Bookshelf Friday - Undeniably Yours

Becky Wade's second novel arrived in early May. LOVE the cover!! I had the pleasure of reading it recently...here's a short blurb on it:

When Meg Cole's father dies unexpectedly, she becomes the majority shareholder of his oil company and the single inheritor of his fortune. Though Meg is soft-spoken and tenderhearted--more interested in art than in oil--she's forced to return home to Texas and to Whispering Creek Ranch to take up the reins of her father's empire.

The last thing she has the patience or the sanity to deal with? Her father's thoroughbred racehorse farm. She gives its manager, Bo Porter, six months to close the place down.

Bo's determined to resent the woman who's decided to rob him of his dream. But instead of anger, Meg evokes within him a profound desire to protect. The more time he spends with her, the more he longs to overcome every obstacle that separates them--her wealth, his unworthiness, her family's outrage--and earn the right to love her.

But just when Meg begins to realize that Bo might be the one thing on the ranch worth keeping, their fragile bond is viciously broken by a force from Meg's past. Can their love--and their belief that God can work through every circumstance--survive? past. Can their love--and their belief that God can work through every circumstance--survive?

Becky is great at contemporary romance. She has a fresh new voice which is what pulled me through her first book My Stubborn Heart and had me hungry for her second. The two books are stand alones and both are must reads. I love how Becky brings in a wide group of supporting characters, all with their own quirks. She also is great at the romantic tension, crafting believable reasons the two main characters aren't together yet, not problems that could simply be handled if they just had a good talk. This conflict is what propels you through the pages. That, and the simple fact you'll love the people in this book.

I do have to say, however, that this book did not carry quite as much dialogue as her first. One thing that draws me to Becky's writing is her amazing dialogue and the interaction of her characters, and I found that aspect slightly lacking in comparison to her debut novel. Also, in Undeniably Yours the story, while still laced with humorous moments, is a tad more serious and has a more suspenseful bend to it (though it's slight). For someone like me--who loves suspense--that didn't bother me, and I was still happily content when I finished this book. That said, I still love her debut novel more, a fact that was hard to finally admit when I closed the last page of Undeniably Yours, but a testament to Becky's incredibly strong writing. She is an author I will continue to seek out and recommend to friends, family, and really anyone who'll listen. If you haven't read Becky before, summer's here! May I suggest picking up BOTH her books, finding a lounge chair, and digging in. You won't be disappointed.

I give Undeniably Yours 4 out of 5 stars and am already waiting for Becky's next book.

If you'd like to see a break-down of what my stars equal, check out my page My Ratings System to the right there. And a big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free ecopy of this book in exchange for my honest review.