Pages: 368
Series: Malloys of Montana
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Goodreads
Raised beneath the big Montana sky, Matt Malloy was never meant to be a jet-setting businessman. But he'll do anything to protect the family ranch he shares with his brothers. Coming home after a two-week trip to Italy, Matt wants nothing more than to shed his suit and tie for a well-worn pair of jeans and ride his horse up to the cabin for some alone time. The last thing he needs is a big-city lawyer invading his privacy-even if she is the most beautiful woman he's ever seen . . .
Vanessa Kettering has devoted her life to her work. As a passionate animal rights defender, she doesn't have room for anything else. But from the moment she meets Matt, she's taken with this rugged cowboy's lazy smile and tender touch. When a raging storm traps them inside his cabin for the night, one steamy kiss leads to another, sweeping them away with a force that's as wild and untamed as the land he loves. But when the morning light comes, will she lose her heart?
Matt
RC Ryan
Matt is book one of the Malloys of Montana series. I loved the dynamic family. Its a multi generational family of ranchers and they are all really interesting people. Matt’s grandmother, Gracie, goes out and photographs wild mustang horses, her father, Great One, was a big time Hollywood movie director in his time, Matt’s two younger brothers are hilarious, and Uncle Colin is devoted to all of them. Matt’s parents died when he was young, so the family rallied around the boys and provided them with love and stability.
Vanessa is a city girl but she isn’t a stereotype of a city girl. I was a little worried she would be ridiculous in the wilds of Montana. Thankfully, that isn’t the case. She goes to Montana and the Malloy ranch to interview Gracie about animal conservation efforts. Vanessa is a lawyer, as is her father. While in Montana, Vanessa’s father gets a threat on Vanessa’s life and they decide she should stay in hiding with the Malloys. So, there is the suspense aspect of the book.
Overall, I found Vanessa and Matt to be likable characters; I didn’t love them. I found the plot to be good; Not great. I enjoyed the book; I didn’t love it. Matt is well written, has good character depth, and is perfect if you like your romance with just a bit of danger. This is a book that will appeal to the masses. I do think I will continue with the series to see what happens with the brothers!
- POV: 3rd
- Tears: No
- Trope: Cowboy, Mortal Peril
- Triggers: none
- Cliffhanger: no
- HEA: View Spoiler »
The Obsession by Nora Roberts, Treasured by Thursday by Cathrine Bybee, Roped in by LP Dover…then you will probably like Matt!
New York Times bestselling author R.C. Ryan has written more than ninety novels, both contemporary and historical. Quite an accomplishment for someone who, after her fifth child started school, gave herself the gift of an hour a day to follow her dream to become a writer.
In a career spanning more than twenty years, Ms. Ryan has given dozens of radio, television, and print interviews across the country and Canada, and has been quoted in such diverse publications as the Wall Street Journal and Cosmopolitan. She has also appeared on CNN News, and Good Morning America.
R.C. Ryan is a pseudonym of New York Timesbestselling author Ruth Ryan Langan.
- What would readers be surprised to find out about you?
I met my husband in first grade. And on the first day of school, he came home and announced that he was going to marry Ruthie Ryan. (And did, sixteen years later.)
- Tell us about your writing process. Do you start with an idea or a character? I start with both. A bare-bones idea about an interesting plot, and the kind of character who would make it work.
- Do you know what’s going to happen from the beginning or do you figure it out as you write? I figure it out as I write, or rather, as the characters write their story.
- What’s one book you read in the last 6 months that has left a lasting impression and why? When I’m not writing, I love reading biographies. I love seeing how and where famous world figures started out, and where they ended up. My latest bio was MORNINGS ON HORSEBACK by David McCullough. A biography of Theodore Roosevelt. He went from feeble boy with crippling asthma to a rugged Rough Rider living a strenuous life. He was so far-seeing that he set aside thousands of acres of wilderness as our National Parks, and bullied himself all the way to the White House. Just a fascinating, larger-than-life character. I highly recommend it.
- If you could have dinner with any three authors, who would you choose and why? He’d be a great story-teller and a shameless flirt. J. D. Salinger. He’s such a solitary, secretive writer. Shakespeare – because he’s Shakespeare.
- What’s one characteristic that you like to give all your heroes? A kind heart.
- What’s a “must” have that every heroine you write has? Basic goodness.
- Lightning Round w/ Heroine: Vanessa Kettering
- I’d never be caught dead in…a lie. And yet I’m forced to live one for a little while.
- On a Friday night you can find me…in a high-end restaurant in Chicago, but here in Montana, at Clay’s Pig Sty.
- One thing my family and friends would be surprised to know about me is…I’ve gone country.
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From Matt:
Feeling oddly deflated at not being able to speak with her father, she turned toward the door. “I guess I’ll just gather up my papers and be ready to leave. I wouldn’t want to hold Burke up.”
Before Matt could follow her inside, his phone rang again. He remained outside, listening in silence.
When he finally stepped into the cabin, he crossed to the kitchen and began filling a box with food containers.
She watched him. “Won’t you need that?”
He shook his head. “Looks like I’m leaving, too. I’ll have Burke haul this down the mountain while I ride behind on my horse.”
“Is anything wrong?”
He looked over, his face devoid of emotion. “Just some storm damage at the ranch.”
“I hope it’s nothing serious.”
He gave a negligent shrug. “Nothing new in these parts.” He set the box on the floor near the door. “I’m sure we’ll handle it.”
Hearing the sound of a truck’s engine, she started past him. As her body brushed against his, she felt a sudden, shocking sexual jolt.
She paused for a mere moment, tipping her face up to his, her eyes wide, her breath catching in her throat.
Matt reached for the door, but instead of opening it, he kept his voice low. “I’m sorry again you had to spend the night.”
“I’m not.” The words slipped out before she had time to think. Then, trying to cover her lapse, she bit her lower lip. “I’m not sorry, Matt. Whenever I look back on this, I’ll think of it as my excellent Montana adventure.”
He was staring at her mouth in a way that had her throat going dry. There was a hint of a smile on his lips. “I hope I won’t be a villain in your memory.”
“Far from it.”
Something in the way she said it had him looking from her mouth to her eyes.
Alarmed that he could read her thoughts, she blindly reached a hand to the door, only to have her hand coming in contact with his.
She pulled it away as though burned, but it was too late. The rush of heat had her cheeks going bright pink.
“Nessa…”
She looked up to see him watching her in that quiet, closed way.
Before she had a chance to think what she was doing she stood on tip-toe and brushed his mouth with a soft, butterfly kiss as light as a snowflake.
His eyes narrowed. His hands gripped her shoulders and for a moment he hesitated, as though considering. Then he lowered his head, staring into her eyes before covering her lips with his.
I love these kinds of series with big families and small town settings. I hadn’t heard of this one before, but it looks like a series I can get behind! Lovely review! 🙂
I think you would enjoy this book, Nick! If you like small town settings and overly involved families, this is perfect! I really enjoyed the family members-the were very well developed characters!