you can't help but root for them. This was overall a pretty good read. If you are looking for a quick poolside read I recommend bringing this along with you.

This is a Cowboy Romance, and this is the 50th book in the Men of the West series. I will start off by saying that I loved the characters, but I found the romance just ok in this book. I did enjoy the family history drama that was going on in this book. Overall, I enjoyed this book. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Harlequin Special Edition) or author (Stella Bagwell) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

3 stars. Overall, this was an ok story. I liked the main characters, however, there was A LOT of focus on the extended families. If I had read earlier books in the series, I probably would have liked seeing all the old faces, but not having read those books it was a bit much, and distracted from the story. The couple had some great sweet moments, and there was no doubt that they should be together. The conflict was a bit weak IMO. Overall, an interesting romance, that paves the way to extend a long standing series. *I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and this is my voluntary and honest review.