Review: Rebel Cowboy by Nicole Helm (Big Sky Cowboys #1)


Note: This ARC was provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca in exchange for an honest review.

A disgraced professional hockey star needing to get away from all the cheating accusations and a rancher barely holding her family ranch and her family together. That combination right there is what had me wanting to read and review Rebel Cowboy, the series starter in Big Sky Cowboys by Nicole Helm. I read two books by the author in 2015--Bride by Mistake and Keep Me, Cowboy, both from Tule Publishing--and it was based on those two books that I was intrigued by the idea of reading a full-length novel from her. Those books were good, but the familiar setting of Montana was the only thing that this first in a series shared with those novellas, because this one went above and beyond anything I was expecting. This was an emotional story about family, trust, broken dreams, finding one's purpose, and yes, falling in love.

Daniel Sharpe needs Mel Shaw to show him the ins and outs of managing a working ranch, but Mel doesn't really think a wealthy professional athlete like him will really put in the work, what more stick around for the long haul. This is the crux of the conflict that goes on in their non-relationship. Both Dan and Mel have parents who ended up divorced and, as is often the case, it's the children that suffer, and not necessarily from the divorce itself but everything that led up to it and everything else that happened after the papers were signed. Mel's used to not investing in anyone emotionally, but Dan is the kind of man who's all in, something that's difficult for Mel to grasp, which is why she convinces herself on a daily basis that he won't be staying. In the midst of Dan's hockey woes and all Mel's family issues, their future precariously wavers.

There are a lot of strong emotions when it comes to Dan and Mel, especially the latter because she tends to hold them all in, refusing to break down. Of course, that doesn't mean that this book is a tearjerker, because it does have these lighthearted moments that catch you off-guard. Case in point: Mystery the llama and Dan's llama ranch idea. Have I ever come across a cowboy/rancher story that had llamas? Nope. So, naturally, this added delight helps to make the book stand out. But then, with a strong, complex love story, a prickly female lead character, and a male lead character possibly suffering from mountain crazies, Rebel Cowboy was a book that I devoured in one sitting. And now that I'm curious about both Caleb and Summer Shaw, I can't wait to read the rest of the Big Sky Cowboys series. 4.5 stars for this series starter. ♥

Release Date: 05 January 2016

Date Read: 04 January 2016

Learn more about Nicole Helm.

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