The Next Instalment in the MacFarland Ranch series is coming soon!
Preorder to get it early from
SJ's Store HERE
Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AUS Google Play B&N Kobo Apple iBooks
The Rancher's Inescapable Love
The Rancher’s Inescapable Love is the sixth book in SJ McCoy’s sweet n steamy MacFarland Ranch series, and the second to feature an older couple – in their fifties.
Ace Zielinski is a laid-back kind of guy. He’s had his share of adventure, and now he’s content to live a quieter life back home in Paradise Valley.
Surrounded by lifelong friends, and never short on offers of female company, he enjoys dating, but prefers to keep his relationships short and sweet. He values his solitude up in his cabin above the ranch too much – no way does he want a woman disturbing his peaceful life.
He doesn’t mind going out of his way to help people. Last summer he helped a woman who came to the valley in the wake of a difficult divorce. Now, he’s about to be reminded that no good deed goes unpunished.
Ariana Knightly cannot figure out how her life got turned upside down so completely and abruptly. Yes, she knew that she might face some blowback after handling Stella Ansari’s divorce last year, but she never suspected that she’d find herself in danger, ousted from her own law firm, and worse still, stuck in the middle of nowhere, Montana.
Staying on the same ranch where Stella hid out last summer seemed like a good idea. However, Ari hadn’t taken into account that the winters in Montana are a whole lot different from the summers. But not even the subzero temperatures outside can lower the heat levels whenever she’s faced with Ace Zielinski.
All she knew from Stella was that Ace was a nice guy who’d helped her out.
Nice? Ha! Not one of the many words Ari would use to describe him. Hot? Check. Charming? Absolutely! Irresistible? Possibly.
Neither of them was looking for love, but there’s no escaping the fact that they’re perfect for each other. They might have found each other later in life, but it looks like they might have a future together - if Ari can escape the danger that’s closing in.
Preorder to get it early from
SJ's Store HERE
Preorders are up on all the retailers:
Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AUS Google Play B&N Kobo Apple iBooks
Preorder to get it early from
SJ's Store HERE
Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AUS Google Play B&N Kobo Apple iBooks
The Rancher's Inescapable Love
The Rancher’s Inescapable Love is the sixth book in SJ McCoy’s sweet n steamy MacFarland Ranch series, and the second to feature an older couple – in their fifties.
Ace Zielinski is a laid-back kind of guy. He’s had his share of adventure, and now he’s content to live a quieter life back home in Paradise Valley.
Surrounded by lifelong friends, and never short on offers of female company, he enjoys dating, but prefers to keep his relationships short and sweet. He values his solitude up in his cabin above the ranch too much – no way does he want a woman disturbing his peaceful life.
He doesn’t mind going out of his way to help people. Last summer he helped a woman who came to the valley in the wake of a difficult divorce. Now, he’s about to be reminded that no good deed goes unpunished.
Ariana Knightly cannot figure out how her life got turned upside down so completely and abruptly. Yes, she knew that she might face some blowback after handling Stella Ansari’s divorce last year, but she never suspected that she’d find herself in danger, ousted from her own law firm, and worse still, stuck in the middle of nowhere, Montana.
Staying on the same ranch where Stella hid out last summer seemed like a good idea. However, Ari hadn’t taken into account that the winters in Montana are a whole lot different from the summers. But not even the subzero temperatures outside can lower the heat levels whenever she’s faced with Ace Zielinski.
All she knew from Stella was that Ace was a nice guy who’d helped her out.
Nice? Ha! Not one of the many words Ari would use to describe him. Hot? Check. Charming? Absolutely! Irresistible? Possibly.
Neither of them was looking for love, but there’s no escaping the fact that they’re perfect for each other. They might have found each other later in life, but it looks like they might have a future together - if Ari can escape the danger that’s closing in.
Preorder to get it early from
SJ's Store HERE
Preorders are up on all the retailers:
Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AUS Google Play B&N Kobo Apple iBooks
Sneak Peek
In case you missed it in the earlier books
Ari looked around in confusion when she reached the bottom of the exit ramp. It was the right exit; she knew it was. But this wasn’t what she’d been hoping for. There were two gas stations, one on either side of the highway, a grocery store with a parking lot half full of muddy pickup trucks, and a rundown motel.
“Move it, would you?” she grumbled at the driver in front of her when the light changed. “It’s not going to get any greener!”
She turned left onto Highway 89, following the signs for Yellowstone National Park. Stella had warned her that this part of Montana wasn’t anything like what she was used to, but she’d also reassured her that the natural beauty of Paradise Valley would make up for the lack of amenities – and the remoteness.
Ari had taken all of it with a pinch of salt. She might be a ‘big-city lawyer’ in Stella’s eyes, but she’d grown up in a small town in southwestern Colorado, she figured that she was more familiar with both natural beauty and remoteness than her friend understood.
She cursed under her breath at the dirty pickup in front of her, which was rolling along at twenty-five, even though the signs said thirty-five – and Ari could see fifty-five not too far ahead. At the last second, she hung a quick right into the parking lot of the grocery store. She couldn’t see a sign, but surely every grocery store had a Starbucks inside these days, didn’t they? If not, she’d probably be able to find those little bottled vanilla Frappuccinos – and that would have to do. Even if she could only get bottled water, it would give old Slowpoke McDirty Truck the chance to get out of her way before she got back on the road.
After the day she’d had – the week she’d had – she didn’t think her blood pressure would be able to stand traveling the next forty-five miles down a two-lane highway following some old boy who insisted on driving ten under the speed limit.
She climbed out of the SUV she’d rented when she landed at the airport in Bozeman. She still hadn’t decided whether she would actually need the four-wheel drive and other bells and whistles – or whether the man at the desk had upsold her as hard as he could as soon as the Black Card came out of her purse. It didn’t matter. The thing was comfortable, and reassuringly large, rugged, and luxurious.
She slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder and hurried toward the entrance. The wind was howling, and it whipped her hair around her face despite her having tied it up in what she’d believed to be a very practical-looking bun.
The automatic door slid open, and she put her head down and hurried inside. She was disappointed but not surprised to see that there was no Starbucks. Oh, well. Frappuccino it would have to be.
She hurried to the end of an aisle, hoping to get in and out as quickly as possible. It was easy to forget about it while she was behind the wheel of the mammoth SUV, but now that she was out in public, she felt suddenly vulnerable.
When she was faced with a whole refrigerated section full of cheese and yogurt, with no chilled drinks in sight, she changed her mind. She didn’t need coffee. She was jittery enough. She turned to head back the way she’d come and stepped straight into the path of a shopping cart that was traveling way too fast.
The man pushing it did his best to avoid hitting her – he swerved as he brought it to a halt, but it still caught her hip with enough force that she staggered.
The next thing she knew, strong hands caught hold of her arms and set her back on her feet.
“Whoa! Are you okay?”
It took her a moment to gather her senses. When she did, she looked up to see a pair of icy blue eyes, the lines around them etched with concern. Wow! He was a good-looking guy! She was so mesmerized by those eyes, and by his rugged, handsome face, that instead of shrugging him off and hurrying away as she’d intended to, she simply stood and stared.
His eyebrows came together in a deep V. “Are you okay?” he asked more slowly.
She laughed when she realized that he thought she’d been stunned by the collision when in fact, she was simply bowled over by his good looks.
“I’m perfectly fine. Thanks for checking. And … my apologies.”
He gave her a puzzled smile and lowered his hands from her arms. “No need. I was going too fast, I always do. Don’t like to be here, so I get in and out as quick as I can.”
She could relate to that. Grocery shopping was one of her least favorite domestic chores – not that she had any favorites.
“And here I am delaying you.” She stepped back. She wanted to say something else, but there was nothing to say.
He gave her a puzzled look; perhaps he wanted to prolong the encounter, too. “Are you here on vacation or just passing through?”
Her pulse quickened. How could she be so stupid? She had no idea who he was. He could be one of Ansari’s men, tailing her.
She studied his face, highly doubting that was the case – this man was a genuine rugged cowboy, from the toes of his cowboy boots to the brim of his cowboy hat – probably all the way to the top of it, but he was a good few inches taller than her five-eight, so she couldn’t vouch for anything beyond the brim.
As good-looking as he might be, as tempted as she might be to strike up a conversation with him, she couldn’t risk it, she had to go. “Just passing through. Sorry again.” She nodded at his cart before hurrying away. When she reached the end of the aisle, she couldn’t resist looking back before she turned. He was still standing there, watching her go.
A shiver ran down her spine and it wasn’t because she was afraid. It was because, after longer than she cared to remember, she found herself attracted to a man.
She hurried back to the SUV empty-handed but feeling that she’d taken something away from her visit to the grocery store.
~ ~ ~
Ace was still thinking about his close encounter with the raven-haired beauty when he got home. He realized that he was smiling as he put his groceries away. He was a little disappointed that she hadn’t stayed to chat – he wasn’t used to women running away from him. He usually had the opposite problem – too often, they tried to hunt him down.
He blew out a sigh as he put the milk in the fridge. Oh well, if he wanted some female company, there were plenty of women who’d be happy to hear from him. The trouble was, he was still intrigued by the tall, slender one who hadn’t been able to hide her interest when she turned back for one last look at him before she hurried out of the store.
He checked his watch. He didn’t have time to waste thinking about her. He needed to get down to the cabin by the river and make sure everything was ready for Stella’s friend. He’d been glad to hear from Stella again, and happy to rent the cabin to her friend, but he had the feeling that there was more going on than she wanted to tell him. In fact, he knew there was. She’d told him that she didn’t feel comfortable telling him why her friend – Ari – wanted to come and stay in the middle of winter. Plenty of folks vacationed here in the winter, but not folks like Stella – not city folks who weren’t the least bit outdoorsy.
As he climbed back into his truck and headed down the hill, he was curious about this Ari woman. If she needed peace and quiet, she’d have plenty of it. But Ace decided that if she had problems, like Stella did when she came to stay, he’d do his best to help her out.
He was surprised to see a Lincoln Navigator sitting outside the riverside cabin. For one thing, he didn’t think that Ari would have arrived yet. And for another, he’d been expecting something smaller – although, there was no reason a woman alone shouldn’t drive one of the biggest seven-seater SUVs out there if she chose.
He knocked on the door and waited, but she didn’t appear. He knocked again and after a while went to peer in through the window. There was no sign of her. Maybe she was exhausted after her travels and was taking a nap.
He turned to leave, thinking that he’d try again later, and stopped dead when he came face to face with the woman from the grocery store. She had a can of bear spray aimed at him.
“Who are you?” she asked. “What do you want?”
He smiled and held his hands up, hoping to put her at ease – and also because he couldn’t believe his luck. “Are you Ari?”
She advanced a couple of steps, raising the can higher. “I ask the questions! Why are you following me?”
“I’m not, darlin’. Or at least, if I did, it’s because I live here.”
She eyed him warily, obviously not trusting him.
“What’s your name?”
“Ace Zielinski. And yours is Ari – Ariana Knightly, right?”
She started to look uncertain.
“How about we call Stella? She can tell you who I am.”
She frowned as she considered it. “Okay, but you call her, put her on video.”
Ace took his phone out with a half-smile on his face. He was impressed that she was so proactive about her safety, but he had a feeling she’d be embarrassed when Stella confirmed his identity for her. Maybe he should offer to take her out to dinner to show there were no hard feelings on his part.
He held his phone up and called Stella.
He smiled when her face appeared on the screen. “Hi, Ace. Is everything okay? Is Ari there yet?”
“She is. I was hoping you could reassure her that I am who I say I am.”
He turned the phone to Ari, who quickly lowered her bear spray.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Ari nodded curtly. “I’m fine. Sorry to bother you. I just … well, I can’t be too careful.”
“Of course! I understand. I’m sorry. I should have shown you a photo so that you would recognize Ace.”
“That’s okay. Problem solved. I’ll call you soon.”
“Okay.”
Ace turned the phone back around. “Thanks, Stella.”
She gave him an apologetic smile. “I’ll call you soon, too.”
“Any time. I’ll look forward to it.”
He ended the call and gave Ari a rueful smile.
She blew out a long sigh. “I apologize again.”
“Not a problem. Like you said, you can’t be too careful.” He gave her an inquiring look. “Any particular reason for that?”
She held his gaze for a moment, and he could tell that there was – but she wasn’t going to tell him about it.
“Nothing that I need to burden you with, thanks.”
He was impressed that she told him straight rather than being evasive or outright lying.
“Well, if you change your mind about that, I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Thanks.”
“I just came down to welcome you – see that you’re settling in okay.” He smiled. “Offer to take you to dinner if you’re up to it.”
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows raised slightly. She was interested, no doubt about it. But then she shook her head.
“Thank you, but no.”
“Okay. Perhaps another time?”
“Perhaps.”
Damn. He must be losing his touch. That perhaps sounded like a definite no to him.
Maybe she just needed some time to get settled in. Even though he’d been hoping that hers would be a brief stay, he now found himself hoping that she’d be here for a while.
She walked past him and put her hand on the door handle. “Thanks for stopping by.”
Wow. He was being dismissed. He touched the brim of his hat. “I’m around if you need anything – around the ranch, I mean.”
“Okay.”
She was making it obvious that she was waiting for him to leave so that she could go inside.
He headed back to his truck. Before he climbed in, he looked back over his shoulder. She was still at the door, watching him go.
“Stella has my number if you need me.”
“Thank you.”
As he drove away, he checked the rearview mirror before he turned the corner. Ari was still outside watching – and Ace was already thinking up reasons he might need to stop by in the morning;
Preorder to get it early from
SJ's Store HERE
Preorders are up on all the retailers:
Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AUS Google Play B&N Kobo Apple iBooks
In case you missed it in the earlier books
Ari looked around in confusion when she reached the bottom of the exit ramp. It was the right exit; she knew it was. But this wasn’t what she’d been hoping for. There were two gas stations, one on either side of the highway, a grocery store with a parking lot half full of muddy pickup trucks, and a rundown motel.
“Move it, would you?” she grumbled at the driver in front of her when the light changed. “It’s not going to get any greener!”
She turned left onto Highway 89, following the signs for Yellowstone National Park. Stella had warned her that this part of Montana wasn’t anything like what she was used to, but she’d also reassured her that the natural beauty of Paradise Valley would make up for the lack of amenities – and the remoteness.
Ari had taken all of it with a pinch of salt. She might be a ‘big-city lawyer’ in Stella’s eyes, but she’d grown up in a small town in southwestern Colorado, she figured that she was more familiar with both natural beauty and remoteness than her friend understood.
She cursed under her breath at the dirty pickup in front of her, which was rolling along at twenty-five, even though the signs said thirty-five – and Ari could see fifty-five not too far ahead. At the last second, she hung a quick right into the parking lot of the grocery store. She couldn’t see a sign, but surely every grocery store had a Starbucks inside these days, didn’t they? If not, she’d probably be able to find those little bottled vanilla Frappuccinos – and that would have to do. Even if she could only get bottled water, it would give old Slowpoke McDirty Truck the chance to get out of her way before she got back on the road.
After the day she’d had – the week she’d had – she didn’t think her blood pressure would be able to stand traveling the next forty-five miles down a two-lane highway following some old boy who insisted on driving ten under the speed limit.
She climbed out of the SUV she’d rented when she landed at the airport in Bozeman. She still hadn’t decided whether she would actually need the four-wheel drive and other bells and whistles – or whether the man at the desk had upsold her as hard as he could as soon as the Black Card came out of her purse. It didn’t matter. The thing was comfortable, and reassuringly large, rugged, and luxurious.
She slung the strap of her purse over her shoulder and hurried toward the entrance. The wind was howling, and it whipped her hair around her face despite her having tied it up in what she’d believed to be a very practical-looking bun.
The automatic door slid open, and she put her head down and hurried inside. She was disappointed but not surprised to see that there was no Starbucks. Oh, well. Frappuccino it would have to be.
She hurried to the end of an aisle, hoping to get in and out as quickly as possible. It was easy to forget about it while she was behind the wheel of the mammoth SUV, but now that she was out in public, she felt suddenly vulnerable.
When she was faced with a whole refrigerated section full of cheese and yogurt, with no chilled drinks in sight, she changed her mind. She didn’t need coffee. She was jittery enough. She turned to head back the way she’d come and stepped straight into the path of a shopping cart that was traveling way too fast.
The man pushing it did his best to avoid hitting her – he swerved as he brought it to a halt, but it still caught her hip with enough force that she staggered.
The next thing she knew, strong hands caught hold of her arms and set her back on her feet.
“Whoa! Are you okay?”
It took her a moment to gather her senses. When she did, she looked up to see a pair of icy blue eyes, the lines around them etched with concern. Wow! He was a good-looking guy! She was so mesmerized by those eyes, and by his rugged, handsome face, that instead of shrugging him off and hurrying away as she’d intended to, she simply stood and stared.
His eyebrows came together in a deep V. “Are you okay?” he asked more slowly.
She laughed when she realized that he thought she’d been stunned by the collision when in fact, she was simply bowled over by his good looks.
“I’m perfectly fine. Thanks for checking. And … my apologies.”
He gave her a puzzled smile and lowered his hands from her arms. “No need. I was going too fast, I always do. Don’t like to be here, so I get in and out as quick as I can.”
She could relate to that. Grocery shopping was one of her least favorite domestic chores – not that she had any favorites.
“And here I am delaying you.” She stepped back. She wanted to say something else, but there was nothing to say.
He gave her a puzzled look; perhaps he wanted to prolong the encounter, too. “Are you here on vacation or just passing through?”
Her pulse quickened. How could she be so stupid? She had no idea who he was. He could be one of Ansari’s men, tailing her.
She studied his face, highly doubting that was the case – this man was a genuine rugged cowboy, from the toes of his cowboy boots to the brim of his cowboy hat – probably all the way to the top of it, but he was a good few inches taller than her five-eight, so she couldn’t vouch for anything beyond the brim.
As good-looking as he might be, as tempted as she might be to strike up a conversation with him, she couldn’t risk it, she had to go. “Just passing through. Sorry again.” She nodded at his cart before hurrying away. When she reached the end of the aisle, she couldn’t resist looking back before she turned. He was still standing there, watching her go.
A shiver ran down her spine and it wasn’t because she was afraid. It was because, after longer than she cared to remember, she found herself attracted to a man.
She hurried back to the SUV empty-handed but feeling that she’d taken something away from her visit to the grocery store.
~ ~ ~
Ace was still thinking about his close encounter with the raven-haired beauty when he got home. He realized that he was smiling as he put his groceries away. He was a little disappointed that she hadn’t stayed to chat – he wasn’t used to women running away from him. He usually had the opposite problem – too often, they tried to hunt him down.
He blew out a sigh as he put the milk in the fridge. Oh well, if he wanted some female company, there were plenty of women who’d be happy to hear from him. The trouble was, he was still intrigued by the tall, slender one who hadn’t been able to hide her interest when she turned back for one last look at him before she hurried out of the store.
He checked his watch. He didn’t have time to waste thinking about her. He needed to get down to the cabin by the river and make sure everything was ready for Stella’s friend. He’d been glad to hear from Stella again, and happy to rent the cabin to her friend, but he had the feeling that there was more going on than she wanted to tell him. In fact, he knew there was. She’d told him that she didn’t feel comfortable telling him why her friend – Ari – wanted to come and stay in the middle of winter. Plenty of folks vacationed here in the winter, but not folks like Stella – not city folks who weren’t the least bit outdoorsy.
As he climbed back into his truck and headed down the hill, he was curious about this Ari woman. If she needed peace and quiet, she’d have plenty of it. But Ace decided that if she had problems, like Stella did when she came to stay, he’d do his best to help her out.
He was surprised to see a Lincoln Navigator sitting outside the riverside cabin. For one thing, he didn’t think that Ari would have arrived yet. And for another, he’d been expecting something smaller – although, there was no reason a woman alone shouldn’t drive one of the biggest seven-seater SUVs out there if she chose.
He knocked on the door and waited, but she didn’t appear. He knocked again and after a while went to peer in through the window. There was no sign of her. Maybe she was exhausted after her travels and was taking a nap.
He turned to leave, thinking that he’d try again later, and stopped dead when he came face to face with the woman from the grocery store. She had a can of bear spray aimed at him.
“Who are you?” she asked. “What do you want?”
He smiled and held his hands up, hoping to put her at ease – and also because he couldn’t believe his luck. “Are you Ari?”
She advanced a couple of steps, raising the can higher. “I ask the questions! Why are you following me?”
“I’m not, darlin’. Or at least, if I did, it’s because I live here.”
She eyed him warily, obviously not trusting him.
“What’s your name?”
“Ace Zielinski. And yours is Ari – Ariana Knightly, right?”
She started to look uncertain.
“How about we call Stella? She can tell you who I am.”
She frowned as she considered it. “Okay, but you call her, put her on video.”
Ace took his phone out with a half-smile on his face. He was impressed that she was so proactive about her safety, but he had a feeling she’d be embarrassed when Stella confirmed his identity for her. Maybe he should offer to take her out to dinner to show there were no hard feelings on his part.
He held his phone up and called Stella.
He smiled when her face appeared on the screen. “Hi, Ace. Is everything okay? Is Ari there yet?”
“She is. I was hoping you could reassure her that I am who I say I am.”
He turned the phone to Ari, who quickly lowered her bear spray.
“Hey, are you okay?”
Ari nodded curtly. “I’m fine. Sorry to bother you. I just … well, I can’t be too careful.”
“Of course! I understand. I’m sorry. I should have shown you a photo so that you would recognize Ace.”
“That’s okay. Problem solved. I’ll call you soon.”
“Okay.”
Ace turned the phone back around. “Thanks, Stella.”
She gave him an apologetic smile. “I’ll call you soon, too.”
“Any time. I’ll look forward to it.”
He ended the call and gave Ari a rueful smile.
She blew out a long sigh. “I apologize again.”
“Not a problem. Like you said, you can’t be too careful.” He gave her an inquiring look. “Any particular reason for that?”
She held his gaze for a moment, and he could tell that there was – but she wasn’t going to tell him about it.
“Nothing that I need to burden you with, thanks.”
He was impressed that she told him straight rather than being evasive or outright lying.
“Well, if you change your mind about that, I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
“Thanks.”
“I just came down to welcome you – see that you’re settling in okay.” He smiled. “Offer to take you to dinner if you’re up to it.”
Her perfectly shaped eyebrows raised slightly. She was interested, no doubt about it. But then she shook her head.
“Thank you, but no.”
“Okay. Perhaps another time?”
“Perhaps.”
Damn. He must be losing his touch. That perhaps sounded like a definite no to him.
Maybe she just needed some time to get settled in. Even though he’d been hoping that hers would be a brief stay, he now found himself hoping that she’d be here for a while.
She walked past him and put her hand on the door handle. “Thanks for stopping by.”
Wow. He was being dismissed. He touched the brim of his hat. “I’m around if you need anything – around the ranch, I mean.”
“Okay.”
She was making it obvious that she was waiting for him to leave so that she could go inside.
He headed back to his truck. Before he climbed in, he looked back over his shoulder. She was still at the door, watching him go.
“Stella has my number if you need me.”
“Thank you.”
As he drove away, he checked the rearview mirror before he turned the corner. Ari was still outside watching – and Ace was already thinking up reasons he might need to stop by in the morning;
Preorder to get it early from
SJ's Store HERE
Preorders are up on all the retailers:
Amazon US Amazon UK Amazon CA Amazon AUS Google Play B&N Kobo Apple iBooks