[ARC REVIEW] “High Water” (The Quiet Horsemen #4) By: Maggie Rawdon

The final The Quiet Horsemen book is here! That’s bittersweet to be typing after so long, but I know Maggie will have a new book for us all to enjoy soon!

What is High Water by Maggie Rawdon about?

He’s a ghost, back from the dead, and determined to claw back everything that should have been his—including me.

When I return home to my family’s ranch as a freshly divorced single mom, I expect all the usual challenges. I’m ready for the furious teenager and steeled for the small town gossip mill. I’m even prepared to be back in the thick of Stockton drama. The kind that has me helping my brothers patch bullet wounds and rebuild fire-ravaged family businesses.

What I’m not prepared for is seeing my brother’s best friend, the man who broke my heart years ago, back from the dead, and standing in the family kitchen laughing with my daughter.

Our daughter. Not that he would know.

He’s nothing like I remember. The soft-spoken ranch hand my father took in like his own is a hardened cowboy, every bit as dangerous as my brothers and twice as charming. My traitorous heart even threatens to thaw when I see him standing at the end of the aisle, hat in hand, wearing a heart-stopping grin.

Unfortunately for him, I’m only walking down it to secure a legacy my family desperately needs. Because once my heart is broken, I never forget.

Any path to forgiveness would involve him crawling on his knees over broken glass. A challenge he apparently sees as a silver lining.

But my secret isn’t the only one we uncover while we’re digging up the past, and the threat that follows has us racing against time and facing impossible odds.

Odds he’s determined to beat, come hell or high water

Rating: 4/5 stars

Review:

As always, I love returning to Purgatory Falls, and it’s bittersweet to see the series coming to a close! Y’all know I love seeing characters from previous books of Maggie’s still included even after they get their own books (as well as the side characters that we get to see in all of the Quiet Horsemen books) and hope to see more of the Stockton crew in future books of hers!

It’s also worth mentioning that I love that Maggie created both an Aspen and a Bishop cover for the book, since Aspen is the Stockton, after all! I highly recommend reading the books in order – although it’s not technically necessary, there’ll be a lot of context that you’ll miss. (Really, you should just start at the beginning of her catalog and go from there, if you have the time…)

I liked that the book kind of hit the ground running – Aspen told Bishop about Fallon early on, and she told her family not long after. I was glad that it circumvented the typical tropes of it being a surprise that blew up in her face when her brothers found out. Marriage of convenience is always an intriguing trope, plus Aspen and Bishop had the added second chance element.

Without giving too much away, I think fans of the series – and Maggie’s books in general – will be satisfied with the series, and I for one can’t wait to see what she has in store for us next!

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