Book Review: The Ranch Hand (Love at Steelgate Ranch #1) by Leigh Andrews

About the Book:

Vivie Steel didn’t mean to offer Kane a job, but through a coffee shop conversation about killer roosters, somehow that’s what happened. Now, she has to juggle the responsibilities of owning a ranch, finishing college, and having a crush on her new ranch hand, and it looks like something’s going to have to give.

A cattle ranch was the last place Kane Diaz ever expected to work, but with a week left in his apartment and no savings to speak of, he wasn’t going to turn down a job offer. Despite believing the Lord placed him at Steelgate, ranching doesn’t come easy for Kane, and his position grows even more complicated when he catches feelings for his boss.

Can Vivie and Kane find a way to be together or will their responsibilities push them apart?

| Goodreads |

My Review:

The Ranch Hand by Leigh Andrews
Rating: 4.5/5
Pages: 264
Published: October 15, 2024
Series: Love at Steelgate Ranch

Disclosure: I received this book free from the publisher/author. The opinions I have expressed are my own, and I was not required to write a positive review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.

From the opening pages, it was clear that The Ranch Hand by Leigh Andrews was going to be an amusing and humorous read. What wasn’t quite so apparent beforehand was the beautiful way Andrews is able to seamlessly weave a smattering of heavier themes and a powerful faith thread into her stories! The Ranch Hand by Leigh Andrews is a delightful read!

The story opens with the two main characters’ accidental meeting in a local coffee shop. Kane Diaz and Vivienne Steel have a chance meeting that inevitably changes the course of both their lives. After following along in a series of entertaining happenstances, Kane finds himself at the Steelgate Ranch, and there he meets Vivie’s brother, Thomas, and his friend and fellow ranch hand, Micheal. Both Kane and Vivie are at a cross-roads in their life, and when their unexpected meeting turns into a much needed friendship with the possibility of becoming something more, they realize that it’s time to sit down and really think about what it is they want in life. Is there even a future for them at the ranch, and do their future paths include each other?

In The Ranch Hand, Andrews takes readers on a wonderful journey that explores these questions a bit, and includes some pretty sweet friendships and banter along the way! Leigh Andrews has given readers an amazing story. The characters face real problems, and seek out real solutions. While life doesn’t always go our way, it does sometimes work out in unexpected ways just when we need it most.

This story is definitely a Christian story, with faith taking a more dominant role in the story, which will delight fans of the genre who seek a more faith-filled read. The author does a wonderful job presenting Biblical truths while still letting the story move at a natural pace. The faith aspects, and mentions of God and Holy Spirit, appear naturally as the characters seek wisdom and understanding in the difficulties they face throughout the story. The story also progresses in a way that leads readers alongside the characters, allowing them to see the problems creeping up as the story goes on, and giving them a front row seat to hear the character’s thoughts as they speak about the issues, and giving them the opportunity to catch the subtle cues scattered throughout the story, combined they offer a clear sign that all isn’t as it first appears on the ranch. When tensions rise, and tempers flair, choices must be made.

This was perhaps the strongest element of the story, aside from the faith aspect. The fact that the characters appear real. That they face challenges that many of us likely face, or have faced. Seeing them working together, both on the ranch and as a family, was part of what makes this story special. In The Ranch Hand by Leigh Andrews, we see that family can be messy, and that despite loving each other, sometimes we struggle to let go. The best of intentions can still by misplaced and even misguided at times. Life is about learning, growing, and having faith. Things that many of us struggle with. This story paints a brilliant picture of that struggle, and also gives a slight hint at what the next book in the series might look like.

Leigh Andrews has done a wonderful job with this first book in her new Love at Steelgate Ranch, and fans of the genre are going to want to be on the lookout! This series is a lovely addition to Christian Contemporary Fiction lineup. If half-ratings were available, I could easily award The Ranch Hand by Leigh Andrews 4.5 stars! I loved the story, and look forward to reading more of this series!

One thing I didn’t include in my original review was that it does include a couple pop-culture type references, I know right off that it mentioned a musician by name, and a couple of movies and a well-known actor. Since these were things that appear in nearly all of the books I read, much to my chagrin, I didn’t think it right to include that directly in my Discovery review. Still, I thought I’d mention it here, since many of you by thing point know about my dislike of both holidays and pop-culture type references and name drops in stories. This was also a small part of the reason for the 4.5 rating instead of a full 5. I loved this one a lot more than I even expected to, but still it wasn’t quite there. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing what the rest of this series looks like though!

Click here to see my original Discovery Review.

Other books in the series:
(Below is a list of the other books I’ve read & reviewed for this series)

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