✨I’d love to Buck your Creek✨

TLDR:

I really enjoyed this, but I did suffer from the overwhelming urge to compare Morgan to Kit. The last 10% of the book was absolutely adorable and my favorite part of Pip and Morgan’s love story. There was about a steamy scene and a half which was a TOTAL surprise if you’ve read book one. In book 3, I’d love to see a little bit quicker of a pace and more focus on the main couple.

I liked the overall plot, so this was fun reading in general, but the romance played second fiddle to Junebug’s growth as a character. I suppose this happened in book one too, but I was so charmed by Kit, whereas Morgan needed a little honey as a chaser to sweeten the pot. Pip was the superstar of book two. I really loved how she never fought for what she knew she deserved.

The writing style is so fun and the vocabulary is so unique to the locals of Buck’s Creek. Amy Barry has created a really compelling foundation and I can’t wait to see what she builds this series into.

⭐️⭐️⭐️.75/5 🌶️🌶️.75*/5

*One full explicit sex scene and one frisky creek expedition. I loved Kit’s book that contained ZERO sexy times and don’t need sex to love a book, but YEEHAW I love seeing the word cock.

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More thoughts:

Morgan was SO stubborn and frankly the way he left??? Multiple times??? I was rather annoyed with him for a lot of this book. I understood why he was the way he was and why he wanted to get out, but woof. His past was definitely traumatic and darker than the impression I got of it in Kit’s book.

I did love how he came through in the end and how he finally sat down with his emotions. I would’ve maybe liked Pip to give him one more verbal lashing because he deserved it and I don’t think he quite reckoned enough with how much she was dragged through the mud during this book. A lot of times by him. He talked over people a lot and, by the end, he’d only just learned to listen.

And since Morgan took forever to finally realize what he actually wanted out of life, the pace felt a lot slower than book one. In both books, it took a while for the couples to meet and even spend time together because a lot of the narrative was from Junebug’s POV. It worked for me in book one because Kit was just never opposed to getting married and his pining was so visceral. It was quite clear that they belonged together.

In book two, Morgan and Pip needed a lot more space than they were ultimately given on the page to work out their differences. They ended up in this Miles City for a good chunk of the book and it derailed the plot a bit for me. One they were both in that city, it still took forever for them to meet again.

I just wanted more moments of them in love. The epilogue was about Beau, so we didn’t even get to see them living happily there. My favorite part of the book was the last 10% and I’d have loved for that to extend for a good 10% more. That 10% Morgan was way better than the other 90% we got. And really he wasn’t a baaad character I just wasn’t emotionally attached until the end of the book.

I found this on netgalley and thought I'd give historical western romance a try. I'm so glad I did! I didn't realize this was the second book in a series but it made no difference and I was able to follow the story and characters just fine. This was a funny, steamy (maybe a 2 on the pepper scale?) read and now I need more of this genre!

This is a tough one - I really enjoyed "Kit McBride gets a wife" so was looking forward to this.
I enjoyed reconnecting with the irrepressible Junebug, and all the McBrides up on the mountain.... but the story here suffers from not getting Morgan & Pip together early enough, or frequently enough -- the first half of the book goes by before they even meet (though I did like some of the backstory on Pip), and then almost as soon as they're thrown together, they're thrown apart again. The romance develops in just a few big leaps, because they're only together for a few brief minutes -- the majority of the story is more of a "Pip & Junebug's wild adventure" -- with just a tiny sprinkling of the Morgan & Pip romance thrown in. I think I'd have preferred that the ratio of these storylines be reversed. I also liked the brief moments we saw Kit & Maddy from the last story but even a little more from them would have been nice to follow up from the 1st story.
I might read on in the series because it's just a fun, rollicking frontier world Barry's built, and I'm intrigued to see what will happen to the big mountain McBride brothers & Junebug next.... but this installment felt like a bit of a letdown.

If possible, this was better than the first book. Morgan McBride is a dream, I loved spending time with Junebug she’s still such a highlight, and SO incredibly well drawn. The entire Montana scene is fantastic. This book is spicier and not closed door which is the biggest improvement over the first book. I wanted to spend more time with the McBrides and can’t wait for the next one,

Full review posted to links after embargo date.

I think this series is so fun. All the characters feel very funny and real, and after the last book I was very excited to see grumpy Morgan get married off. Between the first installment and this one, the pacing has absolutely improved, and we thankfully get to see the couple on page together more. But I still feel like this series could be improved by more proximity between the couple and maybe a little less Junebug. I’m really excited for it to continue, and I can’t wait to see who Beau ends up with!

This was my first book I’ve read by Amy Barry and I really enjoyed it. This story is great for fans of historical western romances. An amazing story and adorable characters you fall in love with this book hooked me from chapter one.I can’t wait to read the first book about Kit and Maddy. I’m sure it’s just as good as this one.