At Wolf Ranch

Ryan’s Montana Men series launch, a follow-up to the Hunted series, precisely balances romance and suspense. Heiress Ella Wolf overhears the murder of her twin sister, Lela, by their uncle, Phillip. She escapes to the family ranch in Montana, hoping to find whatever Lela had that was worth killing for. After she’s stranded in a snowstorm on the country roads, rancher Gabe Bowden rescues her. Gabe had planned his future around buying Wolf Ranch from Phillip, but he’s shocked to learn about the murder, and he admires Ella’s grit and determination to take Phillip down in the midst of her grief. As the city girl and the country boy get closer, they explore both their growing feelings and Ella’s past, searching for a way to rescue both of their lives from Phillip’s machinations. However, the realistic dangers of a Montana winter and the intensity of Ella’s quest are let down by unnecessary, manufactured romantic tension and an absurdly cartoonish villain. Agent: Eric W. Ruben. (Feb.)