Midnight Ride (Midnight Cowboys #1) by Cat Johnson

Happiness is, picking up this book and reading until the wee hours of the morning.

Twenty-four year old ranch hand, Tyler Jenkins was all about having a good time with the ladies. He never thought about settling down like his brother and sister were doing.  He lived for the moment. While most of his friends and acquaintances thought he was just a playboy, the fact is, no one really ever caught his attention long enough for him to take notice. At least, not until the night he makes a wrong move at a bar with an attached young thing who ends up having the bouncer as her fiance.

Thirty-six year old widow, Janie Smithwick could never have imagined the tornado about to come through her life if she even could have dreamed about it. Hiding on the bed of her truck, the handsome, disheveled cowboy is a tall drink of cold water, but boy is he a young thing. Once Tyler sets his mind to something, he won't be swayed and Janie is the woman he has been waiting for. Convincing her that their age difference means nothing though is a tough road to take when Janie has excuse after excuse why she shouldn't open her heart and mind up to him.

When Tyler discovers Janie no longer has ranch hands and is doing it all on her own, he offers to help out with the ulterior motive of getting closer to the beauty widowed too soon. Tyler quickly gets under Janie's skin and soon he becomes the reason for her to wake up in the morning, but that niggling voice in the back of her mind keeps telling her that it will never work because as soon as he finds someone younger and prettier, Tyler will be gone. Convincing her otherwise is a job Tyler gladly takes on, and showing those around him as well as Janie that he is much more the the young player he's proven to be in the past is quite the journey.

Midnight Ride by Cat Johnson is brilliant! I took to this tale from the very first. Tyler Jenkins is so my kind of hero, honorable, persistent and easy to come to terms with his past. Yes, Janie deserved to be smacked in the head a few times, but it's only because she had never had anything such as this happen to her since she married the older man after college. Content in her married life better never knowledgeable of the passion she so easily shares with Tyler, it's easy to see why she would hesitate. Her hesitation only makes Tyler's determination more worthwhile. Midnight Ride is easily one of my top picks this year and Cat Johnson just needs to keep cranking them out so I can gobble them all up.

~KIMBERLY~

The Trouble with Texas Cowboys (Burnt Boot, Texas #2) by Carolyn Brown

There's nothing like being thown in the middle of a Western family feud. The Brennans and the Gallaghers have been going at it for generations and it doesn't seem to be letting up at all. When spunky, Jill Cleary arrives at the Fiddle Creek Ranch to begin her sojourn helping Aunt Gladys she  finds a bear of a cowboy already in HER bunkhouse. Before she can use the shotgun she has poised at him, Aunt Gladys tells her grandniece that the handsome cowboy is the new ranch foreman, Sawyer O'Donnell and that both Sawyer and Jill have to share the bunkhouse. Clearly, Aunt Gladys is out of her mind. 

Sawyer and Jill decide to put their grudges aside and combine forces against the Brennans vs. the Gallaghers, It seems like a few rivals of the  feuding families have their eyes set on Jill and Sawyer for their own nefarious purposes. When the feud, that has been going on for generations escalates with the theft of pigs and cattle, and numerous insults and fighting, Jill and Sawyer attempt to steer as far away from trouble as they can. Only thing is, the more they stay away from the pig war etc... the closer these two become and their attraction sizzles.

Both Jill and Sawyer and not looking for a relationship, but their proximity to one another, their obvious attraction, and their innate ability to live and work together so well, is definitely throwing a wrench in their need to stay single. When Sawyer finally sees just what has been placed in front of him, in the form of hot read-headed temptation, Jill, he must find a way to show her that he isn't like the losers from her past.

The Trouble With Texas Cowboys by Carolyn Brown is a thrilling as well as frustrating ride from start to finish, When will those stubborn Gallagher and Brennan nutcases wake up and smell the bacon? Their constant meddling and altercations lead all involved on a high speed chase into the porcine world of insanity. The only smart people in Burnt Boot are the ones who stay away! That being said, this book contains a lot of laughter and moments that make you go, huh. It's always a joy to delve into one of Miz Brown's creations as I always come away with a smile on my face and shaking my head. So looking forward to more in the Burnt Boot series, so much so that I await the merger of a Gallagher and a Brennan to really bring on the fireworks.

~KIMBERLY~