Don't Tell My Mom

TITLE: Colt (Double U Ranch #1)

AUTHOR: Jessica Peterson

PUBLISHER: Peterson Paperbacks, LLC

PUBLISHING DATE: August 18, 2026

PAGES: 432   

SOURCE: KU

FROM GOODREADS: Lainey Brown is not ranch material. She's a city girl who landed on the legendary Wallace Ranch to give the place a fresh coat of branding—and get her career back on track. She's got no interest in cowboys, cattle, or the infuriatingly gorgeous foreman who clearly wants her gone. 

Colton Wallace has spent every day since losing his wife building something worth leaving his son: a spotless reputation, a thriving operation, and a life with no room for complications. The last thing he needs is a firecracker from Austin with a sketchbook full of big ideas and a smile that makes him forget every reason he swore off wanting things he can't keep. 

But somewhere between their very first fight and a Texas night sky that stretches on forever, something shifts. Lainey stops counting the days until she can leave. And Colt stops pretending he wants her to. 

The ranch has always been the Wallace legacy. But Colt is starting to wonder if the best thing that's ever happened to it—and to him—just walked in wearing city shoes.

MY THOUGHTS: First things first (I'm a realist - extra points if you understand that segue and please comment if you do).  Okay back on task. This is exactly the type of cover I would have razzed my mother about reading when I was a teen and stuck knee-deep in my Stephen King/Anne Rice library loans).  However, apparently, I'm still in my cowboy romance era so this is what I'm forced to deal with.  Thank heavens I love this author and I ended up loving this book!

Readers were first introduced briefly to Lainey and Colt in the last Lucky River Ranch book so it was no shock that we would be visiting this neighboring ranch and their brood of troubled sons next.  Lainey is a city girl from Fort Worth.  She has just completed college and is looking for an "adult job" despite having mixed feelings about working in the business world.  Colt is foreman on the Wallace family ranch.  His wife died a few years back but not before loading him down with plenty of baggage and an adorable and precocious kindergartner named Dean.  Colt's father hires Lainey to rebrand the ranch and solidify its legacy before he completely hands over the reins.  He failed to consult Colt so when Lainey shows up, he is less than pleased.  He fights Lainey and her rebranding research every step of the way, but it is really the possibility of things changing around the ranch that infuriates him, or the changes he sees himself making because of Lainey's presence.

I love the way this author combines serious topics and family drama with fun and spice.  Lainey's parents are not the best example of a marriage, so she loves spending time with the entire Wallace clan, who values family over all else.  And Colt has lived by the book for so long after being burned by his wife and then raising a child on his own that he is the definition of grumpy and downright mean at times.  Colt and Lainey are the perfect enemies-to-lovers trope with some excellent banter, and I just knew this would lead to some very interesting sex scenes later on. This book was on the long side for a romance, but I always fly through them and eagerly want the next in the series when I'm finished (which doesn't come out until January by the way).

If you are looking to dip your feet in the cowboy romance genre, Peterson's books are a great place to start.  However, I do recommend you read the Lucky Rivers Ranch books first as there really is a lot of cross-over between the two series.   

MY RATING: 5 PAWS