This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

Book Evaluation:
Plot: 🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
World Building:🌎🌎🌎🌎
Cover:📔📔📔📔
Hero: 🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻🦸🏻
Heroine:🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️🦸🏻‍♀️
Intimacy Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Relationship Building: 💒💒💒💒
Heart & Feels:💞💞💞💞
Witty/Banter/Reaction of Laughter: 😂😂😂
Page Turner Level:📖📖📖📖
Ending:🧧🧧🧧🧧
Overall View: ✨✨✨✨

First Impressions
Falling For Owen is the second book in the "McBrides" series and I am slowly making my way throughout this author's backlist and truly loving it. While this series isn't perfect, its full of home and family and thrilling suspense tension that only this author delivers so well. There is such a wonderful feeling when I pick up a Jennifer Ryan, its almost like a warm hug. There is such a great family bond that this family has and I loved seeing a hero who was once a bad boy become so model in society and has such a good heart. Seeing him working as a lawyer and rancher was unique and I just adored Owen to my heart and soul. He is the type of hero you want in real life. Just solid and true and loyal to a fault. This book is a romantic suspense mixed in with small town feels with a fabulous plot that keeps you on your toes.

First Line
Dale hid between two buildings, watching his wife and her cocky lawyer walk down the steps from his office.

The Main Protagonists
The Hero: Owen McBride
Reformed Bad Boy, Lawyer, Rancher, Honest and Loyal

The Heroine: Claire Walsh
Claire, business owner and runs a bakery and coffee shop. Mistrustful of men. Strong and independent with a bit of willful tossed in.

Summary
When Claire is attacked one night, being caught in the crossfire between Dale and Owen McBride, Owen and his family come to her rescue and become her champions. Claire is used to being independent and has never had anyone to truly trust in male form, and she doesn't know how to trust Owen. But when he becomes her protector with honest intentions, she can't help but want to fall under his umbrella of protection and wanting to give into the chemistry that is exploding between them. But her past has taught her not to trust others. Owen has worked hard to redeem himself from his dark past and find his place in the only home he has ever known. He is naturally protective and wants to shielf Claire from the danger she is in as she has now become the target of a stalker. But is it Owen or Claire the target and is there enemy the obvious choice or will the culprit be someone they won't expect?

What I Loved
What I truly adore about Jennifer Ryan is the way that she writes a good mystery. Most times you can't guess the true villain. And even though I had a feeling on who the true villain would be, it was also very grey wondering if this individual was the true villain or not and until it happens you just are on the fence about it. And how the third act evolves...well it packs such a punch. It kept me on the edge of my seat seeing the events unravel as it does. I truly adored the plot side of the story. Its the strongest level of the story.

Now as for the romance, this was a bit more of a struggle for me. It felt a bit too rushed for me. And its possible it was just my mood or I just wasn't quite connecting with the relationship as I would have liked to, but it felt way too quick and I felt like this couple should have had more page time than they had to make their relationship more believable. Not to say its badly done, because it really isn't. I just feel like we should have seen them together just a bit more to really see that connection more strongly.

Then we have the family connections that we get to see within this one. I just loved seeing Owen with his cousin and brother. They just make such a great team and loved their friendship and family bonds. The way they just instantly support each other instantly endears the reader and you just want to see them together more often. It delivers on all the warm fuzzies.

Overall View
Falling For Owen was a brilliant story that melted my heart with poignant chemistry, a suspense plot to keep the reader on edge and all the heart you could ask for and more!

Favorite Quote(s)
“You barely know me, how do you know I’m not some shrew of a wife?”
“Your shop and the way you are with the kids who come in there. You love what you do. You put your whole heart into it. I have no doubt you did the same with your marriage. Any man who’d give that up doesn’t deserve to live.”

Book Details (also in my shelves)
Sub Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romantic Suspense
Character Types: Business Owner, Baker, Rancher, Bad Boy, Lawyer
Themes: Small Town, Western, Danger Plot, Family Bonds
Tropes: Forced Proximity, Instant Love, Protector, Redemption

Book Perspective
3rd POV

Relationship Conflict vs Plot Conflict
A Mix of both but more focus on conflict in the plot and has more minimal relationship angst

Song This Book Inspires
I Knew I Loved You by Savage Garden

Recommendation For Reading Order
Yes Read in Order if Possible

Steam/Spice Explanations

Warmin' by the fire- a medium level of sexual tension, a balance of sexual and emotional intimacy, lighter on the details in the sexual moments. ( )

Great story where the second bad boy McBride brother falls hard and fast. Owen McBride has definitely noticed his new neighbor, Claire Walsh, but he hasn't had a chance to properly get to know her. After she is attacked in her home when the abusive husband of one of Owen's clients mistakes her place for his, he feels responsible for her safety and vows not to let anything else happen to her. Their attraction is strong and immediate but troubles continue to plague them.

This story is filled with twists and turns that keep you glued to the pages! I highly recommend this one. ( )