Million Dollar Cowboy

by Lori Wilde

I liked the idea behind this story, the kid that no-body wanted really having made good and back in the one place that he really doesn’t want to be…home.

Ridge Lockhart’s childhood wasn’t what it should have been, dumped on the doorstep of a father that never wanted him with a step mother (Sabrina) that loathed him on sight of him and a mother that died as she made her getaway from the whole situation. This tender child grew up knowing that he may have been the eldest of the Lockhart boys but he was the “bastard” of the bunch.

But what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger, isn’t that what they say and Ridge Lockhart is as tough as they come, just like his name would suggest and growing up on the ranch may have seen him have more than most, he never really felt as if it was all on equal terms, and when he walked in on his girlfriend and father in a compromising situation, his time on the ranch was done, as was his relationship with them both.

But a decade later, this self-made man is back to fulfil a promise as best man for his best friend. Shame the wedding is being held on the ranch in the wedding chapel that has been built, unbeknown to him, right next to his very own plot of land and house (thanks to his ex Vivi who is now married to his father).

Kaia Alzate, grew up with the Lockhart brothers and always had a crush on Ridge but with an age difference and the fact that he was her brother’s best friend between them, there was little opportunity for anything to develop, but that didn’t mean that the feelings weren’t there and they were on both sides. So this wedding was always going to be eventful.

I loved Kaia, she was so normal, she encompassed everything I had in my head for her, hardworking, witty, intelligent woman who saw past the impossibly corporate façade that Ridge wore.  Ridge  was a serious over achiever, he flew his own helicopter, he made every penny of his own money, he’d developed a business that was a world leader and he was respected by all of those in his field but he was a commitment phobe, after what happened with Vivi he had an issue with trust but that didn’t apply to Kaia, he had feelings for her that had suppressed for so long, when the opportunity to explore what was between the two arises, it was always going to be spectacular but would it be forever!

When his father has a heart attack, Ridge comes into his own but that doesn’t mean that it is going to resolve any of the underlying issues, they are so alike that finding a middle ground was always going to be difficult but they were blood, that had to count for something, didn’t it?

Silver Feather Ranch was in his blood, Ridge just had to come to that conclusion in his own time…will it be soon enough and will he have his woman by his side while and when he does?

A fabulous western romance that was totally addictive, wonderfully well written with a cast of characters that held my attention and had me hoping for a happy ending almost from the get-go.