I liked how this second book in the series was centered around another sister in the family, but it also picked up on how the couple in book one were doing. This story is about Elyse McCord, an adopted daughter of the McCord family, and a timid "dog whisperer" who doesn't feel comfortable around people. She will meet up with Andrew Stone, a house painter who is really undercover trying to find the man who killed his wife three years ago. Andrew rescues Elyse when she steps up to save a malnourished dog from his owner (who Andrew believes is the man he is after). Elyse finds herself falling for Andrew and him for her, but when she finds out his real reason for being there, her trust in him fades quickly. There is much more going on in this story and I enjoyed my time once again getting to know the McCord family. ( )

Elyse McCord is a painfully shy dog trainer who finds a dog that has been horribly mistreated. In an effort to rescue him, she is threatened at gun point by the dog owner's ex-con of a brother. To her rescue comes Andrew Stone who just so happens to be staking out the con he suspects killed his wife three years ago. In the fight, the attacker flees leaving Elyse in danger and in need of a protector that Adam, with alterior motives, is willing to be. As the weeks go by, mutal attraction leads to stronger feelings and they both realize that they have to learn how to trust each other with their secrets to be able to have the love that they desire.

I won this book on Goodreads Firs Reads giveaway and I'm glad that I did. Otherwise I never would have given it a chance. I'm not a Christian myself and have found, in the past, that Christian Fiction/Romance books come across as corny and preachy. The characters always find a happily ever after and the author tends to send a message that you will too as long as you take Jesus in your heart. This book was refreshingly different. Andrew and Elyse were not sickenly perfect and I believe that, if they were real, I could be their friend and not feel that they would judge me or make it their mission to convert me. With that being said, this book was very well written and the story kept me interested from the very beginning. I loved how Elyse's sister Crystal and her fiancee were shown to be having serious problems during this book when I'm assuming their story has been told in the first book of the series. Most...ok, probably all of the serial romance books I read, once the book is done, the couple remains "happily ever after" in every other book after it. Which I always thought was a good thing, but after reading "Cowgirl at Heart", found that it just isn't real. In real life, the stories continue and the road is always rocky. I look forward to reading Crystal and Jeremy's book and all the others that come from Ms. Lynxwiler. ( )