Wild Ride Cowboy by Maisey Yates

Narrated by Summer Morton

I am a fan of the “brother’s best friend” trope and I’d not tried a Maisey Yates book on audio before. I decided to dive in to the Copper Ridge series with book 9, Wild Ride Cowboy. While there are some recurring characters, the book works well as a stand-alone. I certainly didn’t have any trouble following the story.

Alex Donnelly is a former soldier who served with Jason Campbell. They were best friends and when Jason died while they were both deployed, Alex was made executor of Jason’s will. Jason also made a more personal request; could he please look after Jason’s sister, Clara, and make sure she was okay and managing the family ranch in Copper Ridge okay.

I must admit to some confusion about the will. My understanding of the role of an executor (and I have had some experience with this) is that they dispose of the estate and are in charge of the distribution of it but not that they own the estate. The way this book goes, Alex is given the entire estate for a period of a year and then everything reverts to Clara. I wasn’t quite sure how this would actually work and/or whether this is a thing that actually happens in the US. I decided not to overthink it. Ultimately, it’s a device to get Alex all up in Clara’s business and force them into close proximity.

Clara is only 21 and has had a life of significant grief. Her mother died after a long illness when Clara was 12. Clara’s dad died of a heart attack four years later and six months before the book begins, Clara’s only other relative – Jason – died saving Alex’s life. She’s not really gone anywhere and because of the trajectory of her life so far, she hasn’t dated or had many friends. She’s been holed up at home, pretty much just existing since her brother died. She works at a local winery but has so far resisted efforts of the other staff to befriend her.

The ranch itself is fairly low maintenance but what maintenance has been necessary hasn’t been done in a while. Clara keeps bees, which she can manage alone and it is her plan to eventually sell the honey and other produce she grows in her kitchen garden at farmer’s markets and support herself that way. The bees and the garden are manageable for her and enable her to work outside the ranch as well.

Alex pretty much barges in and tells Clara he is there to save her. He’s going to fix everything for her and get the maintenance work done (mainly repairs to fences, household maintenance and tinkering with some machinery) and introduce bison to the ranch as a low-maintenance but money-making “crop”. Because the ranch and everything in it is apparently his for a year, Clara doesn’t get a say.

Clara is an unusual character. She’s very young and inexperienced in many ways but she also very direct and mature. She eats like a 5-year-old – spaghettios, sugar, junk food, hates vegetables, etc – but this is mainly because she didn’t have much choice about it. Her mother had been sick for a long time and after she died, Clara’s dad didn’t know much about cooking beyond opening a can and heating its contents. Alex makes the mistake of thinking that because Clara eats like a child, she is one.

Clara is, in fact, more emotionally mature than Alex. She’s certainly braver. He had a traumatic childhood himself and has abandonment issues so is very shy of any form of relationship. Also, he is 31 so he feels he’s too old for her. Plus there’s the whole, “her brother died saving my life and why am I here and he’s not” thing so he tries manfully to resist Clara’s charms.

But Clara is no pushover. She stands up for herself, insisting Alex share his knowledge about the ranch and the bison with her because it will eventually be hers to run, and she does not let him treat her like a child. She wants Alex and there’s no reason they can’t have a fling while he’s around. She knows he’s not staying and doesn’t expect hearts and flowers.

The trajectory of the story isn’t particularly revolutionary; what makes it unique is Clara. She’s not easily categorised. I was constantly impressed by her courage and her determination. She’d take a risk and lay herself bare in order to get what she wanted. Alex doesn’t know what to do with her most of the time. Of course, he falls hopelessly in love – even if it takes him a while to admit it.

The narration by Summer Morton was reasonably good but I didn’t always feel her tone matched the text. There was a lot of heaviness and grief in the story but it seemed to me that most of the narrative was delivered somewhat ponderously, in inspirational quotes or deep and meaningful tones. There were definitely times when more lightness would have been fitting and appreciated.

There was one time when Clara’s voice was used instead of Alex’s but for the most part, there wasn’t any character confusion. Alex had a deeper and sterner voice. Here too, some lightness or dry humour could have been injected from time to time. Mostly he sounded bossy and grumpy. And sure, sometimes that’s exactly what he was. Just not all the time.

Asher, a hipster dude that Clara initially has a crush on, has a different voice, but Alex’s brothers Liam, Finn and Cain pretty much sounded the same. When the brothers were talking I had to rely on dialogue tags to work out who said what.

That said, I did enjoy the story on audio. Ms. Morton’s performance was crisp and clear and she delivered the intimate scenes very well.

I’d definitely recommend Wild Ride Cowboy for those on the lookout for an unusual heroine – Clara is well worth the price of admission.

Also, that cover is perfection for this book. When you get to Alex’s and Clara’s first kiss, you’ll know why.

Kaetrin