Review: Want You Back by Annabeth Albert (Second Chance Ranch #1)

Note: An advance reader copy (ARC) was provided by the author.

Annabeth Albert has a new series, and it's set in a small Colorado town called Lovelorn, specifically the ranch that shares the same name (there's a name change much later in the story, but when you read the book, you'll get why). Want You Back is a second chance romance and it's the first in the Second Chance Ranch series. Maverick Lovelorn and Colt Jennings were best friends that became each other's first love when they were teenagers. But love and friendship wasn't enough for Maverick to want to stay in the town his forefathers founded. Two decades later, he's back and all he and his older sister want is to sell the ranch their father left behind as quickly as possible. However, his father's last wishes and being around Colt once again change whatever plans Mav had--but will that plan include a future in the one place he wanted to leave with the only man who's ever felt like home?

When it comes to small town, hurt/comfort M/M romances, Annabeth Albert has proven time and again that she knows her stuff. She doesn't throw in drama for the sake of drama, and her main characters are difficult not to, at the very least, like. I'm not a reader who requires the MCs in a second chance romance to be pining away for all the years they were apart, or even worse, for them to be stuck in a holding pattern, not being with other people throughout the separation. I appreciated that Mav and Colt did move on, with both having been married, albeit those marriages having ended differently for each. Hannah and Willow, Mav's niece and Colt's daughter, respectively, were my favorite supporting characters, with Grayson, the ranch's foreman, Adler, Mav's good friend, and Faith, Mav's older sister, being notable ones. Want You Back was a 4.5-starred read, and I want more.

Date Read: 15 May 2025

Learn more about Annabeth Albert.

Purchase Want You Back on Amazon.