Book Series: Blacktop Cowboys, Book #4
Author: Lorelei James
Genres: Western, Erotica, Contemporary Romance
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Scarlet Chase
Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
My Ranking:
In the rodeo arena, all you have to worry about is surviving. But in the arena of love and ecstasy, things get much more complicated.
Lainie Capshaw has been servicing injured cowboys long enough to know that a charming Western drawl combined with a fine physical form doesn't mean you should fall for a man. As a sports therapist, she travels the rodeo circuits patching up riders - and fending off their sweet-talking, swaggering advances.
So no one is more surprised than Lainie when she finds herself involved with not one, but two different men on different circuits. Hank Lawson, a bullfighter, and Kyle Gilchrist, a bull rider trying to stage a comeback. Lainie feels guilty about her two-timing, but it doesn't keep her from doubling her fun -until Hank catches her with Kyle.
She's shocked that Hank isn't mad. She's more shocked to learn Hank and Kyle are hometown buddies. But when the men offer to share her - she knows that both of them are going to try to win her, body and soul. Now it's up to Lainie to choose the one man who can give her the ride of her life.(less)
Even with your favorite authors, you're never going to love everything. This is the first Blacktop Cowboys story that I found only okay. This book hit upon my dislike of some of James's female lead characters. However, to be honest, I never really liked Celia to begin with. There was just something about her flighty, flirty nature that just turned me off. It didn't get any better when she was the focus.
Usually, my intense like of the male leads can override my dislike of the females and allow me to enjoy the story as a whole. Not this time. What's strange is that I liked Kyle - or, at least, Kyle in Corralled. He was less ... angsty. He was such a strong character in Corralled and even took his rejection from Laney in an impressive way. But this story - with this mother, father and Celia - I didn't get the same vibe from him.
A big complaint was that they story was very, very unrealistic. Everything just fell in their laps. Kyle's broke? No problem, here's an inheritance. Kyle love ranchin' and always wanted one - here's a ranch from the Daddy you never knew you had! Kyle and Celia want a future together, so poof, man/woman of your dreams. Perhaps that last one being too harsh because them ending up together has been hinted a bit. Overall, there was too much of a cause and effect plotline. Yes, yes, I know that's how stories go, but not with James. The other books in the series felt more organic. In fact, I love these stories because of their realism. Nothing ever felt like a soap opera; hell, even the first book's ménage à trois felt more natural.
Meh on this one. Still a Blacktop Cowboy's fan. Even though I thought Kyle could take the top spot in which Blacktop Cowboy I loved the most, it's still Renner Jackson all the way. Then Bran, then Hank... then Kyle. Girls follow same path of "like". Tierney, Harper and so on and so forth (though I'd Jainie is last - didn't like her one bit).
The tiny speck of a town called Muddy Gap, Wyoming, has captured a special place in my heart. But this book was my least favorite.
Scarlet Chase is fantastic. She's got a great drawl but still speaks clear. She also is excellent at capturing the masculinity of these charming cowboys. Her performance enhanced my enjoyment of the story so much that I decided to stay "audiobook-loyal" to this series and will not read the printed version.
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