Maverick Wild (Harlequin Historical #880)

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Synopsis

Years ago, Cora Mae Tindale's step-brother, Chance, decided to flee her abusive mother. She begged him to take her with him, but since he and his twin, Tucker, were going to meet up with their father to fight in the Civil War, he couldn't. He promised to come back for her, but when he never returned, Cora Mae took matters into her own hands. She got out from under her mother's thumb and was making an independent living until her mother insisted she return to the family home. Naively thinking that maybe her mother was going to make amends, Cora Mae went only to have her mother try to use her as a pawn in a marriage scheme. After terrible things were done to her, Cora Mae escaped and headed west where she'd heard Chance and Tucker now owned a ranch. She arrives thrilled to finally reconnect with her step-brothers, and only wanting a place to regroup until she can figure out what to do with her life. She's deeply attracted to Chance, but he doesn't seem at all happy to have her there and doesn't trust her. Despite her burgeoning feelings for Chance, she doesn't really have any interest in marriage after what happened to her, but when her mother stops at nothing to get her back to fulfill the marriage contract, wedding Chance may be the only option to stay safe.

After being beaten by her many times, Chance Morgan despised his step-mother and couldn't wait to escape. He's never really forgotten the promise he made to Cora Mae as he and Tucker were leaving, but circumstances kept him from going back for her, something he feels rather guilty about. When Cora Mae shows up in Wyoming, he's almost instantly wary of her intentions. He immediately senses that she's hiding something and fears that after two decades under her mother's influence, she may have turned into a manipulative woman, too. However, as Cora Mae fits in with everyone at the ranch, earning many admirers, he can't help begrudgingly admitting that maybe she is different than the woman who gave birth to her. Chance also can't seem to stop lusting after Cora Mae, but he has no intention of ever marrying. When he learns the truth of why she came to town, though, and her mother comes looking for her, he'll stop at nothing to protect the woman he finally realizes he's fallen in love with.

Review

Maverick Wild is the second book in Stacy Kayne's Wild historical western romance series. Chance and Cora Mae became step-siblings and friends when his father married her mother, but his father was away fighting in the Civil War and her mother was abusive. At thirteen, Chance and his twin, Tucker, decided to escape their stepmother's cruelty by going to join their father in the army, but that meant leaving Cora Mae behind. Chance promised to return for her, a vow he was never able to keep. Twenty years have gone by, during which Chance and Tucker have become successful horse ranchers in Wyoming. Chance is shocked when Cora Mae, now grown with gorgeous red curls and generous curves, shows up one day out of the blue. Cora just wants to reconnect with the step-brothers she adored and hopes to find a soft place to land and regroup after escaping her conniving mother's marriage plot. Everyone at the ranch seems to welcome her except Chance who senses that she's keeping secrets and worries that after two decades, she may have turned into her mother and might have ulterior motives for visiting. He's also frustrated by the fact that he's deeply attracted to her but has no interest in getting married. Neither does Cora for that matter, but she, too, finds Chance rather irresistible when he isn't being rude to her. However, any headway they make toward a romantic relationship could be derailed by a neighboring widowed ranch owner who wants Chance for herself and is willing to do almost anything to get him and by Cora's mother who will stop at nothing to get her back to make good on the marriage deal she made.

Cora Mae idolized Chance and Tucker, her two older step-brothers, and had all sorts of adventures with them during the two years they lived together as kids. But then they left her with her abusive mother. Chance promised to come back for her but never returned, so Cora had to make her own way in life. She finally got free of her mother and found a job running a boarding house for girls who worked at a local mill, something that she loved doing. However, when her mother insisted that she come home, Cora naively thought the woman had finally seen the error of her ways, when in reality she only wanted Cora for the money and prestige she would bring to the family by marrying her off to a Scottish laird. Cora had no interest in marrying the man, but her mother forced the issue by violent means, leaving Cora terrified. She escaped out a window in a desperate bid for freedom and immediately headed for Wyoming where she'd heard Chance and Tucker started a ranch. She's overjoyed to see them and fits right in with their family, but Chance distrusts her and sometimes treats her rudely. She can't seem to help feeling all tingly, though, when he's near. Although she has no real interest in marrying, when her mother shows up, trying to take her back, the protection that marriage to Chance would offer may be her only option. Cora Mae is as sweet as can be. She isn't afraid of hard work and is absolutely nothing like her selfish, shrewish mother. Underneath the sweet exterior, she's brave and strong to have escaped her mother's abuse and traveled all the way to Wyoming alone. Even though she didn't intend to get married, she doesn't resist the idea when it's Chance asking and she blossoms under his tender care. I just adored Cora and thought she was a wonderful heroine.

Chance knows that he was just a youth when he made his promise to Cora Mae and it wasn't entirely his fault that he wasn't able to keep it. However, a part of him has never forgotten her and feels guilty about it. He's since become a successful rancher with many local mamas trying to foist their daughters off on him and their widowed neighbor is beyond eager for an alliance between their ranches, but he has no real interest in marrying. Then Cora Mae shows up out of the blue. She's grown up into a tempting woman, nothing like the mischievous kid he remembers. He senses that she's keeping something from them, which instantly puts him on guard, thinking that her mother might have somehow influenced her to come, wanting a piece of their ranch. Everyone else seems to love Cora, though, and Chance slowly begins to warm up to her as well. She tempts him beyond reason until he can barely stand it anymore. And when Cora's mother comes calling and the truth of why she really ran that night comes out, he doesn't hesitate to safeguard her the best way he knows how, by giving her his name. But even with him as her defender, the danger still lurks in the shadows. Chance is a typical hyper-protective alpha male who is rather clueless about his feelings in the beginning. Wanting to keep his family safe, he's a bit of jerk toward Cora at first. Normally I don't like it much when heroes act like this, but I understood where he was coming from and he has moments where he's able to let his guard down around her a little. When he decided to deal with his lust for Cora by going to their widowed neighbor, I wanted to smack him until he instantly realized that kissing her didn't hold a candle to kissing Cora. Once the truth came out, I liked how Chance immediately leapt to Cora's defense and after that he treated her like a precious jewel. He may have started out being a tad irritating but the man definitely knows how to grovel and treat a lady right in the end.

It's been a few years since I read the first book of the Wild series. I enjoyed it, but apparently it didn't make a strong enough impression on me to give the series a high priority status, so Maverick Wild has been languishing on my TBR list. Now I'm wishing I'd bumped it up sooner, because I absolutely loved it. Cora was everything I look for in a romance heroine. She's sweet but has backbone, and she's all about family, even extending undeserved kindness to her wretched mother. She melts in Chance's arms and she doesn't fight her feelings for him. Chance is stubborn in the beginning but his actions make sense, and once he gives up on fighting his feelings, he's the ideal husband and lover, gentle, tender and passionate. It was easy to see how perfect these two were for one another right from the start. It just took them both a while to realize it for themselves. There were enough villains working their machinations in the background to keep things a touch suspenseful. I also loved being able to visit with the other characters in the series. Tucker and Skylar (Mustang Wild) add to their family and are there for Chance and Cora in every way. Garrett (Mountain Wild), who's still just a teenager, goes a little sweet on Cora himself, and unfortunately gets his heart broken, but that's okay. He's still young and it looks like his future is with the mountain woman everyone calls "Mad Mags." I'm rather looking forward to learning what her story is and seeing Garrett get his HEA. I couldn't have asked for a better read than Maverick Wild. It was practically perfect in every way and I wouldn't have changed a thing about it. It's left me eager to finish up the series, so I'll be trying not to wait so long for the next one.

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Stacy Kayne

Themes

Physically Ordinary Heroines
Tortured Heroines