Jeffery
Young is tired of women and their games. His son’s mother did enough damage to
his heart to last a lifetime. Now, he had to deal with the architect helping
the land developers tear up the local ranches for their houses. Not on his
watch.
Terri Kennedy had her own plans. As the architect for a large land
development in Bandera Texas, the deal would put her business on the map, but
dealing with the stubborn, bullheaded male from the local ranch didn’t come
with her job description. Maybe staying on their guest ranch would give her
some clues as how to handle Mr. Stubborn Jackass.
Will the secrets she’s
harboring keep him from getting close? Can he learn to trust women again or
should be play the game to find out what’s she’s up to?
Terri shielded her eyes from the glaring sun as she watched the man slowly pull down the road. She noticed his long, lean frame when he’d climbed out of the cab of his dirty, old truck.
He definitely had cowboy down to an art from the top of his cowboy hat to the tip of his dirty boots. She could tell he was the real deal unlike the men she knew in Houston. Even though Houston was smack dab in the middle of cowboy country, most men she dated weren’t cowboys.
They were strictly corporate types—suits, ties and penny loafers.
Too bad she couldn’t see his eyes. You could tell a lot about a man by his eyes.
Oh well, he’d been so pissed off at her being there, it’s not like he would have looked twice at her anyway. She glanced down at her outfit. The new jeans, western shirt and pointed toe cowboy boots looked cute this morning when she’d put them on, but up against his tattered jeans, plain blue T-shirt and worn boots, she looked like a city slicker. Not something she wanted. She needed to fit in according to her clients. She had to rethink her clothing choices apparently.
He definitely had cowboy down to an art from the top of his cowboy hat to the tip of his dirty boots. She could tell he was the real deal unlike the men she knew in Houston. Even though Houston was smack dab in the middle of cowboy country, most men she dated weren’t cowboys.
They were strictly corporate types—suits, ties and penny loafers.
Too bad she couldn’t see his eyes. You could tell a lot about a man by his eyes.
Oh well, he’d been so pissed off at her being there, it’s not like he would have looked twice at her anyway. She glanced down at her outfit. The new jeans, western shirt and pointed toe cowboy boots looked cute this morning when she’d put them on, but up against his tattered jeans, plain blue T-shirt and worn boots, she looked like a city slicker. Not something she wanted. She needed to fit in according to her clients. She had to rethink her clothing choices apparently.
Getting in with the locals was a priority. She needed information on the water levels, plants, wildlife and other pieces of the puzzle to be able to put together the plans for the housing development, and who better to get it from than one of the local cowboys.
She looked at George wondering whether she could get the information from him. Nah, he seemed like a nice enough guy, but he wouldn’t have the ins and outs knowledge of a cowboy. Hmm. Maybe she could stay at one of the local dude ranches and pick the brains of the wranglers. Yeah. Sounded like a good idea to her.
“Hey, George. I know there are several dude ranches around here. Which one do you think is the best?”
“Thunder Ridge.”
“Like the one that belongs to the cowboy who just chased us off his land?”
“Yep.” George spit tobacco juice several feet away.
Totally gross!
“It’s the nicest in the area. They have a great main lodge, meals are included, swimmin’ pool. You name it. They got it. The small little guest cabins are the best, although I hear there are ghosts in the main lodge.”
“Really?”
“Yep.” He scratched his chin. “One of the boys just got married this weekend to a city gal from Los Angeles.”
“Boys?”
“There’s nine of them out there, including Jeff who you just sort of met. He’s kind of testy, that one. Doesn’t take kindly to strangers on their property. He’s been very vocal about hatin’ the land developers buyin’ up the property out here.”
“I gathered that.”
“He’s got a real piss pour attitude about him these days. ‘Course with his ex bein’ such a bitch, I can certainly see why.”
“Hmm.”
“You could do worse than goin’ out there for a few days if you’re thinkin’ along them lines."
“I was, yes. I need more information.”
“Get in good with one of them boys and you’ll have everythin’ you need. The family has been here for a long time. Those boys grew up here. No one knows the land like they do.”
She looked at George wondering whether she could get the information from him. Nah, he seemed like a nice enough guy, but he wouldn’t have the ins and outs knowledge of a cowboy. Hmm. Maybe she could stay at one of the local dude ranches and pick the brains of the wranglers. Yeah. Sounded like a good idea to her.
“Hey, George. I know there are several dude ranches around here. Which one do you think is the best?”
“Thunder Ridge.”
“Like the one that belongs to the cowboy who just chased us off his land?”
“Yep.” George spit tobacco juice several feet away.
Totally gross!
“It’s the nicest in the area. They have a great main lodge, meals are included, swimmin’ pool. You name it. They got it. The small little guest cabins are the best, although I hear there are ghosts in the main lodge.”
“Really?”
“Yep.” He scratched his chin. “One of the boys just got married this weekend to a city gal from Los Angeles.”
“Boys?”
“There’s nine of them out there, including Jeff who you just sort of met. He’s kind of testy, that one. Doesn’t take kindly to strangers on their property. He’s been very vocal about hatin’ the land developers buyin’ up the property out here.”
“I gathered that.”
“He’s got a real piss pour attitude about him these days. ‘Course with his ex bein’ such a bitch, I can certainly see why.”
“Hmm.”
“You could do worse than goin’ out there for a few days if you’re thinkin’ along them lines."
“I was, yes. I need more information.”
“Get in good with one of them boys and you’ll have everythin’ you need. The family has been here for a long time. Those boys grew up here. No one knows the land like they do.”
In this book, we get to know Jeff, the oldest brother out of the 9, and the one who has the most issues with women it seems. While his anger towards the better gender (can you tell I'm a woman here ;) ) is justified, it felt like he had a lot of anger towards women. During the course of the story, you could tell what Jeff holds very dear to himself, his family. The one complaint that I would have about his character is that he went from being the “hating all women” to doing whatever he could to be with Terri. It felt like to me the switch was done too quickly.
Terri's character I think was written pretty good as well. You learn a little about her past, but not a lot. It seemed like she just 'appeared' and her life started when she had the surveying job. I didn't really like what she did throughout the book, but I do understand it on some level. When it came to the ending of the book, I wish she would have held out a little more than she did, but once again, I can understand where she was coming from.
I do have to say completely though, I think my favorite character in this book is Nina. Being the Mom of 9 boys, you have to have a sense of humor. She was a great comic relief during the course of this book.
All in all, I have to say that I am completely glad that I gave Sandy another shot because I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. I would recommend this series to friends of mine who enjoy cowboys and romance!
Currently $4.99 on Amazon.
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Sandy
Sullivan is a romance author, who, when not writing, spends her time
with her husband Shaun on their farm in middle Tennessee. She loves
to ride her horses, play with their dogs and relax on the porch,
enjoying the rolling hills of her home south of Nashville. County
music is a passion of hers and she loves to listen to it while she
writes.She is an avid reader of romance novels and enjoys reading Nora Roberts, Jude Deveraux and Susan Wiggs. Finding new authors and delving into something different helps feed the need for literature. A registered nurse by education, she loves to help people and spread the enjoyment of romance to those around her with her novels. She loves cowboys so you'll find many of her novels have sexy men in tight jeans and cowboy boots.
Thank you for the great review and I'm glad you liked Jeff and Terri's story.
ReplyDeleteSandy