Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A rodeo champion returns to his small hometown and has to figure out how to repair the relationships he damaged years ago when he left, both with his siblings and with his soul mate.Days after a career-ending injury, Maverick Davis gets word that his father has died and makes his way back to Pine Oak, Texas. Arriving just at the end of the funeral, he immediately antagonizes his family and insults Leighton, his sister's best friend and the girl he's never forgotten. Maverick left to follow his rodeo dream and to escape his father, who was abusive to all his children but brutal to Maverick. Now that his father is gone and his career is over, he needs to figure out what to do next, and he'd like to plant new roots in Pine Oak, but between his uncertainty about his work life and everyone's mistrust of his declared intentions to stay, it's hard. Yet he knows that his future lies with Leighton, and her future is in Pine Oak. Establishing a sexual relationship bonds them in a new way, yet it also confuses them, given their prickly past. Sloan begins a new Western series with engaging characters and an appealing small-town setting; her second-chance-at-love romance resonates emotionally even though the conflict becomes problematic as Maverick and Leighton continually overthink their own and each other's motivations and choices. The back-and-forth dance about what they may or may not want, and whether or not they can trust each other to be honest about their feelings and hopes, gets a little tedious. There's no question, however, that Sloan knows her way around sexual tension and emotional intensity. Sexy and mostly satisfying. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Sloan (When I'm with You) hits it out of the park with her first Coming Home contemporary western romance, the tale of a lonely cowboy and the hometown sweetheart who has never stopped loving him. Rodeo rider Maverick Davis hightailed it out of Pine Oak, Tex., the minute he could, desperate to escape his abusive father. But in leaving, Maverick deeply wounded Leighton James, the shy girl who had loved him since they were children. A decade after his departure, Maverick's father has died, and Maverick's high-profile rodeo career is ended by a serious injury. He returns to his hometown hoping to forge a new life for himself. Leighton has closed herself off from love, instead channeling all of her energy into her successful bakery, the PieHole. Now that Maverick is back, she struggles to overcome the hurt and to trust the love of her life to treat her more kindly the second time around. Maverick is a perfect hero: multilayered, complicated, deeply damaged, yet blooming with the new promise of love. Leighton is appealing and real, as are a strong supporting cast of characters whom readers will be glad to follow into sequels. Sloan enhances the gripping story with country songs that open each chapter. This absolutely spectacular effort catapults Sloan to the top of her genre. Agent: Marisa Corvisiero, Corvisiero Literary. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Maverick left his small Texas town 10 years ago for a life as a professional bull rider. Now a series of injuries and a death in the family bring him home, and he doesn't recognize the only person outside of his family who he really missed, Leighton. Although she hasn't forgotten him, the way he hurt her before he took off is still in her thoughts as she works at her successful pie shop. Sloan brings plenty of heat to this otherwise very thoughtful, building love story, the first in her Coming Home series. After losing her parents, Leighton doesn't think she can trust that Maverick means to stay this time. Maverick's pursuit of Leighton and her slow acceptance ignites the vivid ranch and small-town settings. Contemporary western romances are challenging to write, and Sloan makes it fun to read about realistic ways cowboys can fit into modern society. Readers will look forward to learning how the uncovered family secrets affect siblings Clay and Quinn in future books. For fans of Carolyn Brown's contemporary westerns.--Alessio, Amy Copyright 2017 Booklist