Book 985: Crooked Tree Ranch (Montana #1) – R.J. Scott

I swear I’ve either read this book before or read something very similar to it. I checked the publication date and it was after I started the blog and was documenting every book. So I’m not sure why this and the second book were SO FAMILIAR. Or maybe I started it and didn’t finish it so it never made it to my list, but either way, it was really eerie reading the first two in this series.

I grabbed this series from Kindle Unlimited right before our February trip to the Dominican Republic. I knew I didn’t want to read non-fiction because school is so full of it now and nothing on my shelf spoke to me, so here I ended up.

This is the story of Jay who loses his job and then refuses a job working for his ex and flees NYC to help a ranch market itself before they have to break off pieces to sell. When he gets to the ranch he meets Nate, the oldest brother of three from one of three families that own a stake in the ranch.

‘I think I’m falling for you too far and too fast,’ Jay whispered. ‘It scares me.’ The honesty cut through Nate like a knife, and he knew he had to be truthful in return.
‘I know I’m falling for you,’ he admitted. He added brokenly, ‘We can be scared together.’ (220)

The story is a whirlwind, we’re talking 2-3 months and Jay and Nate are fast in love and shacked up together. It didn’t feel like it happened that fast, but it did. A huge part of it was that there seemed to be a lot of drama surrounding Jay and Nate, but nothing interfering with them., which made their relationship smooth.

There were so many great minor characters, many of which get their novels in this long series. However, my favorite part was probably Jay freaking out about being given a horse as part of his contract and Nate trying his best not to make fun of him about it. It was just adorable and hilarious all at the same time. And I’m not going to lie Scott kept me giggling from the start:

Jay had to admire the little guy—he was being raised by a goth teenage sister, a depressed mother, and a gay uncle. Yay for the American nuclear family. (46)

Recommendation: I really enjoyed this one. There weren’t too many issues when it came to continuity or writing and there were so many characters that I wanted to know more about. Jay’s protectiveness of his sister and niblings and his willingness to flee NYC for Montana was what carried this book across the finish line for me. That and Nate’s total awkwardness.

Opening Line: “Nate pinched the bridge of his nose and attempted to quell the combination of anger and fear churning inside him.”

Closing Line: “Jay huffed a laugh and stole a kiss. ‘Forever? That’s a given.'” (Whited out to avoid spoilers, highlight to read.)

Additional Quotes from Crooked Tree Ranch
“A horse? So it isn’t a typo? Of course there’s a horse included. Every job should have a horse included!” (54)

“Montana was thousands of miles away, but the words that Marcus Allen had said had been filed away in Jay’s head: a new start—for him and Ashley, for Kirsten and Josh. There had to be good schools there.” (64)

“‘I’ll become the boring guy who does all the dad things,’ Gabe said quickly in response. He immediately dropped his arms to his sides and realization spread across his face. ‘Oh my God. I think I want to be that guy.’ Nate hugged his brother. His job was done.” (244)