Blurb:

Ichabod Miller Johns needs a cowboy.

When his kids inherit their grandfather’s ranch, Ichabod moves them lock, stock, barrel to Western Colorado, leaving the cityscape of Denver behind. Despite this being his deceased husband’s family ranch, he knows he has to take this chance to get his teenager away from the bad stuff he’s involved in and give himself some breathing space to work at his hardcore pottery business. It can’t hurt the other two kids either. Except that he’s now living on a run-down ranch that no cowboy in the area will touch with a ten-foot pole.

When he calls Cowboy Wanted, he ends up with Ellis McIntyre. Ellis has worked some major ranches and has ridden the rodeo, but he has an ulterior motive when he comes to Ichabod’s place. Aside from needing the job, his half-brother Rick has asked him to look into whether or not Ichabod would be willing to sell the ranch, since Rick feels like he should have inherited it from his step-father.

As Ellis gets to know Ichabod and his kids, though, one thing becomes clear to him. This family needs this ranch, and he intends to help them keep it. Can he convince Ichabod he means no harm, and that he has no designs on the ranch for his half-brother? And can Ichabod open up and trust someone else in his life after so much loss?

*****

Review:

I’ve only read a few of Tortuga’s books but I’ve really enjoyed what I have read so far and I think Cowboy Wanted reminds me a bit of The Cowboy’s Bullfighter. Like with that story, there wasn’t a ton of angst or drama (although I would have expected more with the whole issue over the farm, although I’m kinda happy we didn’t go there) just characters that feel real with real issues, real connection. The romance is a little more at the forefront here but there’s still a good dose of the family feel. And I loved the little family they create when they bring Ellis into their group. It’s such a lovely thing that I would have loved even more of them together with the kids but I did appreciate the simplicity of it – two people who meet, spend time together, fall in love, and work towards a future together. With slow burn, feel good stories like this, I’ll definitely keep putting Tortuga on my TBR list.