The Cover Story~

Can one summer together make up for eight years of separation?

Commander Brett Murphy left his family’s construction firm in Oklahoma City for a life of hard work at Three Rivers Ranch. Alone, without a wife and kids, Brett needs the camaraderie he enjoyed while serving overseas with his Army buddies, Squire Ackerman and Peter Marshall.

What Brett doesn’t need is the reappearance of his ex-wife. Fiery Kate Donnely has come to Three Rivers to confess to Brett that they’re still married, and oh, he has a seven-year-old son she never told him about. At least not in letters she mailed.

Eight years ago, Kate left Oklahoma City only weeks after Brett’s first deployment, shamed because of her bad choices and the unborn child of a man she’d already asked for a divorce. She needs him to sign the papers now or she can’t have access to her hefty inheritance. But Brett absolutely does not want Kate to take his son away from him again.

They strike a deal: She’ll stay at Three Rivers for the summer so Brett can have the opportunity to get to know his son. How far will they have to go and how much will they have to forgive in order to become a family?

Sharing my takeaway~

How have I not read anything by Liz Isaacson before now? Yikes! I have a lot of reading to catch up. 🙂

I don’t typically choose to read books where the characters are married, but the cover spoke to me and the blurb intrigued. I didn’t like Kate in the beginning.  Never really got her. Like why she asked Brett for a divorce. Why she chose to stay silent about Reid. Why she stuck around and took abuse from a patronizing mother. I mean, she was an adult, why didn’t she just take her son and live on her own? I didn’t understand some of her choices, especially toward the end.

“Kate felt utterly alone, like she was the only woman stupid enough to make such colossal mistakes.” 

Yep. We’ve all been there, haven’t we? So, Kate’s love and devotion to her son, Reid, and her willingness to take a job and stay on the ranch just so Brett could get to know Reid, redeemed her. Brett, on the other hand…

“She’d loved the danger in his eyes. The years had changed him, and though his eyes were still pools of ebony, they held more wisdom now. The same passion, but curbed with patience and maturity.” 

He’s been through three deployments already, suffers from PTSD and a fear of sand. Horses calm him, and he’s found a sense of peace at Three Rivers Ranch. When Kate shows up and shatters his balance, I couldn’t blame him for wrestling with forgiveness. Even so, he’s kind and sweet and really good with Reid. What a hero! Especially when he…yikes, I can’t give that away! You’ll have to read the book. 🙂

I appreciated the insight from the letters and emails, but toward the end, I felt like they took over the story. The faith thread was subtle, not overpowering or preachy, and the romance the perfect balance of speak and sizzle. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Fourth and Long. Now, I’m off to find more romances in the Three Rivers Ranch series!

“The Lord speaks to each of us differently,” he said.

“Does He?” She wished her voice didn’t sound quite so desperate, quite so unsure. But she wasn’t sure God heard or answered her prayers.

Disclaimer: I purchased my own copy of this book. I was in no way compensated and this is my fair and unbiased review.