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Four Corners Ranch #10
The Outsider
There are two things Bix Carpenter is good at: making moonshine and surviving. However, now that she’s officially out of the family bootlegging business, those “getting by” skills are going to come in handy. But getting caught camping on Four Corners Ranch property isn’t the best way to kick off her newfound independence—especially when the man who catches her, unruffled ranch owner Daughtry King, makes an intriguing proposition.
Daughtry offers Bix a job in exchange for room and board. The straitlaced cowboy doesn’t seem like the type who’d take to her feisty ways, but Bix reluctantly accepts. Daughtry is the best man Bix has ever met, and she’s never felt good enough, but she finds herself falling for the stoic cowboy. Can she get past his defenses so the two of them can go from just surviving to thriving?
Four Corners Ranch
Book 1: Unbridled Cowboy
Book 2: Merry Christmas Cowboy
Book 3: Cowboy Wild
Book 4: The Rough Rider
Book 5: The Holiday Heartbreaker
Book 6: The Troublemaker
Daughtry offers Bix a job in exchange for room and board. The straitlaced cowboy doesn’t seem like the type who’d take to her feisty ways, but Bix reluctantly accepts. Daughtry is the best man Bix has ever met, and she’s never felt good enough, but she finds herself falling for the stoic cowboy. Can she get past his defenses so the two of them can go from just surviving to thriving?
Four Corners Ranch
Book 1: Unbridled Cowboy
Book 2: Merry Christmas Cowboy
Book 3: Cowboy Wild
Book 4: The Rough Rider
Book 5: The Holiday Heartbreaker
Book 6: The Troublemaker
382 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 29, 2025
83 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Maisey Yates
1,161 books2,998 followersNew York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit. In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book.
Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard.
She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.
Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard.
She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 25, 2025
4.5 ⭐️
Maisey just writes my kind of flavor. This story was spectacular, full of emotional tugging of heart strings. Both the hero and heroine were treated horribly by narcissist fathers and carried weight from it. Perfect romance and a beautiful story.
Maisey just writes my kind of flavor. This story was spectacular, full of emotional tugging of heart strings. Both the hero and heroine were treated horribly by narcissist fathers and carried weight from it. Perfect romance and a beautiful story.
July 20, 2025
Another in the Four Corners Ranch series, in which rancher Daughtry King discovers an interloper on ranch property and realizes it isn't a teen boy, but a half-starved woman, one Bix Carpenter. In his role as sheriff, he offers her a job rather than tossing her in jail and she takes it. Soon she becomes a brewer of the beer the King family wants to add to their offerings as they build up a western resort along with running cattle on their ranch.
But the stickiness comes with Bix realizing that she loves Daughtry even though he's told her from the start that he's not into relationships, not even a little bit. And when she confronts him about why he's pushing her away, he has to confront his own fears, what they stem from and what he's going to do about it. But will he be able to convince Bix that he loves her, too, after what he's said, what he's done?
But the stickiness comes with Bix realizing that she loves Daughtry even though he's told her from the start that he's not into relationships, not even a little bit. And when she confronts him about why he's pushing her away, he has to confront his own fears, what they stem from and what he's going to do about it. But will he be able to convince Bix that he loves her, too, after what he's said, what he's done?
April 7, 2025
I really liked the setup of this book. Bix is different from most FMCs I've met and I really liked that. Her growth was incredible.
I can't say the same for the MMC haha, but he's decent enough haha.
I struggled with the end a little bit. Sooo much happens in the last tiny bit of the book that there's no good breather or wrap up once the couple gets together.
This book definitely could have benefited to having two narrators instead of just the one. I think having a woman narrate both the FMC and MMC POVs is a little underwhelming.
I can't say the same for the MMC haha, but he's decent enough haha.
I struggled with the end a little bit. Sooo much happens in the last tiny bit of the book that there's no good breather or wrap up once the couple gets together.
This book definitely could have benefited to having two narrators instead of just the one. I think having a woman narrate both the FMC and MMC POVs is a little underwhelming.
September 3, 2025
This is going to be hard for me because I just could not connect with the narrator. I wish I had trusted my instinct when I first started listening and just stopped. I had been on the waiting list for both the ebook and the audiobook for so long, I decided to just power through. That ended up being to the detriment of my enjoyment of the story. I’m not going to use this review to tear down the narrator, though. Just know that I highly recommend you read this one with your eyes and not your ears.
With as much as I could with my issues with the narrator, I enjoyed this couple. They are so different, and yet so much alike. It was interesting how they came from totally different worlds, but ended up having a lot of the same things that held them back from others in different ways.
I always love it when there is a big family dynamic and the love interest not only realizes the family doesn’t understand their loved one, but then proceeds to school the family in said loved one’s attributes. Daughtry’s family loves and respects him. What he has with his siblings is nothing Bix is familiar with at all. She craves the connections Daughtry has. Yet, when his siblings speak of him, it’s as if they are talking about someone completely different from the Daughtry Bix knows. And when some of the comments are less than flattering, Bix dives in to tell them all the ways Daughtry is a wonderful person and not at all who they all think he is. *chef’s kiss*
As much as I enjoyed the growing relationship between Bix and Daughtry, as well as Bix’s foray into making other friends, I got hung up on the immense amounts of internal dialogue this author writes. With the only other book of hers I’ve read the audio version of, it seemed to work for me. At least with that narrator and that story. Yet, in this case, I wanted to skip ahead. Easy enough to do when you can skim an ebook or paperback and quickly flip the pages, not so much with an audiobook when you don’t know how far forward to jump ahead. I found myself listening to the last quarter of this book at a faster speed than I would ever usually use with my audiobooks.
While it was a bit of a conundrum to figure out a true rating on this one, I’ve settled on something I feel is fair. Even without my issues with narration, the internal dialogue issue would have kept this from being as immersive as I would want. It’s still an excellent story, but it has a lot of extra baggage.
With as much as I could with my issues with the narrator, I enjoyed this couple. They are so different, and yet so much alike. It was interesting how they came from totally different worlds, but ended up having a lot of the same things that held them back from others in different ways.
I always love it when there is a big family dynamic and the love interest not only realizes the family doesn’t understand their loved one, but then proceeds to school the family in said loved one’s attributes. Daughtry’s family loves and respects him. What he has with his siblings is nothing Bix is familiar with at all. She craves the connections Daughtry has. Yet, when his siblings speak of him, it’s as if they are talking about someone completely different from the Daughtry Bix knows. And when some of the comments are less than flattering, Bix dives in to tell them all the ways Daughtry is a wonderful person and not at all who they all think he is. *chef’s kiss*
As much as I enjoyed the growing relationship between Bix and Daughtry, as well as Bix’s foray into making other friends, I got hung up on the immense amounts of internal dialogue this author writes. With the only other book of hers I’ve read the audio version of, it seemed to work for me. At least with that narrator and that story. Yet, in this case, I wanted to skip ahead. Easy enough to do when you can skim an ebook or paperback and quickly flip the pages, not so much with an audiobook when you don’t know how far forward to jump ahead. I found myself listening to the last quarter of this book at a faster speed than I would ever usually use with my audiobooks.
While it was a bit of a conundrum to figure out a true rating on this one, I’ve settled on something I feel is fair. Even without my issues with narration, the internal dialogue issue would have kept this from being as immersive as I would want. It’s still an excellent story, but it has a lot of extra baggage.
May 10, 2025
I've really been enjoying this series, although I tend to be reading it out of order, but I always love Maisey Yates' novels, and what I found so special about The Outsider is the depth of emotion and strength of character Ms. Yates gave us with Bix, her heroine, although I really think it's a dreadful name for a woman. I loved her self-awareness, her spirit, her sass, her determination, and her emotional growth as the novel progressed. As a character, she was unforgettable.
While it was obvious that Daughtry and Bix both had similar rough upbringings, both had fathers who were emotionally abusive and morally bankrupt, but Daughtry's attempts to move past his father's narcissism, though he was not raised quite as poorly and harshly as Bix, left him stuck in neutral--and he was far more fearful of moving forward and getting past his own past misdeeds, making Bix, who starts out as the weaker of the two characters, end ups being the stronger character of the two. I just loved her!
While, as romance readers, we always expect a happily ever after ending, in this novel, I felt that the ending was a tad too little, too short, and came more than a bit too late, which is the reason for my 4.5 star rating.
Nevertheless, The Outsider was a terrific read, and of all of Ms. Yates' novels in this series that I've read to date, Bix stands out as my favorite character. As beaten down, broke and broken as she was at the outset, she was definitely one of the best, strongest, and most memorable characters Ms. Yates has created.
While it was obvious that Daughtry and Bix both had similar rough upbringings, both had fathers who were emotionally abusive and morally bankrupt, but Daughtry's attempts to move past his father's narcissism, though he was not raised quite as poorly and harshly as Bix, left him stuck in neutral--and he was far more fearful of moving forward and getting past his own past misdeeds, making Bix, who starts out as the weaker of the two characters, end ups being the stronger character of the two. I just loved her!
While, as romance readers, we always expect a happily ever after ending, in this novel, I felt that the ending was a tad too little, too short, and came more than a bit too late, which is the reason for my 4.5 star rating.
Nevertheless, The Outsider was a terrific read, and of all of Ms. Yates' novels in this series that I've read to date, Bix stands out as my favorite character. As beaten down, broke and broken as she was at the outset, she was definitely one of the best, strongest, and most memorable characters Ms. Yates has created.
May 4, 2025
Just like that we are onto the final family in the Four Corners series! The Outsider is book ten in the series and follows Bix Carpenter and Daughtry King.
Bix has had a hard life until she meets Daughtry. She is wild, stubborn, independent, kind, innocent and sweet. He gives her hope for a better life than what she grew up with. Her growth over the course of the book was one of my favorite parts! She really grew into herself.
Daughtry finds Bix essentially squatting on his land one day after her van broke down. From one look at her he knew she needed help. He is grumpy, protective, sweet and so freaking considerate. He wanted to take care of Bix and help show her that she can do anything she sets her mind to.
The narrator Samantha Cook really brought these characters to life and I really enjoyed her performance. This book was so sweet and I loved every second of it. I could not stop listening! Maisey Yates writes such wonderful characters and I can’t wait for the next one!
This book can be read as a standalone or as part of the series! If you love a good slow burn Western romance, this just might be the book for you!
You will love this book if you like:
- Western / Small town
- Forced proximity
- Found family
- Slowburn
Thank you to Maisey Yates, Harlequin Audio, and The Hive for this gifted ALC.
Bix has had a hard life until she meets Daughtry. She is wild, stubborn, independent, kind, innocent and sweet. He gives her hope for a better life than what she grew up with. Her growth over the course of the book was one of my favorite parts! She really grew into herself.
Daughtry finds Bix essentially squatting on his land one day after her van broke down. From one look at her he knew she needed help. He is grumpy, protective, sweet and so freaking considerate. He wanted to take care of Bix and help show her that she can do anything she sets her mind to.
The narrator Samantha Cook really brought these characters to life and I really enjoyed her performance. This book was so sweet and I loved every second of it. I could not stop listening! Maisey Yates writes such wonderful characters and I can’t wait for the next one!
This book can be read as a standalone or as part of the series! If you love a good slow burn Western romance, this just might be the book for you!
You will love this book if you like:
- Western / Small town
- Forced proximity
- Found family
- Slowburn
Thank you to Maisey Yates, Harlequin Audio, and The Hive for this gifted ALC.
November 25, 2025
Bix has always relied on herself, especially since the only other people consistent in her life are her father and brother. And they’re currently in jail. On her own, she’s determined to squat in the woods, living off the land as she makes moonshine to sell… when Daughtry King finds her. Daughtry is horrified by Bix’s living situation and offers her a proposition – a job on the farm doing whatever they ask of her in exchange for a paycheck and a place to sleep. Bix is slow to trust, but she takes the job. As the two of them work alongside one another, it quickly becomes clear that the “sheriff” and the convict were always meant to be.
I loved Daughtry’s story! And Bix might be my favorite of the leading ladies in this series. I loved the way that the two of them simultaneously complemented one another and were total opposites. I loved the way Bix transforms from feral moonshiner to legal beer brewer. I loved the relationship and the way that they came together both at first and towards the end when they make up. I loved the romance and the spice, and I honestly couldn’t get enough of all of it. Overall, I really do love this series and I like where things are headed.
I loved Daughtry’s story! And Bix might be my favorite of the leading ladies in this series. I loved the way that the two of them simultaneously complemented one another and were total opposites. I loved the way Bix transforms from feral moonshiner to legal beer brewer. I loved the relationship and the way that they came together both at first and towards the end when they make up. I loved the romance and the spice, and I honestly couldn’t get enough of all of it. Overall, I really do love this series and I like where things are headed.
June 20, 2025
What I liked the most about this book was not the romance between Bix and Daughtry, but more the growth and development of Bix. I loved her character so much. Her strength and resilience was admirable. The depths of hardship and trauma that she had to go through was unbelievable. I loved seeing her transformation throughout, which was basically the first book. I liked seeing her integration into the town and the family. She finally found where she truly belonged.
As for the romance, I wasn’t my favorite especially out of the Maisey Yates romances that I have read. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between Bix and Daughtry. Yes, they had their moments especially at the end, but it wasn’t enough where I was invested or consumed about them as a couple. At times I was bored them. Other times, I was iffy about them as a couple because of how things started especially in the short amount of time that their love story took place. Plus I just something was missing between them.
As for the romance, I wasn’t my favorite especially out of the Maisey Yates romances that I have read. I just didn’t feel the chemistry between Bix and Daughtry. Yes, they had their moments especially at the end, but it wasn’t enough where I was invested or consumed about them as a couple. At times I was bored them. Other times, I was iffy about them as a couple because of how things started especially in the short amount of time that their love story took place. Plus I just something was missing between them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2025
Bix Carpenter is completely alone for the first time with her father and brother in jail. She finds the perfect place to set up her still--it even has a cabin she can use for shelter--in some woods alongside an idyllic stream. Out patrolling Daughtry King spies a squatter on the outskirts of his family's ranch. Confronting the youngster he discovers it's a very scrawny woman. Instead of hauling her in, he sees a chance to help and offers her a job. He also takes her to his family's homestead for dinner and lets her stay with him while she works. Watching the scrawny chick bloom into a very attractive woman, who uses her skills to start a successful beer brewery on the ranch, he is wildly drawn to her as they are very much alike. But both are running scared, fearful to take a chance, to give true connection a fair go of it.
April 26, 2025
A small town, cowboy, opposites attract romance that had me rooting for the FMC the whole time!
Bix has never had it easy in life, and when her van leaves her stuck in a small town, Daughtry ends up helping her out and in the process learns she’s so much more than the rough, wild, independent girl she claims!
-Small town
-Forced proximity
-Found family
-Spice
I listened to the audiobook and found it so easy to listen to, follow along, and swoon right beside Bix, the FMC!
Highly recommend for any romance, small town romance, or cowboy romance lovers!
Bix has never had it easy in life, and when her van leaves her stuck in a small town, Daughtry ends up helping her out and in the process learns she’s so much more than the rough, wild, independent girl she claims!
-Small town
-Forced proximity
-Found family
-Spice
I listened to the audiobook and found it so easy to listen to, follow along, and swoon right beside Bix, the FMC!
Highly recommend for any romance, small town romance, or cowboy romance lovers!
April 30, 2025
I used to really enjoy anything Maisey Yates put out but lately I'm really getting stuck on how every heroine is a "little rat", "little brat" or in this case a "raccoon". I follow Yates on insta and she posts a lot of cute feral raccoon stuff, so I get that she is writing it into the stories in a way that is meant to be cute but for some reason I'm getting really stuck on it and it's been getting in the way of my enjoyment of her stories over the past few years (yes! Years!!).
May 26, 2025
I loved Bix in this book. She stood her ground and didn't back down. She was down and out but she fought to survive. She had more gumption than anyone I know.
Daughtry became sheriff to try and do better than his dad taught him to be. He is a no nonsense. Doesn't get rattled but he isn't really living!
Bix changes him for the better but he fights it every step.
Their story of growth and love was very inspiring..
Daughtry became sheriff to try and do better than his dad taught him to be. He is a no nonsense. Doesn't get rattled but he isn't really living!
Bix changes him for the better but he fights it every step.
Their story of growth and love was very inspiring..
August 31, 2025
Bix and Daughtry were great but their story could have been better.
Unfortunately, they were too similar to other stories in this series with the same result. Feisty, virginal young woman and a strong sexy cowboy out to protect and she her the way.
There were moments where they shined, but shocking unyielding love and his last minute self realization felt tired at this point.
I do really love these characters and their universe but not as obsessed as I wanted to be.
Unfortunately, they were too similar to other stories in this series with the same result. Feisty, virginal young woman and a strong sexy cowboy out to protect and she her the way.
There were moments where they shined, but shocking unyielding love and his last minute self realization felt tired at this point.
I do really love these characters and their universe but not as obsessed as I wanted to be.
May 1, 2025
Finding love finally
Wow what a turn around for Bix and Daughtry. They both had difficult childhoods but when meeting for the first time there was chemistry between them. Then working and staying together that chemistry ratcheted up until it was all they could feel. Finally they were able to confront on their true feelings and admit that they loved each other.
Wow what a turn around for Bix and Daughtry. They both had difficult childhoods but when meeting for the first time there was chemistry between them. Then working and staying together that chemistry ratcheted up until it was all they could feel. Finally they were able to confront on their true feelings and admit that they loved each other.
May 18, 2025
Bix and Daughtry were the couple I didn’t know I needed. I love the Four Corners Ranch series and this is one of my favorites. I love that “love” is what makes our two main characters shine. Real love makes everyone their best selves.
May 22, 2025
Bix Carpenter & Daughtry King
Sheriff and the moonshiner
He takes her in to give her a job on the ranch. She absolutely runs with it and slowly begins to see what a family looks like. What it means to have women friends and most of all, learns how to love.
Sheriff and the moonshiner
He takes her in to give her a job on the ranch. She absolutely runs with it and slowly begins to see what a family looks like. What it means to have women friends and most of all, learns how to love.
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April 1, 2025Contemporary Romance, Small Town & Rural Fiction, Western Romance
Miniseries
Four Corners Ranch
Miniseries
Four Corners Ranch
May 10, 2025
I loved Bix and Daughtry’s story. Great characters that seemed to be different but had a lot of same traits. Enjoyed the story from start to finish! Looking forward to next book in series!
May 18, 2025
A true slow burn, this was such a great read. Both characters had so much depth and were absolutely what one another needed to heal from past trauma. This series never fails to enthrall!
June 3, 2025
Great author
August 31, 2025
Rating: Loved It
Spice: 3 Open Door Scenes
Would I read more by this author? Yes, absolutely 💯
Spice: 3 Open Door Scenes
Would I read more by this author? Yes, absolutely 💯
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews