Wyatt

In Peterson’s red hot second Lucky River Ranch cowboy romance (after Cash), longtime best friends give in to their long-repressed desires. Growing up together in tiny Hartsville, Tex., Sally Powell and Wyatt Rivers were inseparable. Then Sally went off to college and Wyatt stayed behind. Shortly thereafter, Wyatt’s parents died and when Sally showed up for the funeral, he realized for the first time that he loved her. Not wanting to hold her back, he kept his feelings to himself, content to watch from a proud distance as she achieved her dream of becoming a veterinary surgeon. Now Sally, who is secretly just as hung up on Wyatt, is home for the holidays before starting a prestigious job in New York. She doesn’t think Wyatt will ever love her back and she’s determined to have a hot hookup with a cowboy before she heads east, so she turns to him for lessons in seduction. Peterson skillfully ratchets up the sexual tension page by page, culminating in some very steamy love scenes. Sally’s struggle to choose between her home and her ambitions feels authentic and Wyatt’s deep love for her rings true. Series fans will be especially pleased to check in on Wyatt’s irrepressible brothers and a tantalizing cliff-hanger will leave them clamoring for more. This keeps the series going strong. (Aug.)