Tag: Cheyenne McCray

Review: Hidden Prey by Cheyenne McCray

Posted May 2, 2017 by Casee in Reviews | 0 Comments

Review: Hidden Prey by Cheyenne McCrayReviewer: Casee
Hidden Prey by Cheyenne McCray
Series: Deadly Intent Series #1

Publication Date: January 31st 2017
Genres: Romantic Suspense
Pages: 246
Add It: Goodreads
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three-stars
Series Rating: three-stars

Danger
Tori Cox, a talented and sought-after musician, heads back to her roots to a small southwest town in Arizona as she flees an abusive relationship. When she arrives she witnesses the execution of a federal agent by the head of the Jimenez Cartel. The drug cartel kingpin orders his men to kill Tori before she can testify.
Desire
Landon Walker, a special agent with the Department of Homeland Security, rescues Tori from members of one of the most ruthless cartels in the world. He sets out to protect her, but soon protecting her isn’t enough. The fire between them makes him want her in a way that he’s never wanted another woman, despite his wounded heart.
Death
Diego Montego Jimenez will do everything in his power to kill Tori, the young American woman, who threatens his business and family. No one lives to testify against the Jimenez Cartel.
Reader Advisory: This book contains scenes of violence and sexual assault.
Publisher's Note: This book has been previously released elsewhere. It has been revised and re-edited for re-release with Totally Bound Publishing.

I usually don’t have a lot of problems that other people have with romantic suspense. The fast romance doesn’t bother me because of the intensity of the situation the characters find themselves in. Hidden Prey was an exception to my rule.

Tori Cox is in a wrong place, wrong time situation. Leaving her home and boyfriend, all Tori wants is her mom. She takes a shuttle home to Bisbee because her car was in the shop. She’s let off the shuttle in the worst part of town and finds herself taking a shortcut through an alley. That’s where she witnesses the murder of a federal agent. She doesn’t know he’s a federal agent of course. Instead of being quiet, Tori screams at the top of her lungs. I wanted to throat punch her for that. I tried to give her the benefit of the doubt for that, but it was hard.

She literally runs into Landon Walker, who gives her refuge from the criminals. Landon has no idea that the case of her career has fallen right into his lap. When he learns it’s his undercover agent that was murdered, he knows that it was the Jimenez cartel and he finally has a witness to prove it.

Their attraction to each other was instant and intense. I just didn’t buy it. Tori had just left an abusive relationship about twelve hours prior to witnessing the murder. Then they’re getting it on in the safe house a day later. Who does that? I found myself mostly skimming the book, just wanting to finish it because I don’t like DNF’s. It wasn’t DNF material because the plot was good. It was just the problems with the relationship overshadowed the whole book for me. I didn’t even realize this was a series. There wasn’t a secondary character that stood out to me.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

three-stars


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Guest Review: Branded for You by Cheyenne McCray

Posted November 28, 2012 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 1 Comment

Judith’s review of Branded for You (Riding Tall #1) by Cheyenne McCray

Megan Wilder doesn’t think there’s a man in this world who could love her just the way she is. After meeting sexy Ryan McBride, she suspects he might just be the one to change her mind.

With her family in danger of losing their restaurant and their home, a sudden illness has everything Megan thought was sure in her life crashing down around her. Finding out Ryan is the one responsible for threatening foreclosure shakes her very foundation.

Can Ryan and Megan succeed in overcoming their obstacles and fight for a love that was meant to be?

Having read Ms McCray’s “Rough and Ready” series in recent months, I was delighted to find this first book in a new series about an Arizona family living in Prescott, AZ.  The McBride brothers are handsome and sexy, absolutely in love with the land and with the family ranching tradition.  They were loyal and caring for one another and their family.  When Megan Wilder encountered Ryan, she met a man who was unlike anyone she had ever met.

Megan Wilder was like many women who felt like a failure when held up against the stick women who are the fashion icons of modern society.  To her parents she had always been too fat, to the kids in school she had become the frequent target of unkind comments about her size, and now her ex-husband had left her for another woman who he declared wasn’t ” . . . fat like you.”  No wonder leaving New Mexico wasn’t a sad prospect, leaving behind a man who she had hoped would be her haven and her support and would love her as she was.  Now she is headed for her parents’ home in Prescott, Arizona where her parents had purchased a new restaurant and where she was hoping to establish her own home and continue her graphic design career.

Needless to say, Megan was very tentative when she first realized that Ryan McBride had attraction to her, wondering if she was in for more of the same as with her ex, waiting for the “other shoe to drop” when Ryan was being so kind and accepting of her, actually acting as if she was beautiful and sexy.  This story is really about the inner fears that so often cripple individuals, fears that are often left over from the cruel and unthinking remarks of family and friends, and those fears are the result of deep wounds that sometimes fail to ever heal.  This is also about the evils of greed and avarice that cause damage to innocent people, whose lives are turned upside down and can even been destroyed.  Once again Ms McCray writes about the need for trust and the power of love–the genuine, authentic kind of love–that can build trust and overcome the fears of the past.

This book was a very satisfying read for me because I can identify with Megan’s awareness of family and the ways that old memories and old habits can engender fear. In my professional life I often come across people whose entire future is put in jeopardy because they can’t seem to move past the hurtful, judgmental remarks from those who we ought to be able to trust to love us unconditionally.  It is a story wherein that love and trust are put to the test and where a future filled with kindness and caring is called into question.  I also think there is an aspect of this tale that proves once again that it isn’t always what you know but who you know that can make a critical difference.

So if you like cowboy romance you’ll certainly like this new series of stories from an author who knows how to keep her readers happy with good romance fiction.  If you haven’t read any of Ms McCray’s work you are in for a treat.  She is rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers and I am always delighted when I discover her newest effort.  This story really deserves to be read and appreciated.

I give it a rating of 4 out of 5

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place

This book is available from Pink Zebra Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.


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Guest Review: Roping Your Heart by Cheyenne McCray

Posted November 27, 2012 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Judith’s review of Roping Your Heart (Riding Tall, #2) by Cheyenne McCray

The Cat Hayden returning to her childhood home after nineteen years is a different person, and a tragic accident has left her insecure about her appearance. But her heart is still filled with memories of the love she left behind… Blake McBride.

Blake recognizes Cat with his heart, a heart that never stopped loving her. But that heart was broken when she left so long ago. Can he trust her again and rekindle that flame that burned so strong?

A champion barrel racer before the accident, Cat finds herself instructing Blake’s talented yet temperamental fourteen-year-old daughter, Demi. Demi is determined to see her divorced parents find happiness together and Cat, great coach or not, doesn’t fit in the picture.

During a bitter legal battle with his ex-wife, Blake stands to lose custody of his daughter. Cat stands by her man but can he fight for his daughter and keep the woman he loves or will shattering events tear them apart…. Permanently.

Here comes another of those sexy McBride brothers only this guy is settled, has his own spread and is raising his 14 year old daughter to be a lover of horses, just like everyone in the McBride Clan.  He has been living as a bachelor for 8 years since his wife up and left him, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and completely unfit or unwilling to care for their daughter or be a ranch wife.  Not enough playtime, too much work, too much responsibility.

Into their lives comes Cat Henderson, a ghost from Blake’s past, his first and most intense love, a woman who couldn’t face staying in Prescott with her drunken abusive father while Blake couldn’t face leaving Prescott, even for the woman who held his heart.  Now 19 years later, both recovering from failed marriages, Cat and Blake find themselves reunited when Blake comes to pick up his daughter from her 4-H Club meeting only to find out that the horse riding instructor is his long-lost first love.  Blake is even more surprised when he discovers that Cat is his new CPA and will be working with him to help him survive an IRS audit.  It seems like fate has not only brought them together but slammed them in each other’s faces.  There are still some tough going ahead for these two when Blake stands to lose the daughter who is absolutely impossible to live without, and Cat faces her determination to remain with her grandmother who is terminally ill and thus can’t leave Prescott.  Once again these lovers face a situation that may once again thake them out of one another’s lies.

This is a very intense story–one that really doesn’t let up almost from the first.  It is a book that is rooted in the real dynamics of relationship, with disappointment and loss, the joys of renewed love that have a double edge to it, and the difficulties of raising a teenage daughter who really wants to see her parents reunited.  At the core of it all is a love that just couldn’t die in spite of time of distance.  I think those who love cowboy romance will find this a fun and satisfying read.  Those who are Ms McCray’s fans already will be delighted in her newest work, and those who are just discovering her will certainly be glad they did.

 I give this story a rating of 4 out of 5

 The Series:

  Book Cover Book Cover

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from Pink Zebra Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.


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Guest Review: Champagne and Chaps by Cheyenne McCray

Posted April 22, 2012 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Judith’s review of Champagne and Chaps Rough and Ready series #4) by Cheyenne McCray

Sabrina Holliday is ready for a vacation from it all and ends up spending the summer with her closest friend in a small southern Arizona ranching community. After fighting breast cancer and dealing with other life trials, she needs a break in the worst way.

Wyatt Cameron hasn’t met anyone as beautiful as Sabrina and from the moment she walks into his life, the cowboy is determined to make sure she belongs to him. He has to work past her barriers, but nothing is going to keep him from winning her heart.

Sabrina figured she was not in the right place in her life to fall for a man, but men who look as good as Wyatt, with a heart to match, just don’t come along. From the first moment she meets him, she knows this cowboy is different than any other man she’s met.  The quiet vacation is interrupted when a stranger helps Sabrina fix her car. She never expects to get caught up in the middle of a drug war, a war that could cost her life. Wyatt races to save Sabrina…before it’s too late.


Individuals and families who have been inundated by the onslaught of terminal illness know that such a disease presents challenges to the heart and the inner strength of a person in a way that nothing else ever does.  In my early years, the present of cancer was very slight, and it was not the most common disease that was killing women.  No, it was heart disease (and it is still way up there), and cancer was not a word that was often spoken.  That is not the case now, and it is not a disease of old women, either.  Ms McCray (who also writes under the pen name of Jamie Holland) has crafted a story that deals with the after effects of cancer in the life of a young woman, a person who really doesn’t want to see all her life goals and dreams evaporate because of her encounter with this deadly disease and the inevitable changes it has forced to her body.  Yet it has left her much stronger and at the same time she has developed that unique insecurity we all face when we wonder if what has happened to our bodies will mean that we are not attractive to someone special.
The hero in this tale, Wyatt Cameron is one of those guys that is almost too good to be true, yet we all know men who have risen to the challenge of loving a woman who has some fairly spectacular surgical wounds and who has somehow the maturity and goodness to see beyond those scars.  This is a story of strength and caring, the healing that comes with true friendship and deep and authentic loving.  It is the kind to story we all love to read because it isn’t a fairy tale–it is about real life and real people, even though they are fictional.  It is also about the challenge for Sabrina to look beyond her own scars, to make a choice about whether she will accept what Wyatt is offering, or will she allow her battle with cancer that has left her changed do the deciding about this important new path opening up before her.  
I have read several of the stories in this series and all are entertaining and engaging.  Those Cameron men are something, and those who really like Western romance are going to like these stories.  Yes, they are on the short side, but this novellas and the others in this series are so well written that they get the job done of telling the story without feeling rushed.  It is not often that I rate a novella so high, but I really responded positively to this story on many levels.  I think you’ll want to read this one.

I give it a rating of 4.5 out of 5

The Series:

Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

You can read more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Pink Zebra Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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Guest Review: Silk and Spurs by Cheyenne McCray

Posted April 14, 2012 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Genres: Anthologies (multiple authors)

Judith’s review of Silk and Spurs (Rough and Ready #2) by Cheyenne McCray

Jessica Porter finds herself in southern Arizona on the Cameron’s Bar C Ranch ready to photograph the ranch and the oldest Cameron’s wedding. When Jessie meets Zane Cameron, she finds herself wishing the tall, dark, and gorgeous cowboy was free.

Lately, Zane has had the feeling that things aren’t as they seem with his fiancée. When she shows her true colors, he calls off the wedding.   Zane feels it’s too soon to fall for another woman, but when he meets Jessie, he just can’t get enough of being around her. It’s not long before the pair gets together and it grows hotter between them than an Arizona summer.

But Zane’s ex-fiancée threatens Jessie and everything takes a dangerous turn…a turn that could mean Jessie’s life. 

I grew up reading Arizona Highways and even living and growing up in the Midwest, I knew that Arizona was a photographer’s paradise.  So much of that photography testified to the fact that the desert can be wonderfully beautiful.  So it was to our heroine, Jessie Porter, a woman who was hired to not only do a commemorative album for the matriarch of the Camerons as well as do the photography for the upcoming wedding of the eldest brother.  Zane was engaged to a petite, blonde, and always helpful, pretty, smiling woman who was anxious to become the newest member of his family.  But even though Zane was a total gentleman, polite and helpful to Jessie, never making a move on her because of his engagement, the bride-to-be took it in her head that Zane was straying.  It prompted reactions that certainly revealed that there was more to Miss Phoebe than Zane realized and a lot of it wasn’t good.
Jessica Porter was all business, even though she felt the strong attraction to Zane and had no intention of encouraging those feelings or being anything but professional.  That Phoebe got the idea that Jessie was truly competition was unfortunate, but Jessie wasn’t even interest–well, that wasn’t entirely true, but she was a person of honor and Zane was off-limits.  But little things started happening and then Phoebe threatened Jessie with harm.  
This is a short novel that is set in the heart of the contemporary ranching country in Arizona and is so well written that it gives the reader the sense of really being right there on the Bar C ranch.  It is a story that zeros in on the way that pure evil can be hidden and the damage it can do potentially.  It is truly a romance and there is some good loving as well as a sense that Zane and Jessie are every bit the kind and genuine man people they first appear to be, and people who wants nothing to do with a woman as duplicitous as Phoebe.  It is a relatively quick and entertaining read and one that lovers of cowboy romance will especially enjoy.  I would have liked it be longer as I enjoyed the other members of the family and their involvement in the action of the novel.  All in all, it was a very good read.

I give it a rating of 4 out of 5

The series:
Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

You can read  more from Judith at Dr J’s Book Place.

This book is available from [insert publisher here]. You can buy it here or here in e-format.


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