Wild and Wrangled (Rebel Blue Ranch #4) by Lyla Sage

The final book in the Rebel Blue Ranch and I’m afraid to say it wasn’t my favourite of the four books. I think the second book was the best of the bunch and nothing really topped it. Still, I’m excited to see where Lyla Sage goes. She is a very promising author and while I’ve not loved all her books, I’ve liked all her books so I’ll be reading more of her in the future.

So Wild and Wrangled, I was so looking forward to Cam and Dusty’s story but it just fell short. Cam had such potential, she really intrigued me in the other books and I had such high hopes for her. Unfortunately that didn’t carry through to her actual book.

Dusty on the other hand exceeded my expectations, he was the more emotionally mature and I think he was the more emotionally mature from the beginning of their relationship. Even the act of writing the notes to Cam and not sending them was such a mature way of dealing with his emotions after the broke up.

Cam on the other hand was kind of a mess, from how she dealt with her relationship with Dusty, past and present, to planning on marrying a guy for one of the stupidest godsdamn reasons I’ve ever read!

She was an awful communicator with EVERYONE and when things upset her or she couldn’t emotionally regulate she turned into a teenager. It was like arrested development or something, I mean her parents definitely screwed her up but girl needs to get herself some therapy to work through her issues and learn how to talk about her feelings! She has a kid for goodness sake, how is she going to deal with the difficult conversations she’ll need to have with her daughter in the future?

I’m glad that Cam and Dusty got their happy ending but it was a very frustrating journey to that HEA. There also felt like a shedload of unresolved issues, just far too many loose ends for a last book in series. What happened with Cam and her trust fund, and parents? Are they out of her life and her daughters life forever? I mean they should be but I’d like some confirmation of that. How is Riley dealing with her parents relationships with other people becoming permanent and how that will change things for her? It just all felt very unsatisfactory!

What was very satisfying was the bonus chapter, I loved getting Emmy’s proper HEA and her visiting her mothers grave on her wedding day and the whole family showing up was super cute and kind of emotional. Emmy’s vows were super cringe though. At least Luke did a good job! 😀

So not a great end to the series but it was fun enough journey!

Synopsis:

She’s the one that got away. He’s the one that never let her go.

Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right?

But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is, until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one problem: the neighbor.

Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like who: Cam Ashwood. But ever since he returned home last year, the girl who was his first, well, everything has become a woman seemingly determined to keep him at arm’s length. And he was okay with that—at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. She was getting married, after all. But now she’s single and living next door. Dusty wants to show her that they can be friends and that he can stay put.

Despite her best attempts to stay far away from Dusty Tucker, Cam realizes that being close to him is like slipping on her favorite jeans. Easy. Comfortable. That is until past wounds start to open and feelings—both old and new—wreak havoc. Nearly ten years after they first met, Dusty and Cam begin to wonder if their first love can also be their last. And this time, will it be forever?