The Talk of Coyote Canyon by Brenda Novak is the second book in the contemporary romance Coyote Canyon series. The Coyote Canyon series is one romance series that changes the main characters within each new book with the setting being the tie between them. With the main characters changing each of these book can be enjoyed as a standalone but there are glimpses of previous characters for those that have followed the series from the beginning.

Readers actually met Ellen Truesdale in the first book of the Coyote Canyon series and got to see a bit of her spunky, strong willed nature. Now Ellen is getting her own story as she finds herself fighting to survive in a male dominated career and fighting to keep her well-drilling company afloat. Ellen wants nothing to do with her father who is her business rival or any of his employees but when Hendrix Durrant, one of those employees, steps in to help Ellen can’t help but to see him in a new light away from the rivalry between her and her father.

Brenda Novak is one of those authors that has yet to disappoint me no matter how much of her extensive catalog of titles I read so of course I had to dive right into the Coyote Canyon series. While I enjoyed the first book of this series the second quickly became my favorite with Ellen’s no nonsense, take charge, strong character. The fun then came when we got to see a softer side of the tattooed tough girl. It also helped that I immediately also enjoyed Hendrix and began rooting for them right away. Looking forward to read the third book of the series after the great start with books one and two!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

~~~ I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review ~~~

The Talk of Coyote Canyon is the 2nd book in the Coyote Canyon Series and follows the story of Ellen and Hendrix, two competing local well drillers with a familial history. This is a book about family, friendship, forgiveness, and secrets. Coyote Canyon is a small Montana town full of interesting characters who bring a lot of drama to the story. The plot is very entertaining and there was even a mystery element to the story- who vandalized the well and why? So far I have really enjoyed both to the Coyote Canyon books and am looking forward to the next. I always recommend Brenda Novak's books, she is one of those authors that I know I can pick up any one of her books and know it'll be great.

I love the second installment of The Coyote Canyon series just as much as I do the first one!!!!!!!!!!! This is a series you will fall in love with and not want to end.

Brenda Novak is back! I love the books of hers that I have. Two totally different people bought together. Secrets, forced proximity, difficult family relationships…The Talk of Coyote Canyon has it all.

I liked Ellen’s image she was an originally-created character. I certainly felt things were going to get interesting when she met Hendrix (unique name :)).

Thanks to Brenda Novak and MIRA for my eARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

5 stars

This is the second in the Coyote Canyon series. Ellen is a well driller, she is in a field where it is mostly men. She began pursuing this field in defiance to a dad who is also a driller and who abandoning her when she was a child. Ellen has been in town for two years and yet her father and his wife has not make the effort to be in her life. Hendrix raised by his aunt and Stuart(Ellen's father) has always sees her as the enemy since she moved into the community and her company is competing with her father's company to get jobs. This story has a few moving pieces we not only get a love story but we get a possible physical harassment/abuse, a possible shakedown and is she or isn't she? We catch up with Talulah and Brant from the first book and some other unsavory characters from the previous book who are far from been redeemed which i feel makes the storyline so realistic and believable. I truly enjoyed that both hero/heroine fought through severe ups and downs of family drama.

Although I didn't love this one as much as the first in the series, it was a very good read. To me the relationships and connections between our hero and heroine were a little murky and confusing at the beginning, but once I sorted that out I enjoyed the enemies to lovers plotline!

I’ve been a fan of this author’s writing for quite some time. As usual, this new release is solid, but the plot has a lot to unpack. It’s a small-town contemporary romance with themes of abandonment, revenge, forgiveness, redemption, and love. The reader has a front-row seat to Ellen’s desire to make her father acknowledge her and see how, despite any help from him growing up, she can be his successful competitor. Her character growth is the story's main focus, and along the way, I found myself cheering each time she stood up after yet another fall. While much of the story revolves around Ellen, Hendrix’s character is a strong subplot. And several minor characters were not likable at all, but I think that’s the point. It took me several chapters to really engage in the plot and connect with the main characters, but once I did, the story became richer, enjoyable, and entertaining. (On a side note, this last issue could be 100% me, as during times of high stress, I seem to struggle with reading, so at some point, I’ll reread this story, and I have a hunch I won’t have the same struggle.)

NICUnurse’s Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Talk of Coyote Canyon is the second book in the Coyote Canyon series and I think I liked it more than the first. In this book we meet Ellen Truesdale, a young woman who moved to the area to start her business. She is a spunky, independent, tattoo covered women out to put her father out of business. He abandoned her and her mother when she was ten and never had anything to do with her. Meanwhile he remarried and his wife's nephew is his partner in the drilling business. When Ellen underbids him, he is furious and confronts her telling her that he will put her out of business. They have mutual friends, so run into each other now and then and he begins to realize she is a good person. When she is being attacked by a man who she met online, Hendrix just happens to be waiting to talk to her and saves her from her attacker. They forge a friendship from there moving forward. Will that friendship become more than that?

This was another wonderful small town romance from Brenda Novak. I enjoyed seeing Tallulah, from the first book in the series, be friends with Ellen. The characters that gave Tallulah a hard time in the first book were back causing trouble again. As Hendrix got closer to Ellen, it began to cause rifts with some of his relationships, and I loved the way he dealt with it. There was more to the story than just a romance. There were issues of paternity, child abandonment, abusive men, revenge, jealousy, friendship, parental abdication of responsibility, and more. I really liked Luke's cousin, who is special needs, and loves Hendrix with all his heart, as well as donuts. There was witty banter, and a couple of quick, closed door scenes. I liked that in the end we read about acceptance, forgiveness and reconciliation as well as a happy ever after. I definitely recommend this book and series.

I really liked that this book is about Ellen, Talulah’s neighbor from book 1 in this series. I really liked Ellen, and was excited to learn more about her.

“She was the most guarded person Talulah had ever met, and she had reason to be.” P134

Ellen has her fair share of unruly men in this book - a couple that seem like stalkers, one of which seems abusive, with anger issues. There is also complicated family matters, involving her father and his business.

We get to know Jane Tanner (the title of book 3 coming next) more at the end of this one, and I’m looking forward to knowing more about her.

This one wasn’t quite as steamy as the first, with one scene really. This was definitely more of an enemy to lovers story (which the first one kind of was, but these two are definitely higher on the enemy scale).

The Talk of Coyote Canyon by Brenda Novak is book two in the Coyote Canyon series but can be read as a standalone. This is a sweet small-town romance with some family drama.

I enjoyed this book and liked seeing Ellen & Hendrix get closer. The town of Coyote Canyon is great and it was fun to see familiar faces from the first book. Brenda Novak's books are always a go to when I want a contemporary romance!

This is a good book. The two main characters are Ellen and Hendrix. Ellen owns a well-drilling company. Hendrix owns a well-grilling company too. There is an instant attraction. Hendrix realizes Ellen needs help so he offers to help her. They each have issues but together they work them out and fall in love.

All through this book, I wanted to take Ellen into my arms and hug her. With the way she was treated as a child, and even now, I am surprised she wasn’t more bitter. Sure there is bitterness there, but she is more pragmatic than anything else. She has learned that nobody is going to help her with anything so she buckles down and does it herself, no matter how grim things look.

Hendrix and Ellen are an unlikely pair. He’s not very likable in the beginning and that has everything to do with how he was raised by his aunt, Ellen’s step-mom. I don’t think you can even call her a step-mom though since she had no hand in raising Ellen. When her parents divorced and her dad remarried, he cut Ellen out of his life because of his wife. Lynn was jealous of a little girl and couldn’t stand not being the only woman in her husband’s life. And he let her! I cannot express how despicable I find these people. Lynn and Stuart (Ellen’s dad) are wonderful parents to Lynn’s son as well as her nephew Hendrix whom she had guardianship of, so it’s all the more blatant how terribly Ellen is/was treated. I’m going to come back around to all of that later.

While he had a rocky start, I ended up adoring Hendrix. He is a smart enough man with enough empathy to realize how wrong Ellen’s upbringing had been once he got to know her and could see things from her point of view. He feels a loyalty toward his aunt who took him in when his mother died, and her husband who treated him like his own son, so he never looked at the situation with clear eyes until he was forced to. I felt Ellen’s hatred of Hendrix wasn’t fair in many ways, but I understood the feelings. He got what she was denied with her father’s love. It’s all so heartbreaking. But she’s so admirable, even while she’s fighting a vendetta against that side of her family.

The relationship may seem unlikely, but Ellen and Hendrix are wonderful with each other. I enjoyed the push/pull they had and how they couldn’t stay away from each other, even knowing the stakes. I couldn’t get enough of these two together, especially once they stopped fighting.

Back to Ellen’s dad and his wife. I don’t want to give anything away but I will say I’m not sure I’m happy with how things were resolved. I can’t imagine being in Ellen’s situation, or Hendrix’s for that matter. I don’t know that I would have made the same decision they did in the end.

One last thing. There is someone in town who featured in both stories so far in this series that I think everyone is drastically underestimating. I’m hoping things don’t end in tragedy when it comes to this person and their motivations. At the same time, I’m finding the character as well as the reactions of those around her to be fascinating.

Ellen’s father, Stuart, left her and her mother when she was young and didn’t make any effort to see Ellen after, and the abandonment still stings. Ellen inherited her grandparents’ house and property in Coyote Canyon, so she moved there to set up her own well-drilling business in direct competition with her father’s business. Ellen’s set on taking his business down one client at a time to pay him back for carelessly tossing her aside. However, when Hendrix, Stuart’s business partner and stand-in-son, stirs things up with her only employee, Ellen’s left high and dry on an important job. Hendrix steps in to help, feeling guilty and then ends up striking up a reluctant friendship.

Hendrix didn’t find Ellen attractive when she first moved to town, with her short spiky hair and tattoos, isn’t what he’d normally been into. Also, with all the family/business turmoil, he’s only viewed her as an adversary, but as they work together, Hendrix starts to see her in a different light. He also starts to question the events of the past, how his aunt, Stuart’s wife, treated Ellen as a little girl and realizes how unfair they’ve all been to her. His opinions start to cause waves.

Ellen and Hendrix’s romance was a challenge because of the family/business aspect, and because Ellen had excellent reasons to be guarded, but most of the conflict was external. Hearing Ellen’s past and how she was treated, by Stuart, his new wife and even her mother I was outraged in her behalf! I was so happy she had Talulah and then Hendrix to take up for her!

Complicated family relationships, sabotage, and an online dating experience gone awry factor into the story; there’s so much more going on than just a romance, and I loved every minute! The story was captivating, and I didn’t want to put it down!

The Talk of Coyote Canyon can be read as a standalone, but I recommend reading Talulah’s Back in Town first as some of the events come into play here. I highly recommend both romances! Brenda Novak’s stories are compelling and addictive! You think you’re just going to read a few chapters and end up finishing the book in one sitting!

Down Syndrome Kid Steals Show. First, about the title of this review - as an Autistic, I *despise* so-called "person first" language, because it doesn't actually put the person first. It claims that a person whose so-called "disability" is integral to their very personhood and way they live instead could simply discard it as easily as changing their hair color, among other easily changed things a person is described as "with". Bullshit. Such an ability permeates the person thoroughly, and directly influences how the person perceives - and thus processes and expresses their thoughts and feelings about - literally everything around them.

Thus, the Down Syndrome character himself- and the brilliant and very human way Novak shows him - is actually one of the better features of this particular tale, one that I've seen no other reviewer discuss thus far, even though this character is a major motivator for our hero of this book. Of note, other than mentioning the Down Syndrome near the time the character is first introduced, it is rarely if ever mentioned again - to the point that I actually had to go back and search the book to verify the actual description initially used for the character as I began to write this review. And this is *exactly* what one would expect in a small town where everyone knows everyone - by the time of our story here, everyone in town is already well aware of this kid and his condition, so why bother repeating it?

As to the romance itself, other than the fact that both of our leads are well drillers - presumably a rarity for a female in particular, and not exactly a profession many in suburbia and/ or the Eastern US are familiar with - ... eh, fairly standard slow burn enemies to lovers type tale, with a lot of complications due to varying family and small town dynamics. As usually happens, particularly within the enemies to lovers space. (And no, this is no Romeo and Juliet. Romeo and Juliet was teen angst gone murderous, with a remarkably high body count for such a short overall tale. Here, our leads are not exactly "old and wisened", but they're also well away from teen angst... even if they've never actually resolved some very big issues from earlier in their lives (yet).

And yes, the ending here was a bit abrupt. Did Novak realize she was at her target word/ page count and simply rush the ending, rather than fill it out a bit more completely as the story seemed to demand here? Who knows. But it absolutely felt rushed and even a bit lackadaisical. Certainly, Novak has proven with other books - including the first book in this series! - that she is capable of much better.

One final note, specifically for the "clean" / "sweet" romance crowd - yet again, likely not one for y'all. Novak isn't shy with on screen sex when it serves the purposes of the story, though this isn't one of those "damn near erotica" level books either. So for everyone, know that the spice level here is roughly along the lines of a chipotle. Fairly mild, overall - yet still far too spicy for some.

Overall, this book was one of those that had a couple of stand-out features that were done truly particularly well (Down Syndrome character + well drilling profession) and otherwise was more of a routine (yet solid, to be clear) small town enemies to lovers romance, maybe with some extra dynamics to add a touch more drama/ fill some extra pages. I'm very much looking forward ot the next book in this series.

Very much recommended.

I have been excited for Ellen’s story since I read the summary. I love women in unusual careers and this definitely didn’t disappoint. I enjoyed getting to know Ellen and Hendrix much better. I’m excited for book 3.

Written straight from the heart, The Talk of Coyote Canyon is another winner from much-loved reader favorite Brenda Novak.

Ellen Truesdale sticks out like a sore thumb in Coyote Canyon – and that’s just the way she likes it. With her tattoos, spiky hair and multiple piercings, Ellen definitely stands out in this small town. She is not here to make friends and she certainly has no intention of putting down roots and settling down. Ellen intends to put her father out of business as payback for abandoning her when she was young and she will hightail it out of Coyote Canyon the first chance she gets. But little does she realize that she might just she find a reason to stick around…

With her rival oil-drilling company struggling to stay afloat, Ellen has got a lot on her plate. Conceding that she needs help, she decides to accept Hendrix Durrant’s help – even if he happens to be her father’s business partner and therefore her enemy. Thrown together unexpectedly by fate, the more time Ellen and Hendrix spend together, the more they find themselves drawn to one another.

Is Ellen willing to let go of the past to embrace a future with Hendrix? Or will her anger and her pride end up costing her the chance to be happy?

Brenda Novak always delivers first-class page-turners that keep me turning the pages late into the night and she has done it again with The Talk of Coyote Canyon. A terrific enemies-to-lovers romance that sparkles and sizzles with humor, heart and charm by the bucket load, The Talk of Coyote Canyon is an enjoyable tale about second chances, starting over and falling in love by Brenda Novak that has got keeper written all over it.

4 1/2 STARS!

Highly emotional and riveting! The second book in Brenda Novak's Coyote Canyon series is quick to hook a reader with lots of drama, angst and forbidden love. I enjoyed the story a lot and felt the characters were well developed and the tension on point, but the ending was rushed and could have been fleshed out a bit more to make it more satisfying to the reader. Overall a great addition to the series.

Ellen already had my attention as Talulah's neighbor in the first book of the series, so I already knew she was going to be an interesting character. Learning her backstory and seeing her in her element made me enjoy her even more.

Hendrix is a sweetheart and I loved every second of his character.

I highly recommend this book as well as the series to anyone who enjoys a drama and heartfelt situations in a small town as romance comes knocking when they least expect it.

This is an interesting story - I liked how Novak developed the story of Ellen and her estranged father and stepmother. Ellen is out to show her father just what he missed by abandoning her at a young age. This abandonment has caused her to harden her heart to all possible love interests. That is until Hendrix shows up and she realizes what she might have been missing. Hendrix finds himself caught in the middle of a family struggle that has been years in the making. I enjoyed how Ellen and Hendrix's relationship evolved as well as the characters themselves. This story has a little bit of everything and keeps you wanting to keep reading to the very end to see what is next and what will happen.

Thank you to NetGalley for an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Her father left her when she was only ten
And rarely had time to see her again.
He moved on to a new wife and her family
And never more it seemed wanted her to see.

Now's she grown up and is feisty and a rival, too,
Undercutting bids for the jobs they both do.
Is she out for revenge or maybe has something to prove?
Either way somewhere along the line someone will lose.

Hendrix Durrant was brought up by his Aunt and her Dad,
As teens their meetings were rare and often bad.
But as adults maybe there are surprises in store
Especially as he seems to help her some more!

There's revenge and mystery, drama and romance
Will these enemies become lovers, will they take a chance?
There are also surprises and distrust, too,
And Leo who is delightful, smiling most of the way through!

A really enjoyable read with a great mix
So romance and mystery readers can both get their fix!
For my complementary copy, I say thank you,
As I share with you this, my honest review.

The Talk of Coyote Canyon by Brenda Novak
Coyote Canyon #2

Dysfunctional families leave trauma scarring family members and many in this book have been scarred. The possibility of overcoming what has happened in the past to forge personal strength and a positive future is not easy but can be achieved by those who persevere, find the right place to be, and are supported by those who care. Truly enjoyed this book!

What I liked:
* Ellen Truesdale: owns her own drilling business, in debt, in competition with her father, survivor, difficult mother, absentee father, jealous stepmother, lonely, guarded, wants to love and be loved but afraid to trust
* Hendrix Durant: orphaned at eleven, taken in by his aunt, strong, caring, protective, pleaser who tries to avoid conflict, works for his uncle, grows a lot in this book
* Leo: Hendrix’s cousin, loving, open, sweet, adult with Down Syndrome
* The friendship between Talulah and Ellen
* The enemies to lovers storyline with slow burn between Ellen and Hendrix
* The plot, pacing, setting, and writing
* Getting to see some of the characters from previous books
* The mystery to be solved over who sabotaged the Haslem’s new well
* The small town feel
* The way the past was revealed and wrongs exposed along with the impact they had
* That some characters were made aware of the wrong they had done
* That it was believable, sometimes sad, but provided hope and a happy ending
* Wondering who will have their story told in the next book

What I didn’t like:
* Who and what I was meant not to like
* Thinking about the pain suffered by Ellen, Hendrix, and a few others

Did I enjoy this book? Yes
Would I read more in this series? Definitely

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin-Mira for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars