Secret Nights with a Cowboy

Crews opens her Kittredge Ranch contemporary romance series with this sizzling tale of an off-the-rails marriage. Rae Trujillo, a gifted florist and “her own worst enemy,” married handsome horse trainer Riley Kittredge immediately after high school. For more than 10 years, Rae’s secret yearning for a baby has tormented her, as Riley has always been very vocal about not wanting children. Rae moved back in with her parents years ago and everyone in their small Colorado town believes that Rae and Riley are already divorced, but they’ve never made it official. Rae still frequently returns to Riley’s house to pick fights that inevitably end in torrid bouts of lovemaking. When Rae finally does ask for a divorce, Riley, who suffered through his parents’ rocky marriage, sets out to smooth things over with a peace offensive. They decide to try to break the cycle of sex and fighting by becoming friends—but it’s not long before they complicate things by falling back into bed. Mercifully, their kind, supporting relatives—many of whom readers will be familiar with from Crews’s Cold River series—are at hand to help them sort things out. Though the plot is somewhat contrived, the romance is red-hot. Fans will rejoice that Crews has two more rowdy Kittredge brothers to pair off in future installments. (Dec.)