Navarro

Rebel Sky Ranch, Book 3

By: Kelly Fox

Narrated by: Declan Winters

My late wife made a bet with me: if I marry her brother, I have to take his last name.

“That's the rule. You marry two Navarros, you become one of us.”

Renée always did have a sense of humor—even as she was dying—but I’ll never love anyone the way I loved her. Falling for my brother-in-law? Psh. Desi’s almost 20 years younger than me and far too pretty.

Besides, my son would never forgive me.

Still, it's getting harder and harder to deny our chemistry with every encounter. I just want to pretend that none of this is happening.

God, what if I can’t keep pretending?

The worst kept secret at Rebel Sky Ranch is that I’m deeply, tragically in love with Wyatt Goodnight.

Not only is he my late sister’s husband, but he may have changed my diapers once upon a time. And his son, my best friend, hates the fact that I’m in love with his father.

Complicated doesn’t even begin to cover it.

There are times when I think I’m the only person who sees the real Wyatt. The man who sacrificed everything for my sister, who moved heaven and earth to try to save her. The man who wants a life beyond the ranch.

But he denies us, ignores his own feelings, and pretends that his hands don’t know the exact weight and measure of me.

What if he never sees how good we could be together?

Age gap, hurt-comfort, size difference.

©2021 Kelly Fox (P)2023 Kelly Fox

Even better in audio!

Declan Winters is being added to my short list of narrators. He did a phenomenal job with this story.

Navarro is (for me) the angstiest of this series. I love a love story that is hard won and this definitely delivers!

The audio is yummy!

This was THE VERY FIRST full length story I read of Kelly Fox's. Prior to that I had read all her novellas and fell in love with her writing. I know, I know, I started with book 3, in the series, but the book blurb interested me, so I read.

I've been slowly obtaining all of Kelly's books on Audible. I've got to say I'm really enjoying Declan Winters narration. This is the first story I've listened to that he's narrated. His voice for each character was spot on and I loved it!!! I love my Kindle books but there's just something about audiobooks I can't get away from.

Age gap, family loyalty, found family, brings the heat

wonderful

I loved this book and I liked this even better. I think that Declan Winters is up towards the top of my favorite narrator list. I truly appreciate the variation of voices he is able to do and how well he emotes with each of them.

Beautifully crafted romance with a stellar narration!

Narration: Declan Winters does an INCREDIBLE job with Navarro’s narration. The voices are all unique/distinguishable and the emotional performance was beautiful. Highly recommend listening to this book!

Story: This is one of the most romantic books I read in 2021 and the most romantic that Kelly has written to date. I adored every bit of it. Wyatt and Desi are in the previous two books and are constantly dancing around their feelings. Wyatt is clueless and hiding within his grief. Desi thinks he’s obvious with his feelings but also doesn’t want to say something and ruin everything. This is one of those stories where most of the side characters know the two MCs are in love, but then Kelly throws in an extra element - there’s a lot of hurt, pain, grief and just general messiness between these two.

The way their love unfolds was genuinely beautiful and I’m not sure I’ve ever read anything like it. These men wear their hearts on their sleeves. They cry openly. They own their faults. They love deeply. And? They speak to therapists and process their emotions in a healthy way! Kelly always includes these elements in her stories and they add so much depth and emotion to the story and her characters.

My favorite part of the book is Wyatt’s journey to reconciling his love for his late wife and his love for Desi (his wife’s brother), plus coming to terms with being a different person after the death of his wife. I don’t want to spoil anything, but this book takes you on an emotional journey!

One more thing - Wyatt is openly bi and open about being involved in a poly relationship in the past with his late wife. I love bi awakening stories, but it’s nice to read about someone who is confident in their s*xuality and how they identify.

This could be read as a stand-alone, but I recommend reading the series in order to get the full emotional impact.

5 stars

“The worst-kept secret at Rebel Sky Ranch is that Desi Navarro loves Wyatt Goodnight.”

Fox has been planting the seeds of this romance from the very beginning of this series, and with this book, she absolutely delivers. But before we get to the romance, we have to talk about the characters, including Wyatt’s wife and Desi’s older sister, who passed away a few years ago. It would have been easy enough for Fox to create Renee through the liberal use of flashbacks, but we get exactly two that feature her (and one of them isn’t even in this book). Instead, her personality is created through both her absence as the heart of the ranch and the long-lasting effect she has on every single character, even those not related to her. She is a complete presence in this series, especially in this book.

If you’re easily moved to tears, have the tissues handy for this one. The “hurt/comfort” tag is real here, as Wyatt and Desi circle each other with a delicious push and pull dynamic. Wyatt is wildly conflicted about his level of attraction toward Desi, while Desi has lived with his feelings for what feels like his entire life. Cue the angst. Like, all of the angst, especially after certain alcohol-induced shenanigans. Both men retreat to lick their wounds in their own fashion, none of which is helped by Wyatt’s son’s vocal derision toward any idea of his father and uncle in a romantic relationship.

I can’t go into too much detail to avoid spoilers, but I appreciated Fox’s emphasis on both men’s character development regarding their journey through their grief. The emotions are strong on all fronts, even when the pair does “get together,” but I shed my share of tears even as they adapted to the new facets of their relationship. Because the story doesn’t end there—Wyatt’s son Trip has OPINIONS on this new development.

Fox breaks pattern here by giving readers a scene from Trip’s point of view. This is probably most appreciated by readers who have read the entire series so far, but I think even newcomers recognize the importance of Trip’s blessing of this union in the grander scheme of how life at Rebel Sky Ranch needs to evolve. (Be prepared for more tears, though they were happier here than the ugly crying I experienced earlier.)

So, why is this book called Navarro when the handsome Wyatt Goodnight is on the cover? It’s not because Fox already used Goodnight as a title in this series. Yes, you’ll probably cry again when you find out.

I’m not sure how many more books Fox has planned for this series. However, in much the same way she led us toward the inevitability of this book, threads for two more are woven here. I’m intrigued by both for very different reasons, and I’m definitely into this amazing series for the long haul. I don’t know when I’ll be emotionally ready to read this particular book again. Still, I have the feeling it will eventually happen because of how truly enjoyable I found it (even amidst all the crying).

5 stars

Wonderfully delicious audio performance by Declan.
Like how the other couple’s stories are also wrapped in towards the end.

Oooh my heart

Honestly this story is just *sighs* so unbelievably beautiful. When the ebook came out I was a little nervous because I was so hoping that it wouldn’t disappoint and let me tell you it was everything EVERYTHING and the audio just made it that much better!

I love Dezi so flipping much! He is so sassy and funny but his vulnerability and strength made me fall in love right along side Wyatt. I was frustrated with Wyatt sometimes but he was so likable and I felt for him and his loss so much they really were just such a beautiful match together!

Okay but let’s talk about the narration. Declan winters did such a good job! He really brought the emotion out and I found myself absolutely glued to my headphones even though I had already read the ebook version a few months ago.

Please please fall in love with these two for the first time or all over again by jumping into this audio!!

Soooo good!

This was a year-jerker of a book! So beautifully written. Grief and joy, with love and hopefulness inscribed on each page. A seriously complicated family devoted to each other, but overcoming the loss of the matriarch.The characters are so deep and 3-dimensional. Great story! One of those where, at the end, you’re floating with all the feel-goods of a seriously happy ending.

Love it

This is a great book and the narration is so fantastic! It just makes the story perfect.

Great book!

I love this series! The narrator does such a great job. There is always an interesting twist, and you just get drawn into all of these characters.