Great second chance romance from Leslie North. Remington Collier and Melody were friends in high school who went to prom together and ended sleeping together. Melody ends up pregnant but does not tell Remington as he dreams of becoming a champion bull rider in the rodeo and leaves town. Melody sacrifices her dreams and takes a job at Remington's dad Dane ranch where they run a cowboy camp. Dane does not tell Remington about his heart issues and Melody takes care of him. Dane and everyone knows Colton is Remington's son but no one tells him and he does not find out until after his dad dies and he leaves half the ranch to Colton. Melody and Remington both still have feelings for each other and run into issues with communication and comprising. I really enjoyed their story and recommend.

I received this from Netgalley for my honest review.

I received an arc from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion.
Remington returns home to work the cowboy camp but Melody,His one night stand, who has been on the ranch all these years does not agree with his vision.
Remington also comes home to a surprise, his son, who he had no idea about while on the rodeo circuit. Oh and a filming crew is visiting the ranch to capture all this.
These two have lots to learn about love and compromise, This book almost had me in tears at one point and was a great read.

The strongest element of this story is the characters. Colton is such a lovely child and it's really enjoyable to get to know Melody as a mother as well as see Remington adapt to the shock of finding out he's a father. The way he takes to the role is very sweet and fun to read. I liked the detail of their life at the ranch and the cast of supporting characters.

It's a testament to how well the characters are drawn that I feel like I missed out on a lot of their story. I would really have liked to have seen Melody and Remington hash out their past more completely and directly: his decision to leave, her decision to keep her news to herself, and the nature of their relationship as teens. I also wanted to see them address their current situation more. Sliding into a physical relationship so quickly, even with their obvious chemistry and affection, seems like a fraught choice in their situation and that could have been explored in more depth. There was so much left unsaid, both about their personal relationship and how to resolve their professional differences of opinion, and I wish I could have read that!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Cowboy's secret son by Leslie North.
Collier Cowboy Camp Book 1.
Remington’s late father left him half of the family’s famous cowboy camp. But he left the other half to a kid Remington has never met—although the adorable child's mother is no stranger. Melody Naly was Remington’s childhood best friend, until they foolishly spent a night together. When Remington left home to become a hot shot rodeo star, Melody stayed to run the Collier Cowboy Camp, and to take care of Remington’s ailing father. But in the process, she sacrificed her dreams of traveling to raise her son...Remington’s son. Remington only came back to star in a new reality show, following his renovations of the old-school camp, as he turns it into a state-of-the-art getaway for kids. With the cameras always rolling, nothing can stay hidden for long. Especially the smoldering tension—and chemistry—between Melody and Remington. Once Remington finds out about his secret son, he’s desperate to be the best father he can be. But can Melody trust him this time, when he says he’s back for good?
I really enjoyed this book. I loved Melody and Colton. Rem grew on me. I love Leslie books. Can't wait for next book. 5*.

I read the blurb for this book and looked at the cover and wasn't sure it was going to be my cup of tea, but I've read books by Leslie North before and have enjoyed them - so I figured I' give this one a shot. This is the story of Melody, who is raising her son as a single parent, and Remington, the father of Melody's son, who is living his life free of any responsibilities since he doesn't even know he has a 6 year old son. I am almost never a fan of books where the female lead has kept a child a secret past the child being a baby, but what shocks me with this book is that she wasn't the only one that kept it a secret. The whole town and even Remington's father never told him about the child. Did he not have any friends in the town that he grew up in? You really have to suspend your belief system to buy that a whole town will keep quiet so that Remington can pursue his dreams and not care that Melody had to give up all of hers. Okay...so I gave up my belief system, because I did actually enjoy this book, I'm surprise to say. It had to be the writing because I really don't normally like this type of book. I encourage you to try it too (look beyond what I think is an unfortunate cover) and hope you are pleasantly surprised like I was. Thanks NetGalley for an advanced copy for this honest review. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

Melody has been in love with Remington Collier for years. They had a one night stand on prom night. He then went off to follow his dreams of being a rodeo star. She finds out she’s pregnant. Remington doesn’t visit home often. He doesn’t know he has a son. He comes back after his father dies to partner with Melody to grow his family’s ranch. He brings a television crew to follow him renovate the ranch. The tv show pays for the renovation. He finds out he has a son. Remington and Melody’s ideas about the ranch are totally different. Their relationship has many twists and turns. I love Leslie North’s books. This one doesn’t disappoint.

The Cowboy's secret son is a prime example of how not to communicate. The communication between the MCs are totally off the rails. He has all the good intentions, but the lack of communication is rather frustrating.

Remington has returned to the camps on his farm to film a TV reality show. In his enthusiasm to prove to Melody that he can give her the life that he thinks she wants, he overlooks her true vision for the camp. She has some good ideas, but he thinks that his ideas would be better for everyone around. He completely ignores what she wants and plods on with his own vision. This is not what she wants at all. When things get tense between them, he starts rethinking his approach. Will he be too late or can he salvage the relationship?

I found Remington to be a little heavy handed in his approach. If only, he would stop for a minute and listen to what Melody has to say. She has resigned herself to an empty life when he comes to his senses and see the errors of his ways. Just when she is about to give up, he redeems himself and everything works out. It's a short and interesting read.

I received an eARC from Netgalley and the views expressed are my personal opinion.

This was an okay read, I read it before bed. Not too long not tok drawn out. I didn't love it but didn't hate it either. I do love this trope so much bur feel like this book didn't do it enough justice. I would still say go ahead and read it, I just didn't fall In love with the H like I normally do. 3.5 rounded to 4⭐

Cowboy's Secret Son (Collier Cowboy Camp #1) by Leslie North
Publisher: Relay Publishing
Genre: General Fiction (Adult), Romance
Published: January 27, 2022

Cowboy's Secret Son is the first book in the Collier Cowboy Camp trilogy by Leslie North. This wonderful second chance romance was so enjoyable to read and I recommend checking it out!

I found the characters to be interesting and the story was fascinating. This quick read held my attention and brought me some joy at the end! This is a fun romance to read!

I can't wait to head back to Collier Cowboy Camp and read Cowboy's Unexpected Match and Cowboy's Single Mom that are being published in February!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Melody needed to stand up for herself, she was doing all the work for non of the recognition, she had done a great job bringing up her son herself and running the ranch. Yet allowed Remington to come in and override things. Eventually he realised that controlling everything was not the answer and that the three of them could become a family.

The "hero" of this book was a total jerk. He walked all over the heroine from the moment he stepped on the page. He was so sure he was right about every little thing and even though he had not been home or run the camps ever, he knew how to make everything better. I don't know why Melody would want to be with someone like that.

The "heroine" was kind of a doormat. She would say what she wanted but didn't follow through or try to help herself. I also thought it was quite rude of the grandpa to leave part of the ranch to her kid even though she had done all the work and taken care of him for 7 years. I would have been pretty ticked about that and probably would have just let it rot.

The 6 year old kid talked like an adult. I hate that.

I enjoyed the beginning and the first part of the middle of, Cowboy's Secret Son. Then it just got to be a lot of bickering back and forth. Nobody was seeing the others side because they only cared about their own. The ending wrapped it all up nicely though.

I devoured this book, it was a very well paced, enjoyable and entertaining story. The MCs were absolutely adorable, especially the heroine; I really liked her wit. And ofc, the romance was absolutely top notch, making it a perfect read for me.