Fans of Rebekah Weatherspoon and R.C. Ryan will love this launch of a new western romance series exploring love and second chances in a small town in California. Gabe Ortega has returned to Rancho Lindo in Esperanza, California, after being injured while serving in the military. The debilitating shoulder injury that made him unsuitable for army life has also made him unsuitable for work on the family ranch. Always the wayward son, he plans to leave again as soon as possible, even though his family wants him to stay. Then he has second thoughts after he runs into a childhood friend who is now all grown up--and beautiful.
Nora Torres is the horticulturist in charge of the ranch's new greenhouse and crops. Although she has only been working for the Ortegas for a little over a year, Nora spent childhood summers at Rancho Lindo visiting her tio and tia, who both worked there. In fact, it was Gabe's abuela who taught her about growing vegetables. She's annoyed when Gabe doesn't seem to remember her, and it reaffirms what she always believed-despite her intense crush, she was invisible to him.
Nora loves the ranch and would do anything to have what Gabe seems so willing to throw away. In a heated moment, she reminds him that he always leaves and that he doesn't deserve her or the ranch. But taking a job in San Diego makes Gabe miss Rancho Lindo, his family, and, especially, Nora. He realizes that he's become a rancher at heart.
