seriously romantic: lost rider by harper sloan

in lost rider, the first book in the coming home series, maverick davis has lost his sense of purpose. ten years ago he left everything behind to pursue his dream of bull-riding. he left behind his siblings. he left behind the girl he loved—not that she was aware of the fact. because in order to really leave, he behaved despicably, unforgivably. he couldn't risk anything keeping him close to his abusive, drunk, poor excuse for a father.

except now that bull-riding is no longer a viable career, now that his father is dead and buried, and now that his siblings need him more than ever, he's come home. and what he did ten years ago still flays at him. especially now that his dream is gone. so he gave up love for nothing. he hurt leighton james for nothing.

and he did hurt her. she's survived and grown stronger and tries so hard to hold on to her anger. she wants to hate maverick so much. and when he first returns he does his best to help her continue hating him. but so much anger and pain and emotion and longing and love can't stay hidden. and soon enough they realize that it is useless to fight their connection.

if ten years of hurt and pain and loneliness didn't kill it. nothing will. and now they just need to figure out who they are together. because not being honest with themselves or each other is what has them so twisted up in knots. and maverick has plenty of amends to make. for a while there is such a disconnect between what is going on in his head and what his mouth is actually saying that it's hard to know how to feel about him. he does redeem himself. once he stops getting in his own way, things move forward. really, most conflicts in life can be resolved if only we stopped being our own biggest obstacle.

**lost rider will publish on april 25, 2017. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/gallery, threshold, pocket books (pocket books) in exchange for my honest review.