Secret Nights with a Cowboy – Caitlin Crews

A man holding on…

Riley Kittredge has always known exactly what he wanted. His land, his horses. His woman. He met and married Rae Trujillo far too young, and their young love combusted right after they said their vows. But their passion has never managed to burn itself out. Yet when Rae shows this time, it’s not a night of pleasure she demands, but a divorce.

A woman letting go...

Rae should have moved on a long time ago. She knows she and Riley just don’t work. They might make great lovers, but that doesn’t make a marriage. And now Rae wants a new life, complete with a baby. But when her husband offers to be a father, to give her the family she’s always secretly desired, she and Riley will both have to face demons from their past—and choose love over fear at last.

My review

Yay, after three books in the Cold River Ranch series, Caitlin returns back to Cold River with a new series: the Kittredge Ranch series. Yep, the brothers of Amanda (from The Last Real Cowboy). This first one is about Riley. We had already seen in The Last Real Cowboy that he had a history with Rae. But Rae acts like he doesn’t exist any more.
In this part we can see that Rae and Riley are actually married. But eight years ago something happened and Rae moved out of their home. Since nobody talks about it, most folks in Cold River believe that Riley and Rae are divorced. But in fact, Rae and Riley are still married. Although Rae doesn’t talk about Riley with her friends and family, she and Riley do sleep together almost every night. It’s like a push and pull between them. And although Riley doesn’t understand what is wrong with Rae, he silently lets her sleep in his bed every night. But every time they end up fighting and then Rae will leave again. Only to turn up at his front door after a few nights.
Up until Rae decides that she is done. She doesn’t want to fight any more. So, she proposes an actual divorce to Riley. When Riley offers to help her date other guys, so she can ‘get back in the saddle’ they agree to be friends and stop the fighting. By breaking their vicious circle, both learn from each other to see what’s behind the facade and they learn to communicate again. A wonderful and heartbreaking story. Four out of five stars from me and a special thank you to Netgalley for providing the arc.