The Rancher,The Baby & The Nanny - Sarah Orwig

This is a 2003 book.  While it was an interesting story to read, I have to admit that part of it drove me crazy.  The fickleness of the heroine had me biting my lips in frustration right up until the end.  On the plus side, however, the hero was incredibly sweet and wonderful.  I was was rooting for him throughout the story.  

 Back of book blurb:  Rodeo rider Wyatt Sawyer was used to handling bucking broncos, not babies!  So when he became the guardian of his five-month old niece, Wyatt knew he needed to hire a nanny.  He just never expeced that nanny to be the lovely Grace Talmadge - who was easy on the eyes... and a terrible temptation to a commitment-wary cowboy's heart.

Grace liked her life safe and secure, but living with her rugged boss and his bone-melting kisses was likely to get even the most sensible girl into trouble.  She and Wyatt were complete opposites, yet Grace found herself falling for this wild cowboy.  Could she take a chance and lasso the love of a lifetime?

Now to sum it up in my own way, I'll start with the fact that Grace has been raised by a minister who doesn't think money is all that important.  Grace however finds that money means much more to her, which is why she applies, adamently I might add, to the position of nanny for Wyatt's niece.  The first clue that she's a bit fickle is the fact that she insists on safety and disinterest on her part.  To me safety would not be taking the position of nanny for the niece of a man she knows is not reputable, because the job requires that she be alone with him week after week, night after night.  Taking such a position requires a certain amount of guts and daring.  Those are fine attributes and make for a great heroine, except they don't seem to belong to a woman who is so worried about safety.  After all, there are equally high-paying jobs that aren't so risky. 

Wyatt takes one look at her and tries to heed to his inner warning that she might be more than he can handle as a nanny, but at her persistence he hires her.  Should he then be blamed when he begins to be attracted to Grace, alone in his house, while watching the baby?  He's a great hero, very loving with the baby, and very gentle except for his rodeo riding and motorcycle riding.  Grace, however, insists that they have nothing in common and that his life is by far too risky for her.   As a result, he gives up most of the rodeo, except for one bronco event that's too late for him to back out of.  He makes this sacrifice for Grace as much as for the baby, whom he loves very much. 

Here is a what I didn't like the most about the story:  In spite of Wyatt giving up the rodeo, and doing what he can to please Grace, she isn't pleased.  Several times he tells her that he loves her, is very kind and gentle with her, pleasuring her exceedingly, but she blindly insists that they aren't compatible.  He can't seem to make her happy.  She admits she loves him, but cruelly pushes him away.  And there is never a good reason stated for why she thinks they aren't compatible, other than the fact that he doesn't like to read very much and that she doesn't like the rodeo or motorcycles.  In fact, it seems very obvious that they get along quite well together, having teriffic conversations, caring for the baby in a partnership, and both of them being passionate in and out of bed.  While it's true that Wyatt had a bad reputation when he was a seventeen-year-old kid, a past is a past, and it should be how he acts now that matters.  Ignoring common sense as well as what her heart tells her, Grace refuses his pleas to marry her and breaks his heart. 

What I did like about the story was that later, Grace does come to her senses and realizes that she has been trying to change Wyatt too much and that the rodeo and motorcycle-riding is a big part of who he is.  In an attempt to show him her changed heart, she goes to watch him at the bronco event to offer support.  She even tries to ride one of the legendary 'wild' white horses to prove to herself that life can't and shouldn't always be so safe that a person can't 'live' a little. 

I was satisfied at the very end of the story.  However, that satisfaction seemed to come a little slow in the plot. 

I'm a firm believer that everyone sees a story in a slightly different way, and I want to in no wise discourage anyone from reading this book.  You might read it and really enjoy it.  So, this review is purely a personal one.

I've started a rating system for my books now, as follows:

5* = Excellent, top notch, with lots of emotional or adventurous impact.  Is added to my favorites list.

4* = Great read.  Highly recommended.

3* = Good read, though probably pretty average.

2* = Less than exciting.  Could use some element of added spark.  Though others might possibly like it, I probably would not read it again.

1* = Not a book I was glad I read at all.  In fact, I may not have even finished it.

In all honesty, I have to rate this book a 2*

"Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see."

- Mark Twain