The Heart of a Cowboy

 

I sincerely hope that Jody Hedlund is having as good time writing this series as I have been having reading it.  

Flynn is taking his younger brother and sister, and a herd of shorthorn cattle west to another brother's ranch in Colorado. 

Linnea and her grandfather are on a botanical expedition for the Smithsonian Institute along with some other botanists.  Linnea is newly widowed and all she wants to do is prove her mettle as a botanist to the point that she sometimes loses herself in her work and neglects her environment. 

In order to keep her safe, Linnea's grandfather pays Flynn to keep her out of trouble and act as a bodyguard, but Flynn is not to tell Linnea about it.  This arrangement gives Linnea and Flynn a lot of time together. Flynn begins to fall for Linnea but he thinks he doesn't want a wife.  He doesn't want to  put a woman through what his mother went through with his stepfather.  

The Heart of a Cowboy takes childhood trauma, and delicately moves through the healing that must happen for health to come.  It also takes on dealing with girls growing up without mother figures and feminine influence. Flynn has had to be both mother and father to his younger siblings since his mother passed away and his stepfather kicked him off the farm.  

There is a bit of "romance formula" in this book, but it is not so overwhelming to the story that it detracts from the plot, but it adds credibility to the plot.  It is ultimately an enjoyable read that will give a few hours of solid entertainment.  Four Strong Stars. 

Bethany House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review.  All opinions expressed are solely my own.