Judith’s review of Dylan (The Secret Life of Cowboys #2) by C. H. Admirand.
THERE WAS NOTHING HE COULDN’T TAME…
Dylan Garahan might be an old hand at lassoing fillies, but one night at the Lucky Star club, and he ends up wrapping his rope around someone that even his formidable strength can’t tame. She’s wily and beautiful… and she’s his new boss. Dylan’s had his heart broken before, but even an honest cowpoke has to wrestle with temptation…
UNTIL HE GOT HIS LASSO AROUND HER…
Ronnie DelVecchio might be fresh off the bus from New Jersey, but she’s a hard-edged businesswoman and has had her fill of men she can’t trust—although she might consider getting off her high horse for that big, handsome rancher with a Texas drawl.
Second in a series, this novel is indeed a stand alone story yet introduces new readers to the characters in the first novel as background characters. Dylan is cowboy through and through–he really loves the family ranch and does all he can to make sure that it is financially as sound as he can make it through his contributions. That means he is an active member of the family and takes care of the ranch as actively as his brothers. Yet he is also a master carpenter and, would you believe, he fills in at the Lucky Star Club, not really stripping, but definitely as a male erotic dancer and his final part of the act is roping in the lady of the moment–bride, birthday girl, etc. One of those birthday princesses is Ronnie Del Vecchio–a woman from New Jersey and one who has come out West in order to begin anew. But her new business–Guilty Pleasures– in Pleasure, Texas, has not set well with some of the residents as she sells ladies’ lingerie, some of which is definitely not your granny’s panties’ style. Now some teens (or at least, that is the general opinion) have vandalized her business and Dylan Garahan is taking the job of rebuilding her showrooms and storage areas, all in exchange for Ronnie’s cooking for the Garahan Brothers.
This is a warm and winsome cowboy romance that has intensity, sexual tension, a good deal of very down-home humor, and some hot loving. The only downer for me was the on-again-off-again attitude that Ronnie displayed toward Dylan. I think that is a natural part of many beginning love relationships, but really–it gets old after awhile and I found myself getting a bit weary of the push-pull between them. There has been a lot of heartache with these three brothers and Ronnie’s culinary contributions were much appreciated since their cook/housekeeper has again run off with her man, a person who doesn’t seem to be the best kind of husband. So Ronnie is truly welcomed and some of the scenes when they were all enjoying her meals were delightful to read. I had no problem visualizing my grandma’s great big kitchen in rural Indiana, one of my favorite places on the planet when I was growing up.
There is no doubt that I like cowboy romance and wish I had read the first book in this series. I think I’m going to do that after this. I know that I found this story to be fun and engaging, a well-written story that used the language well, was expressive in its descriptions of people, their situations and feelings. Good editing and best of all, good spelling. So I hope those of you who really like cowboy romance will take the time to add this one to your library. It was really a fun read and one that I am pleased to have been able to read.
I give it a rating of 4 out of 5
The series:
You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Sourcebooks Casablanca. You can buy it
here or
here in e-format.
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Thanks so much for reviewing DYLAN, Judith! I’m so glad you enjoyed Dylan and Ronnie’s story. 🙂 I’m sending the link to my editor 🙂