Swan Hearts: Plum Valley Cowboys, Book 4

“Swan Hearts” by Emmy Sanders is the fourth book in the Plum Valley Cowboys series. This book just did it for me. I loved it from the first sentence of the first chapter. I absolutely love stories that feature brooding men with gallons of feelings underneath their stoic facades. This story is a sweeping tale of best friends Jake and Nash that spans three decades. These men are one another’s person. They have a connection that is so deep and powerful. There are some profound emotions in this book. I definitely teared up. The pacing, dialogue, and character development in this novel are just fabulous. This story really stays with you after you finish it. Jake is the sweetest, most patient soul. He’s the town veterinarian. Nash is such an alluring character. He owns the only restaurant and bar in town. It’s so easy to love Jake. He makes it hard not too. But I was drawn to Nash from the very beginning. The depth of emotions he feels and hides just blew me away. I struggled with Nash’s approach to his family’s history. I understood it, but gosh did I want that man to just blurt everything out and simply let Jake love him. That said, I wouldn’t change a single thing about this story. The pining. Gah, the pining! I could feel my heart accelerate with every convoluted interaction between Nash and Jake. The chemistry between the pair is amazing. There’s definitely heat and heart in this book. Sara was a good neighbor and friend, especially when she commented that she didn’t want…

I really enjoy Emmy Sanders writing and her characters are so multi faceted. The first book I read was Firefly and it was the sweetest most beautiful story I have read. Like up there in my top five M/M books of all time. These plum valley books can get a little more sexually graphic than I really care for but they are are still very good stories when I skim past the sex. I was torn on this book as to whether give it a 3 or 4 because it was a little to angsty and the one character keeps running hot and cold with the fully comfortable with himself gay veterinarian.

This is one of those books where one honest conversation could’ve changed everything—and the story probably would’ve ended by chapter three. That said, it wasn’t the typical miscommunication trope where lack of communication is a lazy substitute for good writing. Here, it was a deliberate choice, and the emotional consequences were acknowledged from the start. Still, it was frustrating. I had a hard time empathizing with Nash for dragging them both through so much avoidable pain. Not my favorite in the series, but if you’re into drawn-out angst, you’ll probably enjoy this one.