4 stars-- Slow Burn Cowboy (Copper Ridge #7) by Maisey Yates

Oh.My.Word. These two were a handful! Best friends to lovers and one helluva awkward growly leap to get from just hanging out to naked fun. Whew! Slow Burn Cowboy was quite the ride.

The Gist

Alright so Lane and Finn have been best friends since ever. They've totally got a flow going where he takes care of all her handyman issues and she feeds him-- but life has a way of fucking with ya and both of them are feeling that pretty damn hard--a secret from Lane's past is sending her in a tailspin and Finn's not doing much better after his granddad died and divided up the farm between Finn and his estranged brothers. So things are spiraling and Finn's control kinda snaps. He's been wanting Lane something fierce for a decade and apparently that's the bit he just can't keep under control anymore. He's ready jump in cock first...consequences be damned.

Things I Loved

• Okay. So. Yes. Finn and Lane. I enjoyed them. I wanted to hug away their pain. And wanted to shake them, too. They were head strong and stubborn but sweet and endearing, as well. 

• Changing the dynamic in their friendship really sent them both for one helluva loop and they didn't always handle it well. It was pretty hilarious sometimes and man real frustrating other times. For them, too. 

• I loved their shared history. How they were together, that they knew what the other needed most of the time, took care of each other, teased, etc. They're best friends and it showed. But at the same time there were new revelations and they were realizing that they'd both kept some things private all these years.Their journey was definitely rocky. But so worth it.   

•  Lane's past. It was something you don't see too often and it packed a wallop. She's kept this secret for so long and it was a secret I totally got keeping secret. It was life altering and painful and I got it. I really liked that Yates included this element.

• They're both hard workers, too. He works a dairy farm and she runs a town specialty store. Made for some funny moments.  

"When I said yes, it's because I wanted you. Really. It wasn't because I wanted your help, it wasn't because I wanted your milk in my store--which right about now sounds like an inescapable euphemism."

"That's disgusting," he said.

"Yeah, you knew what you were getting into." She tried to keep her tone light, but she felt like she couldn't breathe.

What Made Me Growl

Oh yes. I had a growl. I was really ticked at Finn's brothers and Lane over something. And on Finn's side at being pissed at his granddad for willing the dairy farm Finn had spent his whole life helping build to his estranged brothers and Finn equally. What a slap in the face. Everything he's worked for suddenly now belongs to three other people who haven't been around for a decade or cared at all about the farm. Who now live in his house, expect to take part in the business, and never acknowledge that he got the shaft over it. It's going to be hard for me when it comes to their books, I think. If they could have just once acknowledged that he had a right to be hurt over it. Grr! But no they were all 'eh we're here and you can't do anything about it so get the fuck over it'. Yeah. It got my back up. lol

But, overall, I had a good time with Slow Burn Cowboy and watching Lane and Finn finally figure out that they were meant to be more than simply best friends. Yates has a way of twisting you up in the best way and really making you feel for her characters.

If Finn Donnelly makes a plan, he sticks to it. After his brothers left Copper Ridge, Finn stayed behind, determined to keep their ranch going by himself. And when he realized his feelings for Lane Jensen were more than platonic, he shoved that inconvenient desire away. It was easy…until it wasn't. Suddenly his brothers are coming home to claim their share of the property. And Lane is no longer just in his fantasies. She's in his arms, and their friendship is on the line…

He's been her buddy, her handyman, her rock. But until that one breathtaking kiss, Lane somehow overlooked the most important thing about Finn Donnelly—he's all man. They're right together, no matter how much his volatile past has bruised him. Finn wants to hold Lane's body, but he doesn't want to hold her heart. But Lane is falling fast and now she's got a plan of her own…to show Finn there's nothing hotter than friendship turned to slow-burning love.

Amazon | Goodreads | Yates on HCBS

*covers link to Amazon

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