Hi, everyone!
Today is my turn once again on the Harlequin Series November 2020 Blog Tour. I am sharing my Feature Post and Book Review for CLAIMING THE RANCHER’S HEIR (Gold Valley Vineyards Book #2) by Maisey Yates.
Below you will find a book description, my book review, an excerpt from the book and the author’s bio and social media links. Enjoy!
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Book Description
Arrogant, infuriating, insufferable… And the sexiest man she’s ever met.
Wren Maxfield hates Creed Cooper, but now she’s working with the wealthy rancher over the holidays! Those strong feelings hide undeniable chemistry…and one wild night results in pregnancy. Now Creed vows to claim his heir. That means proposing a marriage in name only. But as desire takes over, is that a deal they can keep?
Includes Rancher’s Wild Secret, a bonus story!
Emerson Maxfield is a sheltered beauty who never steps out of line. Now she must marry her family’s enemy before desire spells downfall for them all…
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/52513416-claiming-the-rancher-s-heir
CLAIMING THE RANCHER’S HEIR (Gold Valley Vineyards Book #2)
ISBN: 9781335154002
Price: $7.99
On Sale Date: Nov 10, 2020
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
CLAIMING THE RANCHER’S HEIR (Gold Valley Vineyards Book #2) by Maisey Yates is a new enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance featuring the second sister in the Maxfield winemaking family and the sexy cowboy/vineyard owner from the Cooper family. Although this is the second book in the Gold Valley Vineyards series is can be easily be read as a standalone.
Wren Maxfield cannot believe her sister, Emerson, wants to do joint events with their biggest winery rivals, the Cooper’s to increase tourism in the Gold Valley. For years, Wren has been butting heads with Creed Cooper and now they have to work together. Wren hates Creed and his laid-back cowboy persona, but she also cannot stop having very steamy dreams featuring the man she supposedly hates.
Creed Cooper runs his family’s winery and enjoys his sparring with the uppity Wren Maxfield. Creed has no interest in a relationship after being wounded in his past, but his dreams all feature the feisty Wren and now they are thrown together.
After an explosive sexual episode in a wine cellar, Wren is pregnant. Creed vows to marry Wren and take care of her and the baby, but it is a marriage in name only. But Wren has other plans.
I really enjoyed this Harlequin Desire quick read. I did read the first book, but it is not necessary to enjoy this one. I find enemies-to-lovers stories very entertaining and I believe Ms. Yates did an excellent job of bringing all the verbal tension to a head and turning it into believable sexual tension. Wren and Creed were both dealing with emotional baggage that I felt was handled realistically. The sex scenes are explicit, but not gratuitous.
I can recommend this contemporary romance for a quick, satisfying read and I am looking forward to Cricket’s story next.
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Excerpt
Creed Cooper was a cowboy. A rich, successful cowboy from one of the most well-regarded families in Logan County. He also happened to be tall, muscular and in possession of the kind of good looks a lot of women liked.
As a result, nearly nothing—or no one—was off-limits to him.
No one except Wren Maxfield.
Maybe that was why every time he looked at her his hands itched.
To unwind that tight bun from her hair. To make that mouth, which was always flattened in disapproval—at least around him—get soft and sexy and get all over his body.
And he had that itch a lot, considering he and Wren were the representatives for their respective families’ vineyards. Rivals, in fact.
And she hated him.
She hated him so much that when she saw him her eyes flared with a particular kind of fire.
Fair enough, since he couldn’t really stand her either.
But somehow, years ago, a piece of that dislike inside him had twisted and caught hard in his gut and turned into an intensity of another kind entirely.
He was obsessed.
Obsessed with the idea he might be able to use that fire in her eyes to burn up the sheets between them.
Instead, he had to listen to her heels clicking on the floor as she paced around the showroom of Cowboy Wines, looking like a smug cat, making him wait to hear whatever plan it was she’d come to tell him about.
“Are you listening to me?” she asked suddenly, her green cat eyes getting sharp.
She was dressed in a tight-fitting red dress that fell to the top of her knees. It had a high, wide neck, and while it didn’t show a lot of skin, it hugged her full breasts so tight it didn’t leave a lot to the imagination.
Even if it had, his imagination was damn good. And it was willing to work for Wren. Overtime.
She had on those ridiculous spiked heels, too. Red, like the dress. He wanted to see her in only those heels.
He wasn’t into prissy women. Not generally. He liked a more practical girl. A cowgirl who would be at home on his ranch.
Wren looked like she never left her family showroom, all glass walls and wrought iron furniture. Maxfield Vineyards was the premier wine brand for people who were up their own asses.
And still, he wanted her.
That might be her greatest sin.
That she tested control he’d had firmly leashed for the last eighteen years and made him want to send it right to hell as he burned in her body.
Of all the reasons to hate Wren Maxfield, wanting her and not being able to do a damn thing to make himself stop was number one on the list.
He looked around the Cowboy Wines showroom, the barrels with glass tabletops on them, the heavy, distressed beams that ran the length of the room.
And then there was him: battered jeans and cowboy boots, a hat for good measure.
Everything a woman like Wren would hate.
A testament to just why there was no reason to carry a burning torch for her fine little body.
Too bad his own body was a dumbass.
“I wasn’t listening at all,” he said, making sure to drawl it. As slow as possible. He was rewarded with
a subtle flare of heat in those eyes. “Make it more interesting next time, Wren. Maybe do a dance.”
“The only dancing I’ll ever do is on your grave, Creed.”
The sparring sent a kick of lust through him. They did this every time they were in a room together. Every damn time. No matter that he knew he shouldn’t indulge it.
But hell, he was afraid the alternative was stripping her naked and screwing her against the nearest wall, and that wasn’t a real option.
So verbal sparring it was.
“What did I die of?” he asked. “Boredom?”
Those eyes shot sparks at him. “It was tragic. You were found with a high heel protruding out of your chest.” Her magic lips curved upward and he felt it like she’d pressed them against his neck.
“Any suspects so far?”
“Your own smart mouth. Are you going to listen to me or not?”
“You’re already here. So am I. Might as well.”
He leaned back in his chair and, for effect, put his boots up on the table.
Her top lip curled up into a sneer, and that thrilled him just as much as if she’d crossed the room to straddle his lap. Okay, maybe not just as much, but he loved that he got to her.
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Author Bio
New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit.
In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book. Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard. She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.
Author links
Website: http://www.maiseyyates.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maiseyyates/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MaiseyYates.Author/
Sales links
Indie Bound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335154002
Walmart: https://www.walmart.com/search/search-ng.do?search_query=9781335154002
