The Surprise (The Birch Creek Ranch #6) by B. E. Baker

  

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

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

 

Romeo and Juliet’s families caused all sorts of problems, but the two lovers took that poison themselves, the idiots.

When Beth Ellingson meets Ethan Brooks, it’s because her aunt and father are conspiring to steal the Birch Creek Ranch from the handsome young man. It wasn’t the cutest way to meet, but just as roses grow best when fertilized with manure, sometimes beauty springs from tragedy.

Beth’s father’s definitely a stinker, and she wants to spare Ethan the misery of affiliating with him. But Ethan’s never been afraid of a fight when the cause is just. Can these two young but beloved Birch Creek characters find their happily ever after? Or will the biggest surprise of their young lives derail all their plans and poison their future?

 

This book was an unexpected addition to the series by the author, and it definitely lived up to its name! Not only was I surprised that there would be an extra book to read in the series, but I was also really surprised by something that happened in this book. This was a deceptively deep story that feels like a fluffy romance in many ways, but there are some real serious dilemmas in this book. I enjoyed the humor that was injected into the story that added a lighter tone to it. 

I've liked Ethan's character throughout the series, but none of the books ever focused on him very much. So, it was really nice to read his perspective and see what was really going on with him while everything else was happening. The author pulled this off amazingly well, as the timeline for this book spans several books in the series, giving us key moments from the books, this time from Ethan's and Beth's perspectives, and adds in lots of content between those moments. Some of which, I didn't see coming at all. At first I was sort of reeling from one big surprise, and thinking NO! But then I realized that it made this story even better in some ways. It took the story to a deeper and more serious level. 

This series has been flirting with a 5 star rating from me for a while. It's one of my favorite series I've read in the romance genre, and I always end up feeling a lot of things after I finish one of these books. I was thinking about what makes this one a 5 star read over the others that were 4 and 4.5 star reads for me, which is what I rate most of the books I really enjoy. I think the thing that put this book in the 5 star category, was the fact that I didn't see that surprise coming, but also the wonderfully insightful advice Ethan receives from his mom and Steve on the matter. Plus, it had me feeling so emotional as I got to the end. All these books have been about real love, not just that feeling you get when you love someone, but real enduring love that gives and sacrifices and supports, and I felt that even more with this one.

Ethan is a young man that is mature beyond his years, but he didn't just happen that way accidentally. He became that way because of his two wonderful parents, and his own personal choices, and he was a pleasure to read about. I liked how this book showed us the flip-side to that with Beth's parents and how she struggled to feel like she had worth because of her upbringing. But it also showed how you don't have to come from a wonderful, loving home to actually be a wonderful, loving person yourself. Beth was a good example of that. It was interesting to get her perspective on her parents this time around and see some things about them that weren't in the other books. 

I'm looking forward to the last book in the series, even though I know after it's done, I'm going to miss these characters so much. I wouldn't be opposed to more surprise books!

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