"Rugged Love" by Leslie North is a heartwarming romance set against the backdrop of the rugged outdoors. North's skillful storytelling and well-drawn characters create a narrative that brims with love and adventure, making it a must-read for those who enjoy tales of love in the wilderness.

This is a good book. The two main characters are Shannon and Declan. They have known each other all their lives. Shannon is a horse breeder on her family farm. Declan has moved back home to take over the veterinarian office. There is an instant attraction. They have some issues to work out but together they work them out and fall in love.

When I think of romance, I think of books just like this one, that gives all the feels and satisfies every romance junkies' heart. This is a perfect books to snuggle up with on any day. This one took by surprise! Leslie North is one of my favorites!

Rugged Love is the third book in the Cafferty Ranch series by Leslie North. I enjoyed getting to know Declan and Shannon’s characters and loved that they both were willing to fight for what they wanted when it mattered most. I am so glad that they got their happily ever after, but I think that it would have been better to have an epilogue where they are getting married. If you’re looking for a fast and easy romance story starring cowboys and cowgirls, then look no further than Rugged Love.

Shannon is the middle child in the Cafferty Ranch family, she is the one responsible for the horse breeding, training, selling portion of the ranches profitability. Declan Morris is Jakes childhood best friend that has been around the farm for years off and on, working summers etc. Shannon had a teenage crush on Declan that left her devastated and broken hearted when he came home from college for Christmas break with Jake and shannon gave him a spur of the moment passionate kiss under the mistletoe to Declan one Christmas when he then gave a horrifying response to it. Now many years later and Declan is graduated and back home and attempting to win the approval of the local veterinarian to sell her practice to him. Shannon is happy that Declan is back in town, but sad, she knows he has never thought anything more of her than his best friends sister. Shannon doesn’t know that Declan did not ever forget that kiss and always wished he would have taken it further. But while he is under a probation type period of earning the right/privilege to purchase the clinic he cannot let anything get in the way or mess with his judgement, he has to be able to purchase this business to stay in town, be close to his family, be close to Shannon if there is or could be something there for them. Shannon and Declan neither one are truly aware of how the other one feels. They don’t easily open up. You will find yourself on that roller coaster of ups and downs, jealousy, trust, pettiness, self-doubt but yet the characters have enough love and caring that no matter what cost they step up to the plate in defense and protection of the other.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this book for an honest review.

Third book in the series and this one features the middle child, Shannon and her brother's best friend, Declan. Declan returns to town to take over the vet practice and sparks fly with old crushes being exposed. Lovely ending to a great series.

Shannon Cafferty is working her breeding program at the family ranch when one of the horses got out and mated with her older mare when she calls for the vet to show up, she is surprised to see Declan Morris the guy she kissed under some mistletoe years ago. He of course did not respond as one would have hoped. He is back hoping to be chosen to take over the practice of the veterinarian who is retiring. He does well at times and at other moments not so well. Shannon agrees to help him get in with the local ranchers which starts off okay but when he gives up her business about purchasing a horse to a competing ranch this is a downfall. I personally did not care for this character but did like some of the others. This was a good book with moments of frustration.

A very cute and romantic story about life in a small town filled with ranchers.
The story continues in the same style as book two, but here it is the sister Shannon, who finds herself face-to-face with her old crush.

The story is filled with everything you could wish for in a chick-lit romance.

But as I have mentioned before... the storyline in this series is very similar to Amber Kelly's "Popular Falls" series.
And this is no exception with the sister falling in love with a vet...

This was such a sweet and refreshing read. I usually steer more towards super Angsty romance but sometimes I just need a sweet romance with a hint of angst/longing. And this hit the spot. I love second-chance, childhood friends reunited, brothers best friend romances SO much. I also love books where she has no idea how obsessed he is with her, which includes both POVs. Connecting with both MCs felt natural and easy and I loved both of them so so much.
*chefs kiss*

A fantastic third instalment to the caffrey ranch series. Loved this story just as much as the two previous. Good characters and a short and sweet love story

Shannon has finally got the courage to tell her childhood crush how she feels about him. Little did she know that Declan had feels for her as well but their lives never lined up until he came back home to pursue taking over the local vet’s business. Now that he is back they finally start dating but things quickly derail. He is having to do so much to prove that he should be the one to take over the vet business and in the process of doing a farm call he said something he shouldn’t have. His words had a huge impact on his girlfriend and her business. Can he make things right and not give up after his mistake? I was given an ARC through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a free copy in exchange of an honest review. This is actually a pretty light read and I didn’t expect to finish it this quickly. Our MCs, Shannon and Declan are pretty cute together. Shannon basically has this huge crush on her brother’s best friend, Declan but things kinda went south when a few years ago she kissed him under the mistletoe and he stopped it. Okay you might think Declan is a d1ck for this but he has reasons for this trust me!! In fact he also had a huge crush on her too but they didn’t know. The story is set years after that incident and Declan and Shannon rekindled. There’s a huge conflict near the end of the book and I had no idea how it would be resolved because believe me I was mad too. Anyway I didn’t realise that this is the third book of a series but I think it could stand on its own. I don’t think it’s necessary to read the previous books.

And she did it again!

I've been religiously reading all the three books of Leslie North's series, The Cafferty Ranch, throughout the last week and I've just been falling more and more in love with them.

In this last book, we're presented with the story of Shannon and Declan. Like in the previous books, they have both known each other since they were kids (Declan is the best friend of Shannon's older brother, Jake) and they both have had feelings for each other since one night when they had kissed under the mistletoe a couple of years back. However, life goes on and they both go their separate ways until Declan comes back to their hometown to buy the practice from the local vet.

As Leslie has already gotten us used to, this is a fast-paced book and the only thing I would change was to have more to read! The characters are very well-developed and since we have a dual POV we have access to a better understanding of why they act the way they do. Besides, apart from Declan and a few other new characters, most of the characters we already know from the previous books, so it makes it all even more exciting (it is possible to read this book as a stand-alone though!).

With this being said, I would definitely recommend this book! Leslie North's books have easily become a must to me!

This is the final book in the “Cafferty Ranch Series” and up front and center is Shannon Cafferty and Declan Morris. Shannon has a crush on Declan and she can’t seem to the forget the kiss under the mistletoe she placed on Declan’s lips nor the look on his face when she was a teenager. There is just one problem Declan is brother’s best friend. Declan left town to become a veterinarian and now he’s back in town working for the local veterinarian Dr. Gertie Wilcox hoping to take over the practice once she retires. Declan hasn’t forgotten about the kiss between him and Shannon under the Mistletoe and often thinks about it. Declan has had a crush on Shannon and because he and her brother are best friends he chose to keep his feelings to himself; but for how long. Shannon is breeding and training horses on the family ranch and her brother Jake informs her to talk to Declan because she needs help. Declan needs a favor from Shannon with the town folks to earn their trust and approval because he wants to buy Dr. Wilcox practice. The more time that Declan and Shannon spend together the chemistry is getting to them.

Will Declan throw caution to the wind and act upon his feelings for Shannon, how will his best friend react to his feelings toward his sister, will Declan earn the trust and approval of the town, will Dr. Wilcox sale her veterinarian practice to Declan, is there an HEA in store for Declan and Shannon?

Declan is Shannon’s brother’s best friend and her high school crush. Declan is trying to buy the town’s veterinary practice. In order to buy it, he needs to get the ranchers on his side. He has had a crush on Shannon for years. As things heat up between them, it all hinges on him being able to buy the practice. He inadvertently lets a secret about Shannon’s breeding program slip to a rival. His plan might go belly up, unless he can fix it.

The book was very well written. A perfect ending to the series.

Declan and Shannon shared a searing kiss under the mistletoe many years ago. She's responsible for the horse breeding program at her family ranch. She has an older brother (Declan's best friend) and a younger sister.

Declan is a Veteranarian who's returned home in hopes of buying the local Vet's practice, upon her retirement , to be closer to his aging parents. The adjustment is hard as Gertie (the only town Veterinarian) feels community acceptance is as important as medical animal skills.

Declan and Shannon renew their friendship and move into a romantic relationship. After a series of unfortunate events, Declan finds himself on the precipice of losing the opportunity to purchase Gertie's veterinary clinic and on the outs with Shannon due to a costly mistake.

Can he salvage his reputation and win back the woman of his dreams? You'll want to read this one to find out. Although third in a series I didn't feel like I missed anything from the first two books.

I received an ARC from Net Galley and am voluntarily submitting this review.

This is probably the best book in this series. The relationship between Shannon and Declan is more developed and they are just more developed as characters. I liked them together because they made such a great team and truly wanted to support one another. I thought Gertie was a little too harsh with Declan - if she waited for a vet everyone loved she would probably be waiting a very long time. I liked that at the end he had decided to just open up his own practice. I knew as soon as Declan said something to Becca about the mare that Becca was going to make a move for it. I totally understand why Shannon was so mad at him about it, but I think it could have been avoided had she just had an open and honest conversation with him about what she thought of Becca. Maybe then he would have realized how underhanded and greedy Becca really was. I would have really liked to have seen Becca get her comeuppance - I realize the way this all played out was much more realistic, but it would have been so satisfying to see her get knocked down a peg or two.

This was a wonderfully light, enjoyable diversion! When a ranching town's vet decides to finally retire, hometown boy Declan wants to take over her practice and finally move back. But, he'll have to meet her exacting standards, win over the local ranchers...and come to terms with Shannon, his best friend's little sister, who is definitely NOT a kid anymore. As it happens, they find they can use each other's help, but spending more time together brings out their undeniable chemistry, and lots of potential pitfalls.

What I liked best about this story is that the Shannon and Declan were mature, likable adults. They communicated and they tried to be reasonable and make good decisions. Both had room to grow, and they were open to doing that. Their conflicts were real, but not insurmountable. It made for a satisfying, nicely steamy, relatively low-angst read, perfect for a lazy afternoon!

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review!

This is book three of the Cafferty Ranch series. In this book Shannon is reunited with Declan who she has always had a crush on. He also feels the same about her and is hoping to buy the local Vet's practice so he can stay in town. Sweet romance with some heat.

This book is the first in the Cafferty Ranch series by Leslie North, thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy. I have read many books by Leslie North and have enjoyed them. This book is the story of Declan and Shannon. Declan is Shannon's brother's best friend and Shannon and Declan have been in each other's lives since they were children. Declan has been away at Vet school and has come home to participate in a trial at the local vet clinic to see if he is a good fit for purchasing it from the retiring vet. Shannon runs the family horse breeding business, but it is struggling. There is a lot more to both of those plot lines, but it all leads to whether or not Declan and Shannon can make a relationship work. This book was well written and was presented in both points of view. We done and makes me really excited for additional books in this series. 5 stars.