GRR Reviews The Cowboy Way (Men of the Sprawling by Anna Alexander

The Cowboy Way is an interesting twist on the amnesia trope, as the MMC lost his memory and had to discover his place within the family and realized something was very wrong with him...

Trey Armstrong woke up in the hospital with no memory of past few... days? months? years? He remembered he had a ranch... but he was surprised to find himself wearing a wedding band, married to the lovely Greta. His ranch was doing great, and he must be living a charmed life until he saw past the surface. Greta, while cheery and smiling, was hiding something, and evidence of his life in the ranch house indicated he imposed a period of destructive self-isolation... probably after the death of his son Luke. Now he's desperate to remember why for he needed to know what he did wrong... in order to fix it and have a future...

The use of the amnesia trope was quite good As Trey slowly discovered his previous life was nothing like he is now, and while the present circumstances are sweet, he was given a chance at a do-over, and he must figure out his mistakes so he will not commit them again. It was emotionally poignant without being overly melodramatic. Enjoyed the novel quite a bit

Category: Contemporary / Western

Primary Plot: Man woke up in hospital having lost over a year of his memories; why does his wife and his ranch fear him? What had he done?

Tropes: amnesia, on the rocks, grief

Overall Rating:  4/5