Books & Spoons Review for THE RANCHER'S BABY by Maisey Yates

She’s having her best friend’s baby… Only from New York Times bestselling author Maisey Yates!

When a torrid, possibly dangerous scandal comes to Royal, Texas, Selena Jacobs is nearly caught in the middle. Until her best friend Knox McCoy ensures her safety—by moving in!

Selena has loved Knox for years, but she’s never had the courage to tell him. Now the sparks she’s tried to smother burn out of control…and leave her pregnant.

​But with the pain in his past, will Knox finally take a chance on love…with her?

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An emotional, inspiring, and heartbreaking story that took my breath away. 
I am a big fan of Maisey Yates's writing. I know she can take the reader to the deep, dark waters of emotional turmoil. Yet this story blew me away with its beautiful description of those raw feelings that makes you feel like you are drowning, suffocating, and burning inside out at the same time. I smiled, I laughed, I was in tears, and I loved every single word and moment of the tale. I kept going back, marveling at the beauty of the words string together and the sense of the events they were creating.
Knox McCoy is not the half a man he used to be. He is living with an empty heart after losing his daughter for cancer and as a consequence, his wife. He feels empty, hallow, and like he has nothing to offer any more as a man. His only anchor during the storm is his best friend, Selena Jacobs, and there is no way on earth he is going to ruin that relationship by acting on his physical attraction towards her. Knox is a good man, he is kind, protective, generous, sexy, and capable. He is also sad, he is lost, afraid, and mourning for the life lost way too soon. 
Selena Jacobs' abusive childhood taught her not to want a romantic relationship, not to want a family of her own. She needed to be in charge, she needed to have the power over her own life, she could not be dependent on anyone else, that was the life lesson her parents gave her. Knox is the one person she trusted with her life and secrets and she protected that friendship over everything else in life. Even the burning attraction towards him that suddenly left her lightheaded. 
The connection between Knox and Selena is strong, tangible, and enduring, built over time. They were so tuned into each other, at times it felt like they were just one being, they knew each other like only old friends do, and the years of friendship was the foundation they could start to build something more, if only they dared to do take the leap.
When a story pulls all the emotions out of you, when there is laughter, and fun banter, when there is ardent passion, deep-seated emotions, "the heights of love and the lows of loss", profound sadness, and joy that reaches the sky -- this is a must-read book!
~ Five Spoons

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Published January 1st 2018 by Harlequin Desire

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New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit. In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book. 

Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard. 

She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.

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