****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Best Man Rancher is the second novel in Maisey Yates' The Carsons of Lone Rock series, and while I loved the first book in the series, Rancher's Forgotten Rival, this novel proved yet again that Ms. Yates just gets better and better with every novel. If you've ever suffered the heartbreaking loss of a loved one, family or friend, and tried to get past the pain and devastation of it, Best Man Rancher will tug at your heartstrings and resonate within you--if I could give it 10 stars I certainly would.Shelby Sohappy has been attracted to Kit Carson since grade school, but since their families had been feuding for generations, Shelby knew that's all it ever could be, and so she married her high school sweetheart, Chuck, right after graduation, and had a happy marriage for 14 years--until he died, two years before this novel begins. Shelby has been grieving her loss ever since. Anyone who's suffered such a loss will certainly understand the depth of her sorrow, and her struggle to move on. What complicates matters is that even though she loved her late husband, she was always secretly attracted to another man, Kit Carson, and although she remained faithful, her feelings of guilt at this secret attraction still haunt her.The Carson/Sohappy feud ended in Rancher's Forgotten Rival, when her sister, Juniper, fell in love with Kit's older brother, Chance, and as this novel opens, Shelby is helping to orchestrate her sister's bachelorette party, and will be Juniper's Maid of Honor at the wedding, and Kit will be his brother's Best Man, putting these two former enemies into close contact, closer than either of them expected, much closer--an attraction both finally act on, and one that ends up with Shelby getting pregnant, something she always wanted to happen with her late husband that never happened, and certainly something she now has no idea how to deal with, other than to let Kit know the result of their one-night stand.Kit, who lost his younger sister to disease when she was still a child, was also deeply affected by it, and has avoided serious relationships ever since, never wanting to experience such a devastating loss of a loved one ever again, yet when he finds out that Shelby is pregnant, suddenly, he's willing to step up, marry Shelby, and be a father to his unborn child, and that's when this novel gets really interesting, and it's also when Maisey Yates really hits her stride as an author, as she delves deeply into the harsh reality of heartfelt guilt, loss, grief, and grieving--really gets inside her character's heads and hearts, and delivers one heck of an emotional, second chance romance you'll not soon forget--I know I certainly won't.If any of this subject matter has ever touched your own life, this is a novel that will definitely resonate, and it's one I highly recommend. Although it works as a standalone, I also recommend reading the books in this series in the order they're written, for a better understanding of some of the references and characters in this novel, and the basis of feud between these two families.I voluntarily read an advance reader copy of this novel. The opinions stated are my own.
