Review of Rancher’s Forgotten Rival

Book:  Rancher’s Forgotten Rival by Maisey Yates

Source: I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher: Harlequin Desire

Release Date: January 25th, 2022

Pages: 215

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Are we ready for storytime, my friends? Once upon a time Malka got the chance to try out some Harlequin titles. She was going to start out with just one, but then she decided at the very last moment to pick out a second title. This is the second title. When Malka first started it, she hated the story and DNFed temporarily. But now, Malka is back with a review! She picked the book back up again, read it in full, and, can it be? She even enjoyed it a bit!

So, I’m not exactly sure why that intro had to be in 3rd person, but it just felt right. The story you just read is true. This is the second Harlequin title I’ve ever read, and honestly, it’ll most probably be my last. I’ve found that the format and structure of these stories just don’t mesh with what I enjoy reading. However, I tried to read this book for what it was, not for what I wanted it to be, and had a pretty decent time with that approach.

So what’s this book about? Well, the Carsons and the Sohappys have been rivals ever since a piece of land was unfairly stolen from the Sohappys. So you see, when Juniper Sohappy comes across Chance Carson having suffered a head injury that leaves him with no memory, she decides to have some fun. But Chance’s memory soon returns, and Juniper has to face both the repercussions and her feelings.

At first, I was a bit bothered by Juniper taking advantage of Chance’s memory loss. I was worried for how the romance might progress while he was in that state. Thankfully, there was nothing too untoward that went on while Chance didn’t have his memory and therefore his full autonomy. I think that the timing and pacing of Chance getting his memory back was very well done.

I also think this book handled the “rivaling families” trope pretty well. The families have a lot of history to work through, so it’s not just these characters that needed to make amends. I appreciated how maturely some difficult decisions were handled, and I felt that it added a lot to the likeability of these characters that they went to the lengths they did to try to reconcile the families.

Like I mentioned earlier, this book wasn’t quite my cup of tea, and part of that is the fact that I found it pretty forgettable. I enjoyed it and had a reasonably good time, but nothing made me want to reach for another book in the series, and so I ended up giving this book a very middle of the road 3 star rating.

I think that if you enjoy the rivaling families trope, and you want to read a romance that handles the amnesiac storyline pretty well, this can definitely be an option for you to pick up. Otherwise, I don’t believe there’s too much else that stands out to me. That being said, if you want to try a Harlequin cowboy/rancher romance, this may be the book for you!

Have you read any Harlequin titles? Do you have any cowboy romances to recommend? What are your feelings on the “rivaling families” trope?

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