I think a cowboy is the perfect escape for this Monday morning!
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Tough Talking Cowboy
Wild Rose Ranch series
by Jennifer Ryan
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Date: March 31, 2020
Blurb:
Return to Montana as a tough-talking cowboy meets his match in Jennifer Ryanโs newest Wild Rose Ranch novel.
Ex-Army Ranger Drake McGrath has come home to Montana, locked in a battle with himself, lashing out at those who love him mostโdriving away his ex-fiancรฉe and alienating his family. But Adria Holloway sees beyond Drakeโs tough talk to the raw pain beneath.
Raised with her twin sister Juliana by a neglectful mother at the Wild Rose Ranch, Adria also struggles to put the trauma from her past behind her. To help them both, she makes Drake a shocking dealโa no-strings relationship thatโll help them both face down their demons. Maybe itโs a way for her and Drake to heal each other, one sizzling night at a timeโฆ
The heat between them is instant and incredible. But the biggest challenges are yet to come. With Juliana battling her addiction and Drake working on his issues, Adria realizes she canโt save everyone. But Drake and Adria discover love can survive tragedy and lossโand they can have the life they never thought possible if they just hold on.
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Excerpt:
โWe saw each other in the driveway. I smiled at you. I wanted to meet you. You stared at me. You didnโt want your brother to touch me even in a friendly way.โ Her eyes went wide. โYou want me.โ
Feeling surly, he lashed out. โConceited much?โ
โOh, I think Iโm right on the money. You wanted me and came up here and destroyed my stuff because you didnโt think Iโd want you because of a few scars and a bad temper.โ
He raked his fingers over his head. โThatโs not it.โ
โYes, it is. Melanie didnโt want you, so you think no one will.โ
He tried to hold it together, but his anger flashed. โShe tried. I tried. But I couldnโt. I canโt. Not anymore. So what good was I to her? Iโm no use to any woman now?โย
Adria shook her head. โYouโre kidding, right?โ
He held his hands out wide. โDoes it look like Iโm kidding?โ
She braced her hands on the back of the sofa, leaned in, locked eyes with him and said the unexpected again. โThere is nothing, and I mean nothing, wrong with you.โ
โHow the hell would you know?โ
โBecause Iโm the one you held wrapped in your arms with your thick, rigid, I-want-to-fuck-her dick pressed against my ass for nearly an hour.โ
He went still. โYouโre lying.โ
โWhy would I lie about something like that?โย
Dr. Porter chimed in again. โMaybe one of you should explain what really happened.โ
Adria ignored the doctor, just like he did. She got up from the couch and walked around it to face him.
He stared down at her, everything inside him wanting her to be right, for it to be true.
Hope rose up inside him.
โI donโt know what happened between you and Melanie. Maybe the way she looked at you, or didnโt look at you with a longing and need to be with you, turned you off.โ
He started thinking out loud. โI thought because she loved me, she wouldnโt care about the scars and that I couldnโt move the way I used to. Weโd figure it out.โ
โBut she hesitated. The moment felt like you needed to show her that you could be the man she remembered. But overwhelmed by what happened to you and trying to fix something in your life and make it work, you couldnโt. Too much pressure. Too much riding on it. Her not showing you the compassion and patience you needed to quiet the nightmares and fall into her. She couldnโt see past the damage to the man she loved. You took her rejection and turned it into every woman rejecting you. You convinced yourself you couldnโt be with any woman, that every woman would only ever see the bad, the damage. You let your insecurity, guilt, and anger win.โ
โI donโt know why you need me,โ Dr. Porter interjected, startling both of them as they stared at each other. โSounds like sheโs got you pegged. Listen to her, Drake.โ
โJust because it worked once, doesnโt mean it will work again.โ
โYouโll never know unless you try,โ she challenged.
His mind went blank for a second. She didnโt mean with her. She meant for him to give it a go by himself. Well, heโd tried. And failed. And gotten more pissed and despondent about it, because without sex, what the fuck was the point of surviving all he had if he couldnโt be with a woman, make a life and have a family with her.
Thatโs what heโd always wanted. But right now, heโd take a willing woman whoโd give him a chance to see if he could get it up again.
โJuliana once said that my sisters and I carry around our baggage like an apology we owe the world. Iโve been thinking about that lately. I was with a couple of guys, but I could never really get past my own inhibitions and remembering what happened to me.
โMy mother is a prostitute. She loves sex and doesnโt care who knows it. Iโd like to stop thinking men will believe Iโm like her if I just have fun and enjoy it.โ
โUhโฆโ He really didnโt know what to say to that, except, โShouldnโt everyone enjoy sex.โ
โExactly. But I get hung up on her past, my past, and get it all in my head that Iโm doing something wrong because that despicable man made me do things that made me feel icky. I knew it was wrong and I did it anyway because I needed to protect my sister.โ She rubbed her hands up and down her arms. โWe have that in common: trying to protect everyone around us and scarring ourselves in the process. So if youโre willing to try, so am I.โ
His fucked up brain did not compute. โWhat are you saying?โ
โMaybe we can face down our demons together. No strings attached. No expectations. Judgement-free sex. Iโll show you, youโre not impotent, and maybe you can help me let go and enjoy myself.โ
The idea appealed a lot, but they didnโt know each other well, and the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her feelings or disappoint her. โYouโre serious?โ
โHow long do you want to go without knowing if you really can or canโt have sex? How long will you deny yourself that pleasure? How many women will you let get away because you think you canโt be with them?โ
He tried to find a rational reason why this was a bad idea when everything inside him wanted to try. But he didnโt want to use her like that. โYouโre my sisterโs friend and business partner.โ
โYou guys, this might not be such a good idea.โ Theyโd completely forgotten about Dr. Porter.
Drake wished heโd shut up because the more Drake thought about it, he wanted to do it. Or at least try. And he had to admit, he felt a stirring inside him he hadnโt felt in a long time.ย
Anticipation. Need. Hunger. They all started to wake up inside him.
Adria walked back to the coffee table and held up the laptop and stared at Dr. Porter. โTalk therapy is good and all, but I think what we both need is a little sex therapy. And youโre not invited.โ She closed the laptop lid on whatever Dr. Porterโs reply might have been.
Adria held Drakeโs gaze. Mind made up, she didnโt back down. โHow long should I go without knowing if I can let go, feel like a whole woman, and find satisfaction with a man? I deserve to feel wanted and needed and be okay with that, donโt I?โ
He nodded because heโd always made sure the woman he was with enjoyed it as much as he did.
โWhatever and whoever we are outside this cabin makes no difference. In here, you and me, weโll give each other what weโve both been missing.โ
Drake still hesitated. โDonโt get me wrong, I want to, but Iโm not sure how this will go between us. We barely know each other.โ
That seemed like it should have been her line.ย
โI donโt need you to love me, Drake, I just want you to want me. It seems like something about me appealed to you, enough that when you held me, your body responded.โ
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Author Info:
NY Times & USA Today bestselling author JENNIFER RYAN writes suspenseful contemporary romances about everyday people who do extraordinary things. Her deeply emotional love stories are filled with high stakes and higher drama, love, family, friendship, and the happily-ever-after we all hope to find. Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, youโll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper. For information about her upcoming releases, sign up for her newsletter: www.jennifer-ryan.com/newsletter.
Website http://jennifer-ryan.com/index.html
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jennifer-Ryan/520021168037391?ref=hlย
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BookBub https://www.bookbub.com/authors/jennifer-ryan
Amazon http://amzn.to/2xBr7GG
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Giveaway:
To celebrate the release of TOUGH TALKING COWBOY by Jennifer Ryan, we’re giving away a Wild Rose Ranch hardcover set to one lucky winner!
GIVEAWAY TERMS & CONDITIONS:ย Open to US shipping addresses only. One winner will receive a hardcover set of Dirty Little Secret, Restless Rancher, and Tough Talking Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan. This giveaway is administered by Pure Textuality PR on behalf of Avon Books.ย Giveaway ends 5/31/2020 @ 11:59pm EST.
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