The Cowboy's Second Chance
Single dad Tyler Abernathy has vowed to devote himself
completely to his little girl, Maeve. The widowed rancher's belief that he
wasn't a present-enough father or husband pushes him to turn down the locals'
well-meaning attempts to fix him up. But when he meets Callie Sheldrick, she
disarms him in ways he can't explain…or ignore. Walking away would be the right
thing to do. Yet doing the "right" thing might end up breaking all
three of their hearts…
Good book. Tyler is the single father of a nine-month-old
little girl who is the center of his life. After his wife's death six months
earlier, it seemed as though everyone in town had someone they think would make
the perfect wife/mother. Tyler isn't interested until he meets Callie, who
appeals to him in ways he doesn't understand and can't resist.
Callie works as the admin assistant for Bronco Ghost
Tours. She recently broke up with her boyfriend, and while at a bridal shower
for a friend, contemplates her singleness. She wants the same sort of love she
sees her friends finding and wonders if it will ever happen. Town mystic Winona
gives Callie some unexpected and mysterious advice, leaving her puzzled about
what it means. Callie is drawn to Tyler but gets tongue-tied around him.
I enjoyed the development of the relationship between Tyler
and Callie. Drawn to each other from the beginning, issues from their pasts
make them wary of risking their hearts. Riddled with guilty feelings about his
marriage, Tyler believes that he doesn't deserve to be happy. I ached for him
because he couldn't see that his late wife was a selfish woman who brought many
of her problems on herself. Tyler made some mistakes, but I felt he was driven
to them by his wife's attitude. I loved how hands-on he was with Maeve, but
because of his belief that he was a terrible father, he went a little
overboard. He frequently felt overwhelmed between his ranch work and caring for
Maeve because he accepted only the bare minimum of help.
Callie couldn't resist Tyler when he asked her out. She's
interested but wary. Having never spent much time with babies, Callie feels
inept initially, especially when Maeve cried the first time she saw Callie. She's
also cautious about risking her heart because previous boyfriends walked away
so easily.
When Tyler decided he wanted to get to know Callie
better, he went all in. I loved the sweet scenes of their time together, both
with and without Maeve along. Seeing the differences between Callie and his
late wife opened Tyler's eyes to the truth about his marriage. He still fought
against admitting his feelings for Callie, preferring to believe they are
casual. Meanwhile, Callie falls hard for Tyler but thinks he's still in love
with his wife. When Tyler accidentally learns how Callie feels about him, he
panics and runs away, claiming things are moving too fast. I ached for Callie,
who was blindsided by Tyler's actions. I felt that Tyler earned every bit of
his misery. Even after some excellent advice from his mom, Tyler still can't
let go of his guilt. I loved how his brother Dean's words to Callie sent her to
confront Tyler. I loved his emotional confession and its effect on Callie.
I laughed at the ending scene and Winona's comments to Callie
and Tyler. Mystic or not, she certainly saw something back at the beginning
that told her they belonged together.
No comments:
Post a Comment