Ross (Riding Hard Book 5) by Jennifer Ashley
Series: Riding Hard #5
Published by JA / AG Publishing on August 21, 2018
Genres: Contemporary
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FINAL DECISION: Sweet and gentle, I loved this story. After a bunch of angst and drama filled installments, I loved that this is just two people getting to know one another. Yes, there is a dramatic closing set regarding the drug dealers in town, but the heart of of the story is two people discovering one another apart from their town reputations.

THE STORY: Ross Campbell is the “rebel” in the family, turning away from the family stunt business to work in law enforcement. He rescues a damsel in distress when her car goes off the road during a rainstorm. She’s on the way to her wedding and she happens to be Callie Jones, the girl Ross had a crush on in high school. When the wedding doesn’t happen, Callie turns to Ross as a calm in her crazy day.

OPINION: I loved this story. Ross is such a sweetheart. There is a bunch of external drama, but Ross and Callie are pretty stable people. These two are perfect for one another from the start and there isn’t a lot keeping them apart except for them getting to know one another and understand what each wants from the relationship.

The story felt like a sweet spring breeze — refreshing and cleansing with a joy. I loved these characters and how normal most of their relationship is. Yes, there is some external drama, but the two of them are centered and have such normal problems.

In fact, my only disappointment was that I would have liked to see how these two worked out some of their issues that were raised (Ross’ career, Callie’s horse rehab project) since those were important parts of the story.

This was a character centered story where the relationship was far more developed than the plot and I prefer a book with these tendencies. Of all the Campbell brothers, Ross is my favorite.

WORTH MENTIONING: Next up are the Malorys and we get a little preview in this book.

CONNECTED BOOKS: ROSS is the fifth book in the Riding Hard series. The romance here is a standalone although the series deals with characters in a small town so there is a lot of overlap of characters. Readers also get an update on the prior couples in the series.

STAR RATING: I give this book 4.5 stars.

NOTE: I received an ARC from the author. I was not required to write a review or to write a positive review. All opinions contained herein are my own.