Tame the Heart: A Small Town Grumpy Sunshine Romance (Runaway Ranch Book 1)

Well damn........I am seriously in my feelings right now. Ava Hunter has written a book so good that I don't know what to do with myself. It’s undoubtedly one of my favorite reads in 2023. An addicting small town romance, with an added touch of suspense. At its heart is a heart-wrenching and gripping story of a love so strong, it brought my emotions to a scattered mess. Beautifully written and absolutely breathtaking. The hero and heroine stole my heart – their beautiful souls, their strength, fear, pain, hope, dedication, heartache and unconditional love. Broken and flawed, their imperfections are what made this story so genuine.Feeling stifled after being over protected by her family, Ruby, armed with a bucket list takes off to travel the country. After spinning a bottle on a map, she lands in Resurrection, Montana, where she immediately comes across Charlie, a grumpy cowboy who saves her from a bar fight. Along the way, they end up falling for each other in a big way. But Ruby has a secret, one that can cause their world to tumble down at any moment.To avoid spoilers, I won't give away the path to their beautiful love story. But I can say it is filled with love, laughs, passion, fear and heartbreak. I absolutely LOVED both Ruby and Charlie. Ruby was outstanding…the most sunshiney of heroines. She was strong yet vulnerable. She was sweet but fierce when need be. Charlie is one of my favorite heroes to date. I fell in love with him right along with Ruby. Beyond his grumpy and broody exterior, was a strong, compassionate, unwaveringly protective and swoon-worthy beyond words man. He loved so fiercely. These two will definitely live in my head rent free for some time to come.Tame The Heart is a wonderful start to the Runaway Ranch series. It is exceptional, extraordinary and bursting with life and positivity. And it's certainly one of the best emotionally-driven books I've come across. When the characters and everything that happened lingers in your mind way after finishing the book, you know you've read a great one. This tale of hope, resilience and pure love is one I won't soon forget. Bravo, Ava Hunter!

An angsty cowboy romance, this will tug on your heartstrings for sure. I've been meaning to check out this new-to-me author, and this series starter felt like the perfect place to begin. It's definitely got Elsie Silver vibes, complete with an emotionally-tortured hero, a spicy romance, a group of guys who could all use some love in their lives, and a western setting. I loved the strangers to lovers scenario, the fish out of water situation, and the emotional undertones. Our heroine has a heart condition that makes her wary of forming any lasting connections, while our hero has been commitment-phobic since losing his fiancée years ago. Neither of them have been living life to its fullest, but they form a connection that changes the course of both of their lives. There was a lot of good stuff going on and I would definitely check out more from the series, though I do think the actual romance was underdeveloped for a book of this length. I started feeling the page count somewhere along the way, but this was still a solid 4-star read.The story follows Ruby, a woman who is tired of playing it safe. Heart conditions run in her family, so she knows that her health will start deteriorating at any time. She's been careful with her health for a long time, but now Ruby wants to experience life and check some items off her bucket list. When Ruby's travels bring her face-to-face with a grumpy cowboy, she isn't sure what to think. But there's definitely chemistry sparking between Ruby and Charlie, so the two agree to have a summer fling. They both have their reasons for avoiding a romantic entanglement at all costs, but that doesn't mean they can't have some fun in the meantime. Keeping feelings out of the equation is easier said than done, especially once Ruby begins to feel at home in a way she never expected.Ruby's heart condition is front and center throughout the book, and the main source of tension. I liked the concept a lot, and it was easy to understand why she wanted to keep things uncomplicated. I do think there was too much focus on her health though, which detracted from the actual relationship development. These two go from fling to more in the blink of an eye, and I would've liked to have seen more of the transition. If I'm reading a book that's almost 500 pages, I fully expect the relationship to be VERY well developed, and I don't think that's the case here. There were also a couple of things that got a side-eye from me (did ** really murder that guy? Would Ruby really have been able to recover from some of those heart situations so quickly?, etc). That's what loses this points from me - it either needed to be shorter or more time needed to be spent on the actual process of falling, rather than on all of the side stuff. But this works exceedingly well as a series starter, and I'm already excited about some of the other potential couples. It's a sexy, angsty read that leaves an impression.

I instantly became addicted to this story and I'm so thankful that I found Ava Hunter! This book brought love, adventure, intensity, and so much passion. I felt like I was in Montana with the beautiful depth to her words. I can easily envision Charlie and Ruby, as well as see their love form and prosper. It all started with an adventurous summer and I'm glad I took the plunge on this book.

I liked the story. But found it difficult to like Ruby’s character after a while. *Spoiler* The hiding of her heart condition was dragged out beyond the point of being OK. Instead of being a fun loving ray of sunshine. Wanting to live her life she comes off as an absolute selfish person with no regard for anyone else around her. As the reader I found it so hard to understand her whys of what she was doing. Maybe if she had come clean and been honest with everyone as soon as the status of “summer love” changed it would have been better. The story telling is solid really enjoyed it and want to read more.

I picked up this book because it was recommended for the “secretly sick heroine” trope, which is a favourite of mine. And boy, does it deliver! Ruby has SVT, a heart condition, and she realizes she doesn’t want to live her life trapped in the protective bubble her father and brother have set up for her. She wants to see and experience the world. She writes up a bucket list and sets out to check off all the items. Her adventure takes her to the Montana Mountains–to a beautiful town called Resurrection.This book has a lot of angst, and the story is incredibly sweet and life affirming. It’s a bit of a medium-burn romance, and at 500 pages, we get a lot of worldbuilding and character development–not just for the hero and heroine, but also for Charlie’s siblings, who I assume will all get their own love stories down the line. The town of Resurrection is definitely a place I would love to get lost in, and Runaway Ranch seems like an idyllic summer getaway–despite all the suspense and drama that goes down in this book.All in all, this is a beautiful love story with a little bit of romantic suspense and some spice thrown into the mix.5 stars!

I loved the Story. It Was delicated and Absolut charming.I would absolut recommend this Story. Ruby is like sunshine and a reminder for the Reader to live. Really living and feeling the State of beeing alive. Charlie is the Rock in a Storm sea. But when i opend up, it was so tun to read. I laughed, i Fall in love with both of them und his brothers (😉) and the Ranch. I guess i have a new place i want to travel to! Thanks Ava Hunter.If you want something sweet, something you can awe and swoon over - read this!Loved the vibe and the feeling this book gave me. Is one of my Highlight of the year. And for the foreigners - the english is good to understand. There are some vocabulries about the Farmer live and the southern accent you need to accustom. But you will be fine. Read this book anyway!!

This book follows Ruby, who has a heart condition that prevents her from living life to the fullest, with an overprotective dad and brother, Ruby wants nothing more than to live. She takes off on a road trip to complete her list of dreams, to feel alive, which leads her to the Runaway Ranch. Charlie, the grumpy cowboy hires Ruby to help with some PR coverage after a viral video puts his ranch at risk. Maybe the ranch isn't the only thing that needs saving...This book is the most grumpy x sunshine trope ever. Sparks were flying from the moment they spotted each other, and I was also in love with them both. I absolutely adore how not only Charlie fell for Ruby, but his brothers did as well. They knew their brother needed her – the most perfect side characters. The plot was intriguing, and I did not want to put the book down – I easily could read about these two forever.The epilogue had me crying in the dark. I recommend this book SO much and if you've never read a yeehaw romance before, this will make you obsessed with cowboys.*Please check the trigger warnings before reading this book*Key Points:1st PersonDual POVHEARating: 5Spice: 3Tropes:grumpy x sunshinelove after lossage gapemployee x bosscowboysmall town romance

Sometimes, from the very first pages, you know the rating is not going lower than 5 stars. This was one of those times. The prologue got me hooked and I only needed a few chapters to literally fall in love with this story.Ruby is everything I love in a heroine. Strong, determined, sassy and passionate. And Charlie... My beautiful, possessive Charlie. I love him so much. He’s complex and flawed but you can’t help but love him. So swoon worthy, gentle and sweet once the layers fell away. He is rough but so soft for Ruby.Ava Hunter created such memorable characters and heartwarming moments. The development of the story, relationships and characters is top notch.If you’re looking for small town, damaged heroes, and strong heroines, Tame The Heart is for you. Ruby and Charlie were a delight to read about from start to finish! The perfect amount of tension, of swoon, of angst, of love.The feelings are beautiful, the smut is hot and intense, the storytelling is outstanding, the characters are well rounded and complex, the side characters are amazing.Charlie's brothers were absolutely charming and I can't wait to see the boys get their HEA. I can already tell that each of the Montgomery brothers are going to steal my heart.

Rating ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (and even more)Spice 🥵🥵🥵First of all, this book is one of my top “Cowboy Romance” Reads of all time 👀This book is a mix of:✨GrumpyxSunshine✨Opposite Worlds✨She starts working for him✨Suspense✨He is a Damaged Cowboy who yells✨She is the big town girl who yells back✨He falls first and hard✨Bucket List✨She addresses him as Cowboy✨who hurt youThis book is for the fans of Devney Perry and Elsie Silver and god Ava did a fantastic job with creating the plot as well as sub plot for the other Montgomery siblings making you excited from the get go about the other books that will be written in this series ✨🫶🏼Ruby was raised in a conserved manner because of her health condition but now she wants to live, just live and what better way to go to the small town Resurrection, Montana.She meets Charlie on her first day there who has this need to protect her but also to make her leave this town.Since the Ranch is going through Social media crisis, Charlie gives in to let Ruby help him but is quite apprehensive.I loved that no matter how grumpy he was, he melted for the sunshiney Ruby and was there for her.The suspense was tied up perfectly and there were no loose ends or major hints to reveal it any sooner than necessary ✨I loved how there was no unnecessary drama or miscommunication or anything that would make a reader loose interest ✨✨