Happy Friday, dear readers!
I’m back with another book review, and this time I’m looking at Ruth Logan Herne’s new release Her Cowboy Reunion, the first book in her new Shepherd’s Crossing series!
About the Book
A new life…an old love
Can she risk loving him again in Shepherd’s Crossing?
With her family in disgrace, Lizzie Fitzgerald never imagined she’d end up at an Idaho ranch.
Fortunately, she’s working with horses she loves—even if it means dealing with her old sweetheart Heath Caufield. The widowed father of an adorable boy, Heath hasn’t forgiven Lizzie for their past.
But even a stubborn cowboy can’t stop the heart’s ability to forgive…or love again.
My Thoughts
“What we’ve got in mind and what the good Lord’s got planned don’t always agree, but that’s what makes life interesting. Sometimes it’s a collision course. Other times it’s a wide, beautiful curve.”
Ruth Logan Herne always delivers a warm story with a solid message and diverse characters. Her new release, Her Cowboy Reunion, is no exception. I was immersed into the story from the very first page and still didn’t want to put it down even when I reached the end.
The diverse cast of characters gives the story its heart and soul, but adorable Zeke steals the show in the most endearing ways possible! His instant love for “my Lizzie” (oh, my heart!), his enthusiasm for life, his adoration of his dad Heath, and his tender sweet heart made me want to reach inside the pages and HUG that precious boy! The fact that he is bi-racial is just as much a part of his story as all these other things I’ve mentioned, and I love that Herne just lets him be Zeke, in all his endearing adorableness.
Lizzie and Heath are old flames, whose history is bumpy to say the least. Both have skewed perspectives of a very significant event in their past, and both are still nursing their wounds all these years later. And with good reason, when you consider the erroneous view of the truth from which they’re each approaching the situation. Yet, Herne takes their story – all its tangled emotional mess – and gently allows God to restore and heal their hearts and their relationship. With some soul-deep Ruthy wisdom via the character of Corrie, an almost-mama to Lizzie and her sisters.
“Sometimes we spin in circles because we’ve misplaced our direction. When we can’t see our way forward we tend to run in place.”
Bottom Line: Lizzie’s resilience (I love the strong women in Herne’s stories!) and Heath’s steadiness (for the most part lol) set the tone for this delightful story filled with horses and sheep and a precocious little boy. The glimpses into life on a horse farm/sheep ranch are unique and intriguing (a mare app…. who knew?!?), and Lizzie and Heath’s shared history is just as much so. The added subplot of the dying small town also captured my attention, and I look forward to where she takes this in future books in the series. Herne takes this story and these characters and wraps them in grace, strength, courage and wit – and love, lots of love. A must-read for all!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I purchased for my own collection.
All opinions expressed are only my honest opinion.
About the Author
Ruth Logan Herne has more than a million books in print, including over twenty Love Inspired contemporary novels.
Ruthy is also a founding member of Seekerville, a popular writing-collective blog. A country girl who loves the big city, Ruthy and her husband live on a farm in upstate New York.
What about you, dear readers? Have you ever been on a sheep ranch?
Diversity Between the Pages 
Never on a sheep ranch, but I have been on a dairy farm.
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