The Last Good Cowboy

Morgan Ranch series

by Kate Pearce

The Morgan ranch has seen its share of bad times. But as the four Morgan brothers are drawn back to their childhood home, the nightmares of their past give way to the promise of a new beginning…

Ry Morgan has always had a thing for Avery Hayes—one more hope his twin wrecked for him, pretending to be Ry to kiss her at the high school prom. Eight years later, Ry has had enough: he’s quitting the pro rodeo circuit, moving home to California to mend fences, and letting his brother clean up his own messes for a change. Reclaiming Avery’s stolen kiss is at the top of his agenda…

But Avery has changed. Her rodeo career ended with a fall that left her lucky to be alive, let alone walking. She hasn’t been on a horse since, and between surgeries and fighting off everybody’s pity she hasn’t done much else either. Ry is strong, confident, and sexy as hell—exactly what she thought she wanted at seventeen. Now, she’ll have to protect the safe space she’s made for herself—or risk it all for a dream she thought would never come again…

This is the third in the series but my first.  And while I got a great feel for Ry and Avery’s romance I do wonder about what I missed.  I know that there is some history with Ry’s mother, as it comes into play here and is obviously not new, but I’m not sure if the twin’s relationship was developed any in the other stories.  There are definitely all sorts of undercurrents and issues that come up.  Plus there are some obvious bits of drama with the dad and something happened with one of the brother’s having a daughter, but they aren’t truly critical to this story.

Ry is done following his brother around and he’s ready to return home because the life that they’ve been leading isn’t making him happy.  There’s an even bigger positive side to it – being home puts him back in the sphere with his high school crush.

Avery’s life has changed since Ry went away.  An accident took away her rodeo career but she didn’t let it keep her down.  Unfortunately those around her still tend to baby her and she’s tired of it.  A chance to plan a wedding at the Morgan ranch gives her that chance to get out on her own … but it also puts her near Ry.  And while she had a crush on him too, she’s not that confident girl anymore.  I loved seeing Ry work at proving to Avery that she’s even stronger than she thinks she is.  He’s got such understanding of what she needs and how to support her.  If she’ll let him  🙂

The Morgan family drama is a pretty big piece of the story and provides motivation for a lot of what Ry does.  Once we get all of the details it is pretty heartbreaking but definitely something that the boys all need to face.  There is a tiny bit of a cliffhanger at the end, setting up to where the next book will go, but there is a happy ending for Ry and Avery.