Common Ground is a ranch romance set in Michigan between the unlikely pair of city girl Melody Weston and senior ranch worker Jason Cole. The ranch hands think the great-niece of the owner is coming to take over and sell the ranch from the old man. Jason thinks he should inherit the ranch, as promised by the owner, Jim. Melody presents a problem.
Melody knows nothing about ranching, and is only seeking peace at the ranch. Too bad her uncle is going into town for five days and asks Jason to watch over her. Jason doesn’t take kindly to the assignment, and Melody and Jason get into an argument every night. But as proximity dictates, vulnerabilities are shown and back stories are exposed. Soon, Jason believes Melody isn’t there to take his job away.
Romances follow various tropes, and one of the better ones is enemies-to-lovers. This novel starts with this trope, but takes a surprising turn when it heads into friends-to-lovers waters. Getting to the friends stage came quicker than this reviewer expected. And once Melody and Jason understand each other better, the attraction heats up.
Again, I was a little surprised how long it took to get to the romance in this novel. From a narrative point of view, it made sense, but I expected it sooner. When it comes, romance readers won’t be disappointed. The scenes are both tastefully and sensually done.
Another surprise was the earlier part of the novel. Quite frankly, I didn’t understand how this material would engage me. For every three horror novels I read, I will pick up one romance. Usually, it takes a typical romance hook (time travel, a holiday) to pull me in. Common Ground doesn’t have such a hook. But I fell for the characters and the plot. I found out I wanted to read more about them and their mysterious pasts. I looked forward to my reading time with them. So, kudos to author Jenifer Lynn for building a solid contemporary novel that doubles as a romance.
As you probably guessed by this part of the review, I was surprised by many of the elements of Common Ground. As a reviewer who prefers fantasy to romance, this novel won me over anyway. This book was a fun time on the ranch.