It’s 3:27 AM and I find myself waking up with thoughts of Lauren Landish’s Racing Hearts, the third book on the Bennett Boys Ranch.
I search through Amazon for Mark and James’ stories, and I see that I already have them on my kindle, waiting for me to read. I guess I will, now that I have finished Luke and Shay’s story.
I must confess, though, that I was not at first keen on reading about the Bennett boys, because I was stuck with thoughts of her Dirty Fairy Tales. And then I got the chance to read Racing Hearts. I must apologize to Lauren Landish. I never should have doubted reading James’ and Mark’s stories when I had them, because, well, this one, Racing Hearts, hit a bit close to home for me.
Let’s start with the plot. Racing Hearts was everything I knew Lauren could give in a story: well-written, that I never doubted. There may have been some errors, but they were so few that it never took away the pleasure of reading about Shay and Luke, how their love was able to bring closure to the bad blood between their families.
The characters. I fell in love with Luke and Shay from the first page to the last. I felt for her brothers, and am eagerly waiting for Lauren to let her readers get to know Brody, Bruce, and Bobby.
I am shaking my head for not starting the series in order. I know this is a stand-alone, but I would have preferred to have read Buck Wild and Riding Hard first. That’s just me, being OC.
As I said, this one hit a bit close to home. I lost my Dad years back. They said it was a heart attack that took him. I was the one closest to my Dad, I was his princess. I listened more to him than I did to my Mom.
I did not attend his funeral, though, and to this day, I have no regrets for seeing him one last time. You see, he was like Shay’s Dad, he was a gambler. No, he did not gamble with our finances…instead, he gambled with our hearts. And I hated him for it.
To this day I haven’t been to his gravesite, although, in my heart, I have forgiven him. I am his daughter, after all.
So, Racing Hearts…there are some takeaways for me in the book and I thank Lauren for them:
“There are some stories that I’ve never heard and some I’ve heard a million times, all little pieces of tape that hold myself together.”
“It’s not a big secret, I’m afraid,” Mama Louise admits. “I just add freshly fried bacon, onions, and mushrooms to the green bean mixture. I dice them all up and sauté them down so they’re invisible before adding them.”
–Lauren Landish, Racing Hearts
Little gems that may not hold any meaning to some of you, but they strike deep within my heart. If you haven’t read the Bennett Boys, please, I encourage you to do so. If it’s just to experience living in a ranch through the words of Lauren Landish, read it. If it’s reading about cowboys (yes, they are) and their badass women, read it. If it’s to find little gems as I did, read it.
Even if, as you read, you find yourselves rubbing your heart like I did.
“Courage is not the absence of fear. It’s doing what you need to do even when you wanna piss yourself. Hell, sometimes, it’s doing it while the piss is running down your leg.”
–Lauren Landish, Racing Hearts
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