Maisey Yates - Down Home Cowboy

This Texas cowboy has come home to Copper Ridge to put down roots...but will he risk his heart again?

Asked where he’d be at this point in life, Cain Donnelly would have said anywhere but Copper Ridge, Oregon, living with his estranged brothers. But since his wife abandoned them, both he and his daughter, Violet, are in need of a fresh start, so he’s back to claim his share of the family ranch. Local baker Alison Davis is a delicious temptation, but she’s also his daughter’s mentor and new boss. That makes her off-limits...until she offers a no-strings deal that no red-blooded cowboy could resist.

Alison has worked tirelessly to rebuild her life, and she won’t jeopardize her hard-won independence. Especially if it also complicates Cain’s relationship with Violet. But with Cain offering a love she never thought was possible, Alison has to find the courage to let her past go...or watch her future ride away for good.

Praise for New York Times bestselling author Maisey Yates

“Fans of Robyn Carr and RaeAnne Thayne will enjoy [Yates’s] small-town romance.”

—Booklist on Part Time Cowboy

“Passionate, energetic and jam-packed with personality.”

—USATODAY.com’s Happy Ever After blog on Part Time Cowboy

“Yates writes a story with emotional depth, intense heartache and love that is hard fought for and eventually won in the second Copper Ridge installment.... This is a book readers will be telling their friends about.”

—RT Book Reviews on Brokedown Cowboy

“Wraps up nicely, leaving readers with a desire to read more about the feisty duo.”

—Publishers Weekly on Bad News Cowboy

“The setting is vivid, the secondary characters charming, and the plot has depth and interesting twists. But it is the hero and heroine who truly drive this story.”

—BookPage on Bad News Cowboy

“Yates’s thrilling seventh Copper Ridge contemporary proves that friendship can evolve into scintillating romance.... This is a surefire winner not to be missed.”

—Publishers Weekly on Slow Burn Cowboy(starred review)

Down Home Cowboy

Maisey Yates

www.millsandboon.co.uk

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Contents

Cover

Back Cover Text This Texas cowboy has come home to Copper Ridge to put down roots...but will he risk his heart again? Asked where he’d be at this point in life, Cain Donnelly would have said anywhere but Copper Ridge, Oregon, living with his estranged brothers. But since his wife abandoned them, both he and his daughter, Violet, are in need of a fresh start, so he’s back to claim his share of the family ranch. Local baker Alison Davis is a delicious temptation, but she’s also his daughter’s mentor and new boss. That makes her off-limits...until she offers a no-strings deal that no red-blooded cowboy could resist. Alison has worked tirelessly to rebuild her life, and she won’t jeopardize her hard-won independence. Especially if it also complicates Cain’s relationship with Violet. But with Cain offering a love she never thought was possible, Alison has to find the courage to let her past go...or watch her future ride away for good.

Praise Praise for New York Times bestselling author Maisey Yates “Fans of Robyn Carr and RaeAnne Thayne will enjoy [Yates’s] small-town romance.” —Booklist on Part Time Cowboy “Passionate, energetic and jam-packed with personality.” —USATODAY.com’s Happy Ever After blog on Part Time Cowboy “Yates writes a story with emotional depth, intense heartache and love that is hard fought for and eventually won in the second Copper Ridge installment.... This is a book readers will be telling their friends about.” —RT Book Reviews on Brokedown Cowboy “Wraps up nicely, leaving readers with a desire to read more about the feisty duo.” —Publishers Weekly on Bad News Cowboy “The setting is vivid, the secondary characters charming, and the plot has depth and interesting twists. But it is the hero and heroine who truly drive this story.” —BookPage on Bad News Cowboy “Yates’s thrilling seventh Copper Ridge contemporary proves that friendship can evolve into scintillating romance.... This is a surefire winner not to be missed.” —Publishers Weekly on Slow Burn Cowboy (starred review)

Title Page Down Home Cowboy Maisey Yates www.millsandboon.co.uk

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

CHAPTER NINETEEN

CHAPTER TWENTY

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

EPILOGUE

Extract1

Extract2

Copyright

CHAPTER ONE

CAIN DONNELLY WAS sick to death of being alone.

Or, more specifically, he was sick and tired of going to bed alone. It had been a long time since he’d touched a woman.

Four years.

Four years since Kathleen had walked out on him and Violet. And in that time, he had been consumed with trying to salvage what he could of his daughter’s childhood. With trying to make a new life for them, with trying to build something that belonged to the two of them, and didn’t have his ex-wife’s ghost lingering in the shadows.

That was why they had come to Copper Ridge, Oregon, from Texas just a month earlier. The transition had been...rocky so far.

He lifted his beer bottle to his lips and scanned the room. He didn’t know how he had allowed his younger half brothers to talk him into going out. He had to admit that his daughter made a pretty convenient excuse for his hermitage. Of course, Violet was sixteen now, and she could stay alone for a while.

Though, if his brother Finn and Finn’s new girlfriend, Lane, weren’t at home, he probably would have used the excuse of them being in a new place to avoid going out. Out in the middle of nowhere like the Laughing Irish Ranch was, Violet was likely to get scared. Or some other lie.

But Lane and Finn were at home, and Cain had found himself fresh out of excuses. So he was sitting in the local bar, Ace’s or something. Which was the name of the guy who owned it, he’d been told.

The place was a strange collision of surf and turf. There were fishing nets, half a boat hung up on the wall and other little pieces of evidence that Copper Ridge was a coastal town before it was anything else. But there were also Western touches that could rival any honky-tonk he had been to in Dallas.

Including a mechanical bull. Which he had to admit was providing a decent amount of entertainment.

“Are you going to watch that thing all night?”

Cain turned to look at his brother Alex, who had been eyeing a pack of blonde chicks in the corner, and now looked at Cain just long enough to give him a baleful stare.

They were too...young. All those girls, standing in the corner and laughing, scanning the room and trying to see if they could catch the eye of some guy who might buy them another drink. He knew his brothers were up for it. Liam and Alex would happily jump right in the middle of them—in the next thirty seconds, most likely.