Thomas Steel had no intentions of partnering with his brother-in-law's former peer, but when it comes down to risking his future or his family’s, he’s all in. As he and Mississippi build a wedding venue on his ranch’s property, he finds himself building a relationship with her as well. But a ranch that’s barely getting by is no place for a wife, right?
Steelgate Ranch is perfect for Mississippi Davis’s dream wedding venue, but she still has no idea how she got its confusing owner to agree to the partnership. In between his shifting moods and resting scowl face, though, she finds he’s more of a Southern gentleman than she’d expected. But is it another long shot to think they could be more than business partners?
Will Thomas and Mississippi let go of the past and trust God with their future, or will regret and grudges keep them from healing?
The second in a series of Christian, contemporary romances set on a cattle ranch in North Georgia. These books are New Adult age range but are clean so they can be enjoyed by upper high school ages as well. They will be connected, but can be read as stand-alones.
Thomas Steel had no intentions of partnering with his brother-in-law's former peer, but when it comes down to risking his future or his family’s, he’s all in. As he and Mississippi build a wedding venue on his ranch’s property, he finds himself building a relationship with her as well. But a ranch that’s barely getting by is no place for a wife, right?
Steelgate Ranch is perfect for Mississippi Davis’s dream wedding venue, but she still has no idea how she got its confusing owner to agree to the partnership. In between his shifting moods and resting scowl face, though, she finds he’s more of a Southern gentleman than she’d expected. But is it another long shot to think they could be more than business partners?
Will Thomas and Mississippi let go of the past and trust God with their future, or will regret and grudges keep them from healing?
The second in a series of Christian, contemporary romances set on a cattle ranch in North Georgia. These books are New Adult age range but are clean so they can be enjoyed by upper high school ages as well. They will be connected, but can be read as stand-alones.
“Absolutely not.”
“Just meet with her, Tommy. It could be—”
“No. We’re not sinkin’ that kind of money into a longshot.” Thomas’s own loud voice echoed back through the phone as he spoke.
“This is meant to help us, not hurt us, and she’s already headed to Steelgate to speak with you,” Vivienne, his sister, retorted.
“Then I’ll tell her the same thing I told you. No.”
“Thomas—”
Thomas hung up the phone before his sister could argue with him anymore. It was the third day in a row that she’d called him, trying to convince him to let one of her husband’s college friends turn the old tool barn into an event venue.
Not gonna happen.
Thomas shoved his phone into his pocket and pushed through the back door into the yard. Micheal, Thomas’s ranch hand and best friend, had already let all the animals out and filled the water troughs. Since he was nowhere to be seen, he was likely already out in the fields on his horse, Bucket, checking fences and tending to the cattle.
Gertie, Steelgate Ranch’s ancient donkey, let out a long bray and walked over to him, nuzzling his arm until Thomas dutifully scratched behind his ears and under his chin. He looked around as he pet Gertie, taking a moment to thank God for the ranch. The early morning light cut through the fog, outlining the mountains of North Georgia with a hazy shade of blue. Rolling hills dotted with trees spread out around him, making up the pastureland of Steelgate. Somewhere over a ridge, there was a herd of cattle lazing their day away eating grass while the animals around him in the yard slowly woke up.
It was a picture-perfect scene.
“See, stubborn creatures can be sweet. Maybe you should learn from him.” Micheal’s voice pulled Thomas out of his reverie and back into a sour mood. Apparently, the other man wasn’t in the fields yet.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he snapped.
“I heard you talkin’ to Vivie again. Everythin’ okay? I figured she wouldn’t want to bother with us while she’s on her honeymoon.” Micheal raised a brow and Thomas rolled his eyes.
Really, Vivie shouldn’t have been bothering with them. She should have been relaxing and enjoying her time with her new husband, Kane. They’d been gone a week already, but soon enough, she’d be back at work, and who knew when she’d get another vacation. It wasn’t an easy thing to do as ranchers.
But instead of enjoying it, she’d been calling him every morning for the past three days to have the same argument.
“Everything’s fine. We just aren’t seein’ eye to eye on somethin’, and she won’t wait till she gets back to talk about it.”
“What’s goin’ on?” Micheal stopped beside Thomas, pulling on a baseball cap—taking care to sweep the short locs that surrounded the crown of his head into the opening above the sweatband—as he waited for Thomas to respond.
If anyone else had asked, Thomas probably would have avoided answering, but Micheal would keep prodding until he got enough information to figure it out—something he was good at after being friends with Thomas for over a quarter of a century.
Then he would tell Thomas how to fix his problems. And Thomas would ignore his advice.
Might as well skip the detective part and jump to the end.
“She wants to let some woman who’s barely out of school try to turn the old tool barn into an event venue.” Okay, so she had been out of college for a few years, but still. She was only twenty-five. She had a lot of years of experience left to gain. He should know. He was thirty and still felt like he was figuring things out.
Micheal raised a brow. “And you hate this because...” His voice went up in question.
“She can’t afford the renovations, so we’d have to pay for all of it.” He was all for finding a way to bring in more revenue for everyone on the ranch—he’d been talking to Kane and Vivie about it for months—but this would do the opposite.
Micheal’s expression dropped. “How much?”
Thomas didn’t have the exact amount, but it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t be paying. He didn’t have thousands of dollars lying around to throw at it. Sure, the income after it was set up might be nice, but only if it didn’t put him out of business first.
“I don’t know.”
“Anything we do is gonna take some kind of investment,” Micheal countered. “Maybe you could at least hear her out.”
Thomas wanted to agree, but with the wedding expenses, honeymoon, and two weeks of the tours being shut down, he was already dipping into what little savings he and Vivie each had. She and Kane had taken care of the wedding and most of the reception, but he’d had to help cover some costs. Which meant his emergency fund was almost non-existent. The money it would take to start a wedding venue was so far out of reach, it was almost comical.
Gravel crunching under tires caught their attention as Bert, the most ornery rooster that ever lived, went squawking toward the side yard to greet the new arrival. Tucker, Trim, and Beet, Steelgate’s border collies, dashed around the corner of the house as well, kicking up dust.
Thomas shared a confused look with Micheal before following the animals.
A light blue sedan pulled into one of the parking spaces in front of the white ranch house, and a heartbeat after the car shut off, a blonde woman hopped out and started walking toward them.
“She’s cute,” Micheal whispered, leaning his forearms against the railing.
Thomas cut his eyes toward his friend and raised a brow but didn’t comment. He knew Micheal wasn’t really interested; he hadn’t been on a date in years. His heart was set on someone else, though he wouldn’t admit it.
Thomas shook his head and looked back at the woman. She was probably in her mid-twenties, if he had to guess. A year or two older than Vivie. Her loose blonde curls swept back from her shoulders as she walked, and she crossed her arms tighter around herself to fend off the wind. She looked at ease walking up to the ranch in a well-worn pair of boots, but Thomas narrowed his eyes.
“She’s also got no reason to be on our property,” he murmured.
They almost never ran tours on the weekend, and with Vivie and Kane gone for a couple weeks, they’d chosen to close the ranch tours completely. They wouldn’t have the manpower to run them and take care of the other work. So, tourists weren’t supposed to be showing up. Which meant this probably wasn’t just some tourist.
“Oh, grow up. Not everyone checks online before they come. Some people just hear about the ranch and show up. We’re just normally in the fields.”
Which was where Thomas should have been already, but with Vivie and Kane gone, he and Micheal had more to do at the house in the mornings and shorter days to do any of it as winter set in.
“Guess I should let them know we’re closed,” he grunted, not letting on to Micheal that he was pretty sure she wasn’t a tourist.
“Have fun with that, boss. I’m gonna head out.” Micheal touched the bill of his hat like it was a Stetson and strode away, leaving Thomas to greet their guest.
She was cute in her light blue skirt and cropped grey crewneck—though he’d never admit that to Micheal—but if he was right, this was the woman Vivie had warned him was coming, and pretty or not, he was about to send her on her way.
From the start it's clear that Mississippi & Thomas are quite a dynamic pair. That and the story's rich themes of hope, faith, and family make this a delightful read! The book can be read and enjoyed as a stand-alone, but for those who have read The Ranch Hand it's not hard to guess that Thomas' brooding ways are about to be challenged in this awaited sequel in the Love at Steelgate Ranch series.
Mississippi is the perfect choice to bring some needed change to the Steelgate ranch, and the idea of adding a professional photography business and wedding venue to the ranch along the way? Who would have guessed that's exactly what Thomas needs to shake him up a bit? The story opens with Thomas on the phone with his sister, Vivie. Within a few lines, it's clear that things aren't going well, and that Thomas is about to get a surprise visit, whether he's willing to admit it or not.
Mississippi is a wonderful character and I found that I really liked her from the start. Her spunk and determination, paired with an unparalleled compassion for others make her impossible to resist. So when she meets the broody and aloof Thomas Steel, things get interesting pretty quickly! From day one, there's resistance and an undeniable magnetic pull between the two. These two are equally strong-willed at times and it's fun to see the resulting tentative balance between their reluctance and stubbornness tempered with the more caring and hard-working side of their personalities as the story goes on. The other characters also add to the entertaining mix of emotions as they share light-hearted hints and good-natured teasing their way from time to time about some of the changes happening at Steelgate Ranch. Their friendly banter and occasional dose of wisdom are perfectly timed, and add to the overall enjoyment of this exciting read.
The Ranch Boss by Leigh Andrews is an immensely enjoyable and entertaining story! The tone is slightly different from the first book in the series, but no less satisfying. The characters were once again well-written. A combination of relatable strengths and weaknesses they are beautifully complex. Their story also has that exciting balance of personal growth and unexpected set-backs that make it so compelling. Well-written and difficult to put down, I ended up flying through this one. I had to know what happened next! This is a great one for fans of clean romances with ranch settings, found family, slow-burns, and faith.