Finally Found My Cowboy

Pine tugs at the heartstrings in her second Murphys of Meadow Valley romance (after Holding Out for a Cowboy). Following a potentially career-ending injury, Vegas showgirl and aspiring Rockette Beth Spence accepts her sister’s invitation to come stay at her new home in tiny Meadow Valley, Calif., and takes a temporary gig at the local vet’s office. Veterinarian Eli Murphy comes with serious emotional baggage: he blames himself for his wife’s death three years earlier, when thieves tried to steal a valuable horse from their ranch during a severe thunderstorm. He’s not happy when his brother brings a recovering mare named Midnight to the ranch, but Beth and Midnight are soon inseparable—and the more time Beth spends on the ranch, the more she and Eli fall in love. But rural Northern California is three thousand miles from New York City and Beth’s dream. Pine leavens this tale of grief and survivor’s guilt with comedic moments (“That happy meal waiting to happen just bit me!” Beth says of a hen on the ranch). The chemistry between Beth and Eli heats up the pages even as they face believable obstacles in their path toward a happy ending. Cowboy romance lovers will devour this. (Apr.)