Only Yours by Susan Mallery

Montana Hendrix has found her calling—working with therapy dogs. With a career she loves in a hometown she adores, she’s finally ready to look for her own happily ever after. Could one of her dogs help her find Mr. Right… or maybe Dr. Right?

Surgeon Simon Bradley prefers the sterility of the hospital to the messiness of real life, especially when real life includes an accident-prone mutt and a woman whose kisses make him want what he knows he can’t have. Scarred since childhood, he avoids emotional entanglement by moving from place to place to heal children who need his skillful touch. Can his growing feelings for Montana lead him to find a home in Fool’s Gold, or will he walk away, taking her broken heart with him?

 Only Yours is the fifth book in the Fool’s Gold series by Susan Mallery, who is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.  She’s definitely on the can’t-wait-for-the-new-book list. 

This book, in particular, was one that I was anxious for because the heroine, Montana, is my favorite Fool’s Gold triplet.  She’s funny, sweet, and vulnerable.  Montana’s work with therapy dogs leads her to stumble across grumpy surgeon, Dr. Simon Bradley, who works with burn victims.  Add to that, Mayor Marsha wants Dr. Bradley to stay in town to work at their new hospital, so she ropes Montana into befriending Simon to entice him to that end.  I don’t know what Mayor Marsha’s agenda is (is she matchmaking, cause she should really look into that as a business, she could make some serious money), but she generally gets what she wants.  And once again, she’s found the perfect person to achieve her goals.

Simon, badly scarred since childhood, has heavy baggage not only from his scars, but from the reactions of those around him to his scars.  He is alone in the world, which he thinks is the only way he can live.  He reluctantly allows Montana’s therapy dogs to visit with one of his patients and it’s clear from there that there’s no going back for him.  He and Montana become friends.  Of course, he knows she’s trying to get him to commit to staying in town, but it seems he can’t stay away from her.

There were a lot of really good side stories, like Max’s story, to which I hope we will find closure in the next book, and Simon’s patient, Kalinda, and Montana’s brother and nephew returning to town (another story that I hope we see more of in the coming books). 

I have to say that this is probably my favorite book in the series.  Montana was fun, sensitive, and clearly in danger of losing herself to Simon very early.  Simon’s story was so heartbreaking.  He clearly needed not only Montana, but also a home, somewhere to put down roots.  Together, they seemed to fill a space within themselves.  They seemed like real people, with real issues, trying their best not to be hurt by life.  They belonged together. 

Pecans:  5/5