The Rancher's Dance
2 Stars

After suffering a life altering injury, Prima Ballerina Lucy Buchanan, returns home to the Lazy-B ranch in Wyoming to nurse her wounds and decide on her future. Widower and single father, Beck Ventura, is still grieving for his beloved wife and trying to cope with his painfully shy young daughter. Neither Lucy nor Beck are looking for love, but one look is all it takes for the gorgeous dancer and the gruff and solemn contractor to realize that there might be something special between them. Can they overcome their heartbreak to make a go of it?

The romance has a great deal of potential, unfortunately the book contains two problematic elements. The first is the excessive focus on Beck’s love for his first wife, and the second is the overly descriptive sections detailing couples from previous books.

It is exceedingly difficult to become immersed in a romance novel when the hero is pining for someone other than the heroine. Beck first wife, Harmony, was nothing short of the perfect woman, and he is completely fixated on his grief over her loss. As a result, his attraction to Lucy feels forced and what little chemistry they have is overshadowed by his pain.

Lucy is charming and her relationship with Beck’s daughter, Shelby is sweet and reminiscent of Lisa Kleypas’s Christmas Eve at Friday Harbor. The problem is that Lucy’s patience extends to Beck as well, and she is far too understanding and forgiving of his hot/cold attitude toward her. Either the man wants you or he doesn’t, but standing docilely by while he makes up his mind is nothing short of annoying.

The secondary characters are comprised of Lucy’s extensive family, and far too much page time is dedicated to recapping and updating the numerous romances from earlier installments in the series. Consequently, the pacing of the story slows down significantly as the reader wades through this unnecessary sections.

In sum, a sweet book but not recommended for readers irritated by heroes who are hung up on their deceased wives. ( )