Patricia McLinn

Taylor Anne Larsen has left her job at a big firm in Dallas, and bought a tiny practice in a small town in Wyoming. She has friends, including Matty, owner of one ranch and wife of the owner of another. She and Matty work together in a dog rescue organization, and her assistant in the law practice is also a friend, and there are others.

She's mostly seen Cal Ruskoff from a distance. He's handsome, interesting, and clearly determined to maintain that distance. Cal isn't from the town, or Wyoming, and he's got nothing to say about where he's from, or why he's working as the foreman on Matty's ranch.

When Matty and Taylor rescue a puppy off the side of the highway in a snowstorm, Matty decides that Cal should adopt the herding-breed puppy. Cal reluctantly agrees, and slowly starts to warm to the pup.

When Matty tells Taylor that Cal is frustrated with the dog and on the verge of giving him up, Taylor yields to her urging to head for the ranch immediately. There's a storm moving in, but Taylor, being from Ohio by way of Dallas, doesn't recognize how bad the storm is going to be. She gets to the ranch, finds that all is well with Cal, and the dog he has named "Sincere," or "Sin," for everyday use, and that Cal is in fact kind of insulted at the idea that he might not keep the dog. After some back and forth, Taylor sets off into the worsening storm, and skids into a ditch.

She, Cal, and Sin are snowbound together, and she starts to discover some of Cal's secrets. He starts to discover some of hers, too.

They're also incredibly attracted to each other, but Cal is determined, due to one of his secrets he hasn't shared, never to become attached to a woman again.

During the storm and in the aftermath, as more secrets come out, and Cal comes up with a way to keep Taylor at a distance, things get more complicated, emotionally wrought, and confusing for everyone. This includes their friends, who don't believe for one second that there's nothing between them.

It's enjoyable, heartwarming, and the dog is absolutely fine and completely healthy and happy at the end. (Yes, I do judge books by what happens to the dog, and I have friends who are even more hardline than I am on that.)

A very nice read or listen.

I bought this audiobook.… (mere)