Even If It Breaks Your Heart by Erin Hahn (2024)
Not long ago BQ's local library put up quite the clever sign in front of their Young Adult section......inviting all of us readers long past our adolescence to unashamedly take out and enjoy YA books......and discover as many compelling stories, excellent prose and memorable characters as you'd find in Literary Fiction for grownups.
This one I came by via the gracious invitation of NetGalley and the publisher to read an advance copy. Now that it's hit the booksellers and libraries, let BQ give you the scoop on a perfect read for anyone who thrills to rodeo riders and any readers (like BQ) who end up suckers for romance......
By the time I finished this, I felt the words, "Just please read this book...." should be printed directly in front of its title.
An absolute heartbreaker, but also every bit a heart warmer that leaves you sighing and smiling along with the tears.Erin Hahn possesses a true gift for creating lead characters that immediately take hold of you and put you in their cheering section all the way through to the last sentence.
So don't even try to resist the two troubled young Texans at the heart of this story. Case Michaels is a champion rodeo bull rider whose life has come undone by the cancer death of Walker, his lifelong best friend and fellow rodeo star. He's also the son of the owner of a vast tourist ranch, .which puts him directly in the path of (and at odds with hard working ranch hand Winnie Sutton.
Winnie, through no fault of her own, functions as the parental adult-in=the-room for her siblings, due to a long gone mom and a neglectful father with little to no interest in parenting. So in addition to working at the ranch and practicing barrel racing on one of the horses she tends to, she's also the main caregiver to her brilliant gifted 10 year old sister and her 14 year old brother who' s drifting into truancy and failing grades.
While Case struggles to find his place in the world beyond staying 8 seconds atop a furious bull, Winnie's dream of champion barrel racing stays on hold as she cares for her siblings and mostly absent father. And then the two of them develop a friendship which, as you might have predicted, grows stronger every day and maybe into something more.
Emotions run high and and as Winnie and Case's stories progress (and start to coalesce), you may feel the urge to always rush up to both of them for a group hug. Yes, prepare yourself, it's that kind of book.
Let me not forget that besides the heart melting romance, author Hahn also includes some truly thrilling rodeo sequences, rendered with attention to the amazing skills, perseverance and courage required of the riders.
That's quite a package for one single book, which, for me, put it firmly in 5 star territory. (*****) SQ says saddle up for a nice read to make you feel warm all over.
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