Rebecca Reviews ~ A Cowboy for Keeps (Colorado Cowboys, #1) by Jody Hedlund

Paperback, 384 pages

Published January 5th 2021 by Bethany House Publishers

Greta Nilsson's trip west to save her ailing little sister, Astrid, could not have gone more wrong. First, bandits hold up her stagecoach, stealing all her money. Then, upon arriving in Fairplay, Colorado, she learns the man she was betrothed to as a mail-order bride has died. Homeless, penniless, and jobless, Greta and her sister are worse off than when they started.

Wyatt McQuaid is struggling to get his new ranch up and running and is in town to purchase cattle when the mayor proposes the most unlikely of bargains. He'll invest in a herd of cattle for Wyatt's ranch if Wyatt agrees to help the town become more respectable by marrying and starting a family. And the mayor, who has promised to try to help Greta, has just the candidate in mind for Wyatt to marry.

Rebecca's Review ~ 3.5 stars

"You can walk away every time the flies start bitin'. Or you can swat 'em until they're gone."

Wyatt McQuaid felt like he'd been swatting flies for years, echoes of past discouragements and reoccurring failures tainting his optimism about the future . . . . including his hasty marriage to a beautiful young woman who was in dire straits, for what prompted him to make that dratted business arrangement with the mayor without thinking it through more carefully?

Greta Nilsson is most grateful for her marriage of convenience, Wyatt McQuaid is not only handsome and kind, but he's willing to give her three months time to determine if living on his Colorado ranch will improve her little sister's health. Greta isn't afraid of hard work and sincerely enjoys seeing Wyatt's property begin to thrive, but the clock is ticking and she is beginning to feel more like a burden that Wyatt must bear, rather than a member of his family.

This story was a bit hypnotizing at first, somewhat predictable and yet quite enjoyable when all of a sudden . . . . "boom, goes the dynamite", and the story line dove deeper, pulsating with an energy that readers will appreciate and respect, for who can argue the fact that "the more you pile on the manure, the harder it'll be to come clean"; Wyatt and Greta suddenly find themselves knee deep in multiple conundrums and it's going to take more than a few toe tingling kisses to dig themselves out.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. I also purchased a copy. The opinions stated above are entirely my own.

              Senior Reviewer, Rebecca Maney

Rebecca is a graduate of Bryan College with a degree in Christian Education, and is currently serving at the First Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church in Gastonia, North Carolina as the Director of Children's Ministry. With over 30 years of experience in her field, she has had many opportunities to use her love of reading and writing in creative ways across the generations. A wife, mother of four "nearly" grown children, and grandmother to four beautiful grandchildren, Rebecca has been able to return to her love of reading and more recently reviewing, with a renewed passion for the "beauty of story".