Lone Rider (Wind River Valley #5) by Lindsay McKenna

Lone Rider (Wind River Valley #5) Reviews

• 
  Reem

  I had high hopes for this book. Great premise, real problems, and Cowboys on a ranch, where could it go wrong? Half way through the book nothing had happened yet. It read more like a medicinal advertisement part ways. A lot of repetition. And both characters were just so boring. They talked through everything! Yes fine, this eliminated those silly misunderstandings but at times I just wanted them to stop with all the feelings!
  The two women talk about how Harper was a type b with a hidden type a... Not true, he's a boring b all the way through.
• 
  Veda

  I love this series, and this book didn't disappoint me. I have learned more about PTSD, the causes, the triggers, the cures. Everyone is different, everyone handles PTSD differently. There is no cookie cutter cure, all there is is hard work and being aware what might trigger an episode. Lindsay Mckenna has researched this so much, I am sure to make sure she is giving the right information to the readers.
  Tara Dalton was raised in the Wind River Valley, but is finally home after serving in the military. Bringing home the all the memories of what she has seen and done during her service. Harper Sutton, I have wanted his story, as he has been in all the previous books in this series.
  Lindsay Mckenna has woven a story we it some surprises I was expecting. Once I started reading, I didn't want to put the book down. And loved it. And want more as I still have some unanswered questions concerning the ranch and do all the couples get married?
  
• 
  Ang -PNR Book Lover Reviews

  This is the second novel I have read by this author, and I didn't realize I had even read the first one in this series like ages ago. Anyways this is now book 5... BOOK. FIVE(!!!) So I have missed quite a lot!
  
  I'm pretty sure this can be read as a standalone, even though it annoyed my own ocd when it comes to series...
  
  The characters are nice, and developed. The writing is ok and the word PTSD was used a little too much!
  
  Other then that, Its a good solid romantic suspense novel, it takes place in Wind River and the characters this time are Tara and Harper. I liked the story line and the cover is hot, I was interested and invested in the story from the beginning to the end. A very low key slow build up to the couples romance,
  
  Overall I give the story 3.5- Stars
• 
  1-Click Addict Support Group

  Quiet romance with an emotional punch…
  
  I haven’t read a book by this author in ages and I find myself wondering why after reading Tara and Dalton’s story. As ex-military they had served in very different ways but found themselves fighting the same lingering enemy. Offered shelter, a place to work and recover, these new roommates received friendship and a supportive hand that held love as well. Their story was simple but held a powerful message – you didn’t have to go it alone…
  
  If the term ‘PTSD’ was hammered home a bit too much it in no way stopped the message from hitting hard… Surviving trauma was not easy and it took empathy and love to make it through…
  
  I started mid-series but this stand-alone has me intrigued… ~Diane, 3.5 stars
• 
  Cali Jewel

  Heart pounding, emotional, action packed romantic adventure filled with humor, dramatic twists, passion and danger.
  
  Tara Dalton and Harper Sutton are part of a group of ex-military vets is putting their lives back together one step at a time on the Bar C Ranch and are struggling with PTSD. They are so sweet and right for each other perfect paring to work at healing together. While this is the fifth book in the series I did not feel lost at all starting here... however it was so entertaining I now must go search out the first four and hope they are just as thrilling to read.
• 
  Cathy Geha

  Lone Rider by Lindsay McKenna
  Wind River Valley #5
  
  Tara Dalton and Harper Sutton find love while working and living together on the Bar C Ranch. Both have been in combat zones and suffer from PTSD. There is plenty of action with a one-time kidnapper showing up again, a grizzly bear attack and PTSD to deal with. I found the story easy to read but felt the use of the term PTSD may have been sprinkled throughout a bit too often. If you are looking for a contemporary western set on a ranch that stars veterans home from the war with each finding the HEA then this book might be for you.
  
  Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington – Zebra for the ARC – This is my honest review.
  
  3 Stars
  
• 
  Nancy

  East fast read.
• 
  Owl._.

  Another easy read in the Wind River series. It wasn't bad but after reading several in this series, I found myself losing interest. There were no surprises. I've been reading Lindsay McKenna for a while but I think I am done with this particular series.
• 
  Linda

  This is the first time I have read a book by this author and if it is anything to go by it will be my last. I will say that even though it is part of a series it can stand alone. I wish I had stopped to count how many times the author uses the term PTSD in this book. It was such overkill with the PTSD label I truly wanted to give up on the book but since I received it as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for honest review, I forged ahead and finished it.
  The characters in it are well developed. The author makes sure to throw in sexy, alpha male cowboys, former military vets, and romance but again the PTSD label is on every single emotion or feeling to the point of ad nauseum and because the people living on the ranch were all military vets they work differently and better as a team than civilians apparently or that is what the author implies.
  I am all for awareness of PTSD and I appreciate our military veteran's sacrifices I do not think it the author handled it well in this story at all.
  Thumbs down on this one.
  
  
  
  
• 
  No Apology Book Reviews

  This audiobook was painful to listen to, and I don’t know why I didn’t just turn it off. Too lazy, I guess; it was noise. This book was terribly written. It might have been only fifth in the series, but all the backstory that was thrown at us made it seem like this was the tenth installment at least. There was SO MUCH exposition; it seemed like every time a character was introduced, no matter how secondary or tertiary, we got their life story right then and there. Talk about info dump… And the characters’ dialogue was so unnatural. Loads of exposition was delivered via dialogue without finesse or subtlety, and the characters spoke to each other of their emotions with so much openness and frankness that it was laughable. Tara and Harper were okay characters in general, but they had touchy-feely conversations that just don’t happen outside a shrink’s office, and maybe not even then. A ranch whose employees were all vets suffering PTSD was heartwarming, and I acknowledge and admire the gratitude and respect McKenna tried to convey for our veterans through that creative choice, but I feel kind of embarrassed that it was delivered so poorly. The theme of combat-related PTSD was so heavy and suffocating that by the end I’d gone numb to it, and that’s not the effect you want to have when you’re trying to show respect. I mean, it was a blatant PSA with a weak and terrible suspense plot shoehorned in, and I did not enjoy it.
  
  noapologybookreviews.com
  keeneyeediting.com
• 
  Lisa Bald (Gogel)

  This book needs editing! How many repetitive sentences and conversations can be in one book? There is no way a reader can infer from this book, because the author just about hits you over the head with every point she wants to make and then does so again and again with the same point. Even within this one story there are 4 couples dealing with the same troubles and having the same conversations!
  
• 
  Linda Walters

  I do like this particular series and this book is pretty good too. I realized as I started reading it that I had read others about the Bar C.
  It has good main characters and plenty of emotions and action. The other members of the ranch are also vets and even as they are healing they do what they can to help each other.
  
  Tara is still trying to heal from the kidnapping that happened when she was sixteen. And Cree Elson still lives and works closer than Tara is comfortable with.. All she can hope for is that his obsession with her is over. But she doesn't really believe that. So take that hanging over head and add it to her military service P.T.S.D. and it makes for some pretty bad times. But Tara does feel safer and calmer when she is around Harper. It also helps her know how to help him as he works through his own military memories and P.T.S.D. Even through all of their stresses they really do bring the best out of each other. P.T.S.D. is covered quite a bit but there is also a story there. There is also some repetition that felt like it didn't really need to be done so much. One example is how Tara and Harper both talked about how responsibly they had been raised. It was pretty much the same thing each time. That's my feelings about it anyway. There were several other places where I thought the story didn't need certain facts repeated time and again. We got it.
  
  Reese and Shay who own the ranch are still fighting to overcome Shay's father. He is a bull headed bully who is trying to take back the ranch he really has no right to. A ranch under his "leadership" that slide so far downhill that it almost went belly up. But he is recovering from his stroke and getting stronger. The first thing that he would do is get rid of all the vets working there. Looks like things just might have to be settled in court. But not yet, not in this book. I would like to see how that works out.
• 
  Kim

  Lyndsay McKenna takes us back to the Wind River Valley and to the Bar C for the story of Harper Sutton and Tara Dalton who like all the wranglers and owner of the ranch are Military Veterans battling PTSD since there discharge from the service. The book brings you to an emotional turmoil with all that Harper and Tara are dealing with separately and together even though they're extremely attracted to each other from the being. Tara ran away from memories of the past by entering the service and it all returns when she comes home to the Wind River Valley. While trying to deal with her past she becomes reacquainted with her best friend Shay who owns the Bar C. Going to work at the ranch she is teamed with Harper who is dealing with emotions from a divorce along with his PTSD. As they get to know each other the realize that they have a lot in common and they go on a hike running into a bear and are put in a deadly situation which triggers Harper's PTSD which Tara helps him through bringing them closer together. With the help of a local therapist Tara gets some control over her PTSD but she still has to deal with the past. Harper and Tara fall in love with each other but don't communicate it to each other. Tara has her past repeat it's self and with her military training along with Harper and another member of the ranch they come to Tara's rescue. After she is saved Harper and Tara declare their love for each other and work with the other wranglers to handle the after math of Tara's ordeal and they talk about their future. I look forward to the next installment in the Wind River series that I believe is do later this year which tells the story of the sheriff of Wind River Valley and the man she hires to take care of her grandmother.
• 
  Garth Mailman

  So the author and I have gone to the well a few times too many. This will be a comment on social morays, not me being judgmental. The book is volume 5 in a Western Cowboy Veterans Romance Series. The entire plot is laid out in the first chapter for anyone who has read the first four and come to know the formula. A male and female vet are put up in the same cabin and find love despite their PTSD symptoms. A member of the local criminal family will attack the gal and her cowboy knight will ride in on his horse in shining spurs and felt Stetson hat, (they start at $500.00), to save the day. The sex will be fantastic and therapeutic.
  
  Times have changed since it would have been considered unseemly for an unmarried couple to sleep over on the same farm. Now they are housed unchaperoned in the same cabin though they do have their own ensuite baths so they don’t have to share. Of course now they serve in the same combat units on black ops. Although the trend is seemingly changing marriage has become optional. Sex as a matter of procreation within the bonds of matrimony has become a recreational activity between consenting adults and the partners are often same sex. Gay couples ironically are suing for the right to marry though divorce rates are as high as for hetero couples. At least it is hoped they wear protection. In an age of phone sex and online porno romance novels provide elaborate descriptions of rolls in the hay as vicarious enjoyment. Books that omit these scenes are termed sweet.
  
  The editing in this series is better than most and it is profanity free. Considering publishers pay up to a dollar a word to those who churn out these novels this one is a reasonable 321 pages.
• 
  Marti

  Lone Rider is the newest in the Wind River Valley series by Lindsay McKenna. We are back on the Bar C Ranch designed to help veterans who are struggling with PTSD. Shay was glad to see her friend from high school and wanted Tara to join the ranch. Tara has left the Arms Services. Her tours left her with nightmares, anxiety and constant hyperawareness. Working outdoors as a wrangler and extra hand would be a godsend.
  
  Harper is fighting PTSD as well. For him finding the ranch and being able to work with the horses helps him get through each day. His marriage disintegrated and his life fell apart until he found the Bar C. Now he is working toward a future.
  
  Together Harper and Tara spark. They are both so damaged and afraid, but they are feeling things they hoped for but never expected. I enjoyed the couple, but found the book dragged in the middle. I felt that the characters continued to repeat themselves and spent too much time in their head rehashing what happened and is happening. I think the book could have included all the relevant plot line with more streamlined middle. However, the wordiness did not take away from the quality of the story with the mystery and adventure of Harper and Tara.
  
  I am looking forward to the next book in series when it comes out in the fall. Lone Rider by Lindsay McKenna is a good read.
  
• 
  patrick Lorelli

  The fifth book in the series takes you back the Bar C and once again you are introduced to a vet that has come has come home. Tara Dalton grew up in the valley and left at the age of eighteen, now after ten years as a combat photographer her PTSD has caused her to look for a place to live other than her parents after causing them pain. Finding a place at the Bar C She becomes roommate with Harper Sutton who was a medic and still dealing with his own PTSD issues and a divorce. The beginning of this book starts off good like the other books but then for some reason there is just a lot of words and repeating of conversation that I felt took away from the story. I got that part of the book was about PTSD, but it felt like that was brought up in every conversation. Also most people in black ops don’t talk about being in black ops or saying because we were in black ops we know what we are doing, the two of them would have an understanding and very little would be spoken and only about what they were going to do, not the consent phase black ops. These and endless words or excessive in this book made for a very slow read and for a much different experience that the other books in the series. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 2 stars. Follow us at
  www.1rad-readerreviews.com
• 
  Charlotte

  This book is a GoodReads giveaway win.
  Shay has taken the Bar C Ranch away from her so alcoholic father because he has almost ruined it and lost it to the bank. Shay is a vet with PTSD, has made the ranch a safe place for others with PTSD by hiring wrangler with the same. Tara Dalton hasn't been home long. She is having trouble being home, terrible nightmares from her black ops time plague her. Tara also has terrible anxiety, she thinks by finding a job outside she deal with her PTSD better.
  Shay and Tara are old friends from high school, so when Tara learns Shay is looking for another farm wrangler, she has hope. Shay needs help and knows what Tara is going through with the PTSD, plus she is pretty she Tara and Harper will get along. Shay also knows about Free because she went to school with Tara.
  I really enjoyed this. I liked that the author told of some of the problems our vets go through when they come home. I'm sure it's not easy for any of them, I wish there was a real Bar C Ranch.
  This story not only tells of the vets, but weaves in a crazy stalker from Tara's past that makes Harper and Tara realize how they feel beyond all the dramatic stuff.
  I think this book is well written with a great plot, and great characters.
• 
  Carmella

  I received an ARC of this e-book and am leaving an honest opinion.
  
  Tara has returned home after serving overseas. She of course has witnessed events she never thought she would and suffers from PTSD. She has a wonderful family but they can't understand what she has been through and the nightmares and anxiety that plague her.
  
  She finds out that her old friend from school is looking for help on her ranch and after visiting and talking, she decides to give the job a try.
  
  She will be sharing a house with Harper, who has his own PTSD demons. There definitely is an attraction between the two but neither is in a position to begin a relationship. As they together and begin to spend time together, they slowly develop a trust and start to really talk. The demons will take time though and probably will never go away totally.
  
  This book is part of a series, all standalone books. I have read them all and am so impressed with the research the author did on PTSD. It's also sad because these Vet's were serving their country which I am sure they don't regret. It is something that may never leave them and an innocent trigger can start an episode.
  
  Tara and Harper take it slow, they talk and both worry about the other suffering from their PTSD actions. Good book!
  
• 
  Sara Beth Lyon

  Lindsay McKenna does it again … her stories are so detailed, and make you feel like you are experiencing the story on an intimate level. Tara and Harper’s story combines Wyoming ranching and living as military veterans dealing with PTSD at the Bar C Ranch, owned by Tara’s childhood friend Shay, who employs military men and women. Their love for one another is seen the instant they meet and grows into a true relationship and friendship throughout the story with the depth of their love growing everyday as they lean on each other and battle through their pasts. Harper’s previous marriage leaves him a bit reserved, while Tara’s past kidnapping at age 16 comes back to haunt her as the kidnapper has been released from prison and is back in the area.
  The action, adventure, and budding romance made this another great addition to the Wind River Valley series.
• 
  Donna

  Time to once again visit Wind River, Wyoming! This time in the fifth book of the Wind River Valley series, Harper Sloan is working at the Bar C Ranch as a wrangler when a new employee gets hired to work with him. This ranch caters to veterans suffering from PTSD and the newbie is Tara Dalton, a local who served in Afghanistan as a combat photographer. She shares a bunkhouse with Harper and the two find out that they have quite a bit in common as they both work to overcome their PTSD issues. Great addition to the series and an exciting story with adventure and suspense tossed in!
  
  Lone Rider by Lindsay McKenna is published by Zebra, an imprint of Kensington Books. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.
• 
  Nancy Ku

  Lone Rider (Wind River Valley #5) by Lindsay McKenna ... I love this series... i was lucky to read this book through #NetGalley ...catching up with Shay and Reese...Garret and Kira (their wedding) and Noah and Dair... This is Harper and Tara's story... like the others they suffer from PSTD plus Harper feels guilty because of a failed marriage and Tara can't get over being kidnapped by Cree when she was 16 and now she is back home where he still is. This was a real page turner like the others... Lindsay makes me feel like I'm part of the story.. watching them come together and then drama Cree causes ...wow just wow... so glad they got to their HEA...I can't wait for the next book Sheriff Sara's story WIND RIVER LAWMAN...
• 
  Jo

  We have another vet joining the group at the Bar C Ranch. Tara is a photographer who comes with her own set of PTSD symptoms. She is a native of the valley and in addition is in danger from a past stalker and kidnapper. Her house mate is Harper Sutton and the two bond but are holding back because they are afraid to move too fast. This has tension and danger as well as a lot of dialog about military, PTSD, and how they are all a family. Lindsay does overkill in the military direction but in a good cause. I like the series. I read a sample of the next book and it looks like a really good story. I will be picking that on up as soon as possible.
  
  I received a free copy of the book in return for an honest review.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 
  Bette Hansen

  This is a fantastic book as another vet finds the much needed solace provided by everyone at the Bar C Ranch. Overall the story is very good. The characters are well developed and of course it is very well written. My only complaint is that the word/term PTSD is way overused in the writing.
  
  Tara Dalton returns to Wyoming after serving as a combat photographer in Afghanistan. She's suffering from PTSD symptoms and instead of worrying her parents she wants to find a place of her own. That's when her friend Shay tells her about the Bar C and convinces Tara to come work and live there. While there she'll be surrounded by people who understand what she's dealing with and help her find her way to a new happy life.
  
  I highly recommend this one.
• 
  Linda

  We are back on the Bar C Ranch with Reese and Shay where they hired vets who are suffering with PTSD as wranglers. Harper Sutton had been working at the Bar C for a long time and was also going to school to be the county’s only EMT with the fire department. Tara Dalton had lived in Wind River her whole life except for her time in the military but she knew that her PTSD was upsetting to her parents who only wanted to help but didn’t know how. It didn’t take long for Harper to realize he had feelings for Tara as soon as she started working at the ranch but because they both suffered from PTSD, he knew he would have to gain her friendship and help her through the nightmares and dreams they all had when they finally got back home. Good read.
• 
  Cheryl Sanders

  This is book 5 in the Wind River Valley series and it features Tara and Harper. We are back at the Bar C ranch where veterans work and live. Tara and Harper are working through their PTSD issues. The only problem was I felt the ENTIRE story was listening to these two talk about PTSD or about his ex-wife. It was very difficult to get into the story because even the romance took a back seat to the PTSD.
  
  I’m NOT knocking anyone with PTSD! I understand that it is a huge problem with our veterans more and more but this is supposed to be a romance novel. The suspense was great but I needed more sexy cowboys and way more romance. I love this author’s writing but this book didn’t work for me at all.
• 
  Connie

  I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley and I also purchased a copy.
  
  This was a wonderful story with great characters. I did enjoy the dual POVs that the book is written in to help understand the characters better (at least for me.) Tara and Harper were perfectly matched. I enjoyed the drama and suspense of the plot. The only thing that I did not care for was the continued "PTSD vets like us". A lot of people suffer from PTSD. It also made it sound like not all vets suffer from PTSD. It was a little annoying to me.
  
  The plot flowed smoothly and just at the right pace. I did enjoy the story hence why I purchased. I do recommend this book if you enjoy military/cowboy romance.
• 
  Pam

  This was a nice romantic suspense to read. Both Harper & Tara are vets with PTSD & trust issues. They are working at a ranch with other vets. Their similarities draw them together & there is an attraction there. They need to gain control of their PTSD before they can move further. In the meantime, an enemy from Tara's past surfaces. Can Harper protect her?
  
  I enjoyed this book. The characters were likable & realistic. The interactions with the other vets gave an added dimension to the story. The plot moved a little slowly at the beginning but speed up as you got into it. While it wasn't a riveting tale, it was a nice sweet read.
• 
  Richard Guerrero

  One good thing about this book is that the serious drama scene was not around the father, Ray Crawford. This was a better scene. I still think it’s a little out there for me, and how many times can you say black ops in one book. One thing that always had bothered me in a series is how they do not follow same timelines and same fax from other books. I guess I can see when there’s 30 Dash50 books in A Series but I’m only in the fifth book and there’s so much discrepancy from the previous books. To me A Series is supposed to be a continuance, a longer story. Anyways, that’s all I got.