Buck Wild - Bennett Boys Ranch #1

Our Review

BUCK WILD is the first book in the BENNETT BOYS RANCH series and I look forward to reading the rest of the books.  This is James and Sophie’s story, but we are introduced to both their families and the Tannen family from the neighboring ranch.  There are lots more stories to tell, especially with some of the loose ends that were left, even given the epilogues from both James and Sophie’s perspectives.

Sophie is doing an unpaid internship with a rural veterinarian before she goes off to school to study veterinary medicine in the fall.  Her paths cross those of the Bennett family when she goes out to their ranch with Doc, her mentor, to assist in the birth of a foal.  Sparks fly when she and James, a professional bull rider, first meet and not in a good way, or is it especially since both have plans for the fall?   The story is told from each of their perspectives, a chapter at a time.  They definitely have chemistry, including heat-up-the-sheets moments that are not only in the privacy of the bedroom and seem to both say what’s on their mind with lots of cursing thrown in for good measure.  They reveal things to each other that they don’t normally talk about, and Sophie becomes a fixture on the ranch and accepted by his mom and two older brothers rather easily.  Their mom is a little too forthcoming sometimes to James’ chagrin.

The descriptions of life in a small town and a working ranch were vivid, along with those of the mountains, the pond, the animals and their surroundings.  There are family and friends along with lots of animals, business ventures, the ranch, dreams and heartache along with romance, lots and lots of loving and love.  There is a happily ever after to be continued and some closure.  The story didn’t always play out the way I expected which was nice.  I can’t wait to see what the Bennett, and even the Tannen families, are up to next.

Lauren Landish is a new-to me-author, and I look forward to reading more of her books that are a little outside of my comfort level, given her use of colorful and steamy descriptions of all things loving.