Royal, Texas, is the perfect place for rodeo star Ryan Grant to slow down and finally show Piper Kindred she's the woman for him. When an accident sends Piper rushing to take care of him, her sexy bedside manner suggests to Ryan that seducing his best friend will be easier than he'd expected.
But Piper knows the lure of the rodeo circuit--and the risk of a broken heart, when Ryan realizes he's not ready to hang up his saddle for good. She can't let herself fall for a cowboy. If only her heart would listen.
This is a terrific friends to lovers story. Piper and Ryan have been best friends since she punched him in the nose in third grade. Ryan has had a great career as a rodeo star but now he's ready to move on. He is planning to open a rodeo school there in Royal. He's also ready to show Piper that he wants to be more than just friends. When he gets a concussion in an accident Piper rushes to take care of him. She feels the same attraction but doesn't want to risk a broken heart if he changes his mind about settling down.
Piper has been friends with Ryan for a long time. She's also been feeling a bit more than friendship for him lately but she doesn't want to risk losing that friendship if something goes wrong. When he lets her know that he's feeling the attraction too, she tries to fight it. One of her biggest worries is what will happen if she falls for him and he decides to go back to the rodeo circuit. Her father was a rodeo rider and had never been able to stay in one place for long. He had completely deserted her and her mother when she was still young, leaving her mother heartbroken. Piper fears the same thing happening to her. I really enjoyed seeing Piper's independence and her determination not to be dependent. She does her best to stand up to Ryan when he tries to push her into accepting his help. I love the banter between them and the way that she teases him about his "guyness". I also loved the building heat between them. They were already friends and knew each other well, but the chemistry took things to a new level. I loved seeing Piper relax and begin to accept that just maybe Ryan was serious when he talked about staying. Her fears come back when he leaves to help a friend and it takes a reunion with her father to open her eyes to the differences between the two men.
I really liked Ryan. He didn't hide the fact that he was interested in stepping things up with Piper. I loved his honesty with her when she was taking care of him after his accident. She caught him checking her out and laughed at him because of it, not believing he was serious. He had to work at it a little to convince her. Then he had to exert some patience to keep from rushing her. I really enjoyed seeing him work on her house with her, overcoming her objections by reminding her that friends help each other out. I also loved seeing him slowly overcome her fears and remind her that he was not her father. He was really worried about telling her he was going to go help his old partner for awhile. His worries were justified and his missing her while on the road was causing him some real problems. I loved the conversation with his partner that helped him make some decisions.
The mystery of their missing friend has taken a step toward being solved. Alex turned up at the site of a traffic accident, but with a case of amnesia. His fiancee is with him trying to help but the stress is wearing on them both. There is an interesting scene with Cara's father and Alex's best friend that may have bearing on the mystery, but we'll have to wait and see.
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