Losing his lover in a tragic accident left Hearn Sutherland sad, alone and dealing with a tremendous amounts of guilt.  Hearn’s relationship with Mitch was souring long before the accident, and Hearn’s heart belonged to someone else, his best friend Tyler Manning.  Since Mitch’s death Hearn doen’t feel he deserves to move on and be with someone as wonderful as Tyler, but when secrets are revealed about Mitch things just may change.

Tyler has loved Hearn for as long as he’s known him, and he was heartbroken that ever since Mitch died it seemed as if Hearn was avoiding him. Tyler knew he couldn’t compete with a dead man for Hearn’s affection, but he would be happy with Hearn’s friendship even though his heart yearned for more. In an attempt to get Hearn to start living again Tyler convinces him to run for mayor of Cattle Valley and Hearn agrees, but neither knew Hearn’s competition would be the most popular guy in town, Nate Gills.

Being popular and loved seemed to come easy to Nate. In a happy relationship with his two lovers Rio and Ryan, Nate’s life appears perfect, but when he decides to run for mayor Nate’s afraid that secrets from his past may change how his lovers think of him.

The Last Bouquet takes us deeper into the relationship between Hearn and Mitch.  Followers of the serious will remember Mitch from previous books, Mitch was mentioned in book seven of the series as one of the obstacles coming between Jax and Logan’s’ romance.  Dead and buried Mitch’s memory lives on and stands in the way of yet another couple that truly belong together. The Last Bouquet was okay but not as good some of the past stories in the series. I did like getting more back story about Nate’s past and having Nate, Rio, and Ryan somewhat in the forefront again.  Hearn and Tyler were sweet characters as with most of the guys in Cattle Valley and they were a likable part of the story.  Even though I liked some parts of this story, I did not find it overly engaging and as I read I couldn’t shake the feeling that the Cattle Valley series would soon be coming to an end.  Truthfully I thought The Last Bouquet might have been the finale, but with the introduction of new characters I think Carol Lynne may have much more to write about.  Although The Last Bouquet was not a very exciting story there were parts that were quite moving and followers of the series will be compelled to keep reading.