2.5 stars (rating may differ depending on whether site allows half star ratings.) A friend sent me this book in a box of books. I thought they were all ones she'd read, but I don't see that she entered it on her virtual bookshelf, so I might have been wrong--or she may have just had a lot going on in her life and gotten distracted and not realized she hadn't entered it.

I feel bad ranking it so low since she gave it to me--I did enjoy most of the story--but I start all books out with a 3 (the middle/average rank) and then add or subtract from that. The main reason I subtracted from this one was that the suspense part is left hanging. That's probably not the author's "fault" since I saw at the end that this is a series where each book is written by a different author, so I suspect whoever was in charge of organizing the series gave each author an outline. So we have this mysterious "Chief" (also called El Jefe)--and there probably are clues to his/her identity within the story, but not enough that I could recognize them to have any point toward a suspect of who wants to get them off the ranch.

I haven't read the first book in the series, and don't plan to seek out the rest of the series--which is a good indicator of how much I didn't like the way the suspense part of the plot was handled. ( )

This is a suspense filled series that should be read in the order written (by various authors) as each story builds upon the previous one in solving a mystery of who is out to ruin the Vance and Montgomery families. These stories are under the heading of "love inspired suspense; riveting inspirational romance" and I think they hit all those marks.

In this story you will take a visit and stay at the Double V Ranch, where Michael Vance is losing cows to a mystery ailment. He has also lost his old foreman, who has suddenly disappeared and hired on Hector, who seems a little "cagey". Layla Dixon is a free spirit veterinarian who travels about. She will be hired on to help Michael figure out what is happening to his cows. Of course, romance will blossom, but so does the danger. Someone wants Layla to stop digging into what is going on and will stop at nothing to silence her.

The more I read this series, the more I get to know the characters and the more clues I get as to who the "bad guys" are. They are quick stories to read and have suspense and romance, but these families also have a faith in the Lord that they are not afraid to share with others. ( )