–Synopsis–

Houston, We Have A… Meet-Cute.
When a test flight goes sideways, astronaut Jack Carter crash-lands in the last place he expected: the middle of a Wyoming cattle ranch. Dazed, suffering from amnesia, and drop-dead handsome- he can’t remember his mission- or even his own name.

Enter Annie McGraw, a cowgirl who doesn’t have time for stray cattle… Let alone stray astronauts. But when she takes him in, sparks fly faster than a rocket launch.

Out under Wyoming’s star-filled skies, Jack launches into a mission he never trained for: a woman who just might be his greatest adventure yet, and a faith that grounds him more than gravity ever could.

–Review–

To preface, I have a real respect for authors who choose to go down the self-publishing route, as is the case for this book. That being said, I did notice some writing and grammar errors as well as a lack of overall depth to the story.

This is a dual-POV story written through alternating eyes of Annie and Jack. One of the characteristics I look for with multiple points of view stories is how smooth the transitions are. Within this book there are multiple chapters that reword what had just taken place at the end of the previous one causing a detour in the overall pacing. While this was not a huge deal for me, reading did begin to feel like a chore during these parts.

This story is set within the scenic mountains of Wyoming on a ranch the main character (Annie) inherited from her father. While I do love these backdrops, I feel like the reader misses out on some of the appreciation since most of the work feels rushed and/or done off page. The drives into town are not immersive either so it does not feel as isolated as the characters claim. There were some notable scenes that I did enjoy: one involving branding the calves, and a lovely night scene involving the northern lights.

Annie is the main female character and the owner of the ranch. Being an only child, her parents signed the ranch over to her in order to live out their lives in Florida. She has shown interest in taking care of animals since she was a child, so she graciously accepted her new role as owner. Her ranch is her home and legacy, so she takes great pride in it. Throughout the book she continually turns to God for guidance through prayer as she is dealing with not only deep-rooted desires of getting married and having her own children, but the whole Jack situation as well. Annie is quick to realize when she is struggling and humbly places her faith in God.

Jack is the fallen space man and love interest in this story. After his crash landing, he is stricken by amnesia so his main priority for the majority of the story is remembering who he is and where he came from. As he remembers more and more, his focus turns more to his future and how his views on life have changed. Similar to Annie, he continuously turns to God for guidance and peace as he deals with the overwhelming emotions of feeling lost due to the gaps in his memories. His priorities and desires start to shift as he gets closer to Annie, making him realize there was a reason he crash landed on her ranch of all places.

The romance between Annie and Jack felt pretty forced, adding to the overall rushed feeling of the book in general. The fact they were already focusing highly on each other’s physical appearances, made me feel the foundation of their relationship was shallow. The overall tension between the two felt very much like lust a bit too many times, for me to care too deeply about their relationship. Given, there were some deeper levels of connection being made at times, particularly when the future was brought up. I just struggled to immerse myself within the romance of this story due to how quickly it progressed.

Comedy is one of the main themes throughout the book. The main “comedian” being Clint, a ranch hand and brother-like figure to Annie. While I did enjoy moments of the camaraderie between Clint, Annie and Jack, the excessive amount of space puns and childish antics, did feel quite forced as well. The fact Jack had just fallen out of the sky, with clear signs of disorientation and a potential head injury, was just not the time or place to be cracking jokes. At least in my opinion.

The Christian themes are pretty thick of which I do not mind at all. In fact, I enjoy stories where the main characters have strong faith and actively show it through their actions. That being said, the main characters are constantly repeating the same desires and fears over and over again. Do not get me wrong, Lord knows I pray about the same things during my own prayer times. However, in a book setting, it can become a chore to read the same lines, which were pretty much verbatim, multiple times.

All in all, my main issue with this book was the shorter length. If the story was at least twice as long, I feel the romance could have been so much more flushed out and natural feeling. We could have been giving much more time to actually enjoy the beautiful scenery, making the immersion so much deeper and memorable.

-About the Author-

Cassandra is a full-time author living in the Rodeo Capital of the World and is married to a cowboy. She writes Christian cowboy romances, all set in Wyoming and inspired by the people, places, and values of the American West. When she’s not writing, she enjoys skiing, exploring the Rocky Mountains, and reading.