A rancher who has been widowed for 10 years falls in love with an old friend.Adam Miller cut off his best friend, Lizzie Taylor, after losing his high school sweetheart to cancer in his early 20s. He is close to his five siblings and his father but prefers his solitary work on the ranch to messy emotional entanglements. One day in town, he is in the right place at the right time and helps Lizzie when her young son, Roman, needs urgent medical care. Adam and Lizzie tentatively renew their friendship, but both are dealing with tumultuous family struggles. Adam's mother, who abandoned the family when he was 12, returns to Morgantown hoping to reconcile with her children. Meanwhile, Lizzie has her own worries: Roman's paternal great-great-aunt is deploying aggressive legal maneuvers to force a relationship with her grandnephew even though the boy's father was never interested in knowing him. Pearce (The Second Chance Rancher, 2019, etc.) creates a well-developed emotional journey for Adam. The return of his mother and his deepening feelings for Lizzie challenge everything he thought he knew about love and family. However, Lizzie's character development is uneven at best; she often makes choices that seem designed to further the plot rather than being organic to her character. The primary emotional conflict is that Adam is afraid of falling in love, but it's not enough to fuel a full-length novel. Their slow-burn romance sputters along and is overwhelmed by the various family dramas that surround them.Slow-paced romance with a focus on the hero's emotional journey. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Lizzie Taylor and Adam Miller haven't had much to do with each other in the last ten years. Though they were once close, they somehow managed to avoid each other in their small town after the death of Adam's wife and Lizzie's best friend, Louisa. Adam turned to his work running the family ranch and caring for Louisa's parents. Lizzie had Roman, whose father walked out when Lizzie broke the news she was pregnant. When Roman falls ill and Adam just happens to be in the right place at the right time to help, the walls between the two estranged friends start to come down. As prior hurts return, the pair lean on each other to deal with the emotional roller-coaster, and as their attraction grows, moving on from the past and trusting each other becomes vital to their building a future together. VERDICT Those who love family drama, redemption stories, and satisfying romance all rolled into one will want this title. Pearce's series featuring the Miller family, beginning with The Second Chance Rancher, continues to lend itself to emotional, engaging stories.--Kellie Tilton, Univ. of Cincinnati Blue Ash

Pearce returns to Northern California's Morgan Ranch in this heartfelt second entry in the Millers of Morgan Valley series (after The Second Chance Rancher). Lizzie Taylor had a teenage crush on her friend Adam Miller, but Adam fell in love with, and eventually married, Lizzie's best friend, Louisa, instead. Louisa's death, 10 years before the start of the book, left a deep rift between Adam and Lizzie as they struggled to deal with their grief. Now a single mom juggling childcare and a waitressing job, Lizzie is reunited with Adam when her son, Roman, has a health crisis and Adam comes to their rescue. Rekindling their friendship sparks a mutual attraction as Adam finally breaks free of the sorrow and isolation he has shrouded himself in since Louisa's death. As they both wrestle with big emotions, Adam's grief sometimes veers toward surliness and Louisa's insecurities become tedious and petty. Despite these character flaws, their mutually supportive relationship is refreshingly mature. Readers will be gratified by this feel-good love story. Agent: Deidre Knight, Knight Agency. (Dec.)