The Retreat (The Birch Creek Ranch Series Book 4) by B. E. Baker

  

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Category: Adult
Genre: Women's Fiction, Romance
Content: Clean 

 

You can’t win until you learn when to fall back. . .

Amanda Brooks can’t seem to find a job that suits her. She’s really hoping her new plan is a good one, because she needs something to keep her busy while her boyfriend’s gone.

Abigail Brooks is opening a new legal practice in the middle of nowhere, but she’s positive she can make it work. With more flexible hours, she’s finally prepared to settle herself and her family into their new life out West.

Donna Ellingson’s brother may be a grade-A jerk, but she’s grown a lot in the past year. She’s not afraid of a fight anymore, as long as she’s on the right side.

But when a rival developer breaks ground on a retreat in nearby Flaming Gorge, he steals all of Amanda’s best contractors. Abby’s nearly as frustrated when her big sister drops in, eager to “help” as usual. And Donna discovers that sometimes no love life is better than too much. . .

Can these three friends-turned-family learn when to go all-in and when to let go before their various battles meet with unhappy endings?

 

I've been really looking forward to this book, and it didn't disappoint! When I started reading this series four books ago, I wasn't sure how much I was going to like it. I'm selective about contemporary romance, but I knew Bridget was good at writing it after reading her Finding Home series. What made me really hesitant was that it's set on a ranch with cowboys. That's not usually my cup of tea, but these cowboys ended up being more than that. I liked that there are also other things that they do. Most of all, I liked their personalities. Will is a gem of a man. Eddie is an amazing person to have overcome the things he has in his life. And Steve is an incredible guy. I think I would love to have more of their perspectives in the books.

One of the big things I like about this series is that it's not just a romance, but it's family drama as well. Not too heavy on the drama, but there are plenty of life lessons learned as these ladies and their kids navigate life after losing their husbands and fathers. Just like the other books, this one focused mostly on Abigail, Amanda, and Donna who was introduced in book two. In the past books I've loved them and also got frustrated with them. Abigail is the one who seemed to have everything together, but she was falling apart on the inside, and afraid to move on. Amanda was very self-centered at times, but also relatable in many ways. Donna was in a tough situation and had to figure out how to do the right thing. In this book, Abigail is preparing for her wedding and also helping everyone else with their problems. Amanda is back to being her selfish, oblivious to others self, because she can't see past her own problems at the moment. Donna is attracted to someone she doesn't want to be attracted to, and still dealing with her brother and the will her father left.

Out of the four books I've read in this series, this is the book that I liked Abigail the most in. She seemed more human to me than before. A lot of times in the past, she seemed good at everything she did, but this book gave another perspective to her that I liked. I think it was really good at illustrating all the crap that she deals with in a graceful way. I could relate to her a lot more this time around as a mother, a friend, and a person. Plus, we like the same burger 😂! Also the wedding was so unexpectedly not what I thought it would be! I loved it.

On the other hand, we had Amanda who is dealing with her feelings about what Amanda Sadler did in the last book with the ranch. I get how she feels, and I think a lot of us would feel that way, at least initially, but she isn't able to look past herself in this situation and see the bigger picture at all. On top of that, she is dealing with her boyfriend leaving for a while as he restarts a music career, and not being honest with him about the way she feels. I got frustrated with her over this. She ends up making some poor decisions in this book. I felt like she was growing and learning in the past books, but this time she reverts back to her old habits, which is probably realistic. We don't change overnight. I had a hard time with the story line for Amanda and Eddie in this one because it was painful, but in the end I think it will work out the way it should.

This brings me to Donna. The first time I met her I didn't like her, but she turned over a new leaf in the last book and did the right thing. She has stuck to her decision to do the right thing and stand up for herself, and I have a lot of respect for her. I enjoyed reading about her in this book and the developing romance between her and a certain someone. I hope she is able to open up to him in the next book and take a chance, even though he doesn't fit in with her plans.

There were a couple of new characters added in this time. One, was Abigail's sister. She may be one reason I like Abigail more now. I now know what she has to deal with, with her family! There's also the developer, who is someone that Amanda met before on one of her influencer dates. I wasn't crazy about him. He came off very pushy and annoying to me, and was laying it on very thick, but I think he could be a decent guy if he stopped all that.

Overall, this was a great book! I was happy that it didn't go the route I thought it would go with a couple of the plot points, especially with the developer. I was afraid he would come into town and want to change the whole landscape, and ruin everyone else. While he did make something harder for them, it wasn't as bad as that. There were some things that happened in this book that were very satisfying, and I was happy to see some resolutions. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Thanks to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.