Following a dream brought Josie Keller to Shoshone, Wyoming. Following her heart brought her plenty of great sex with good-time cowboy Jack Chance! She was head over heels for him… until he left her.
Stay with one woman? Not a chance! Then why does Jack miss Josie like crazy? Had their relationship been more than just incredible sex?
Little do Josie and Jack know that a plan’s afoot to get them back in the saddle…together. And once there, it’s not long before they’re burning up the bedsheets again!
But the past is never far away. Before it catches up with them, Jack has to decide if he’s going to stake his claim on Josie, or lose her forever….
I really enjoy VLT’s category romances. Especially the ones featuring sexy cowboys. I used to read her Nerd books way back when. I can’t remember when I gave up on them, but now I mainly read her categories.
Jack and Josie had a really good thing going, but when Jack’s father died in an accident while picking up a horse, Jack freaks out and breaks things up. Jack was the one who was supposed to be picking up the horse, but he’d decided to blow it off to spend time with Josie instead. The guilt of knowing his father would probably still be alive if it weren’t for him just reinforces what he’s always known – he’s no good at relationships.
Josie was devastated when Jack walked away from her. 7 months later, when he shows up drunk at her apartment, she’s determined to keep him at arms length to protect her heart. She’s doing pretty well with it, until she’s asked to be the maid-of-honor in a wedding where Jack is the best man. Due to some scheming on the part of her best friend and Jack’s family, she ends up getting riding lessons from Jack. Which means a lot of alone time. Josie decides she wants a no-strings affair with Jack, but he’s determined to show her he really cares.
I love the reunited lovers theme, and VLT does it well here. Jack and Josie were great characters, both on their own and together. I liked that Jack realized his mistakes from the past and tried to correct them. He was really struggling to deal with his dad’s death and the guilt he felt for being with Josie instead of helping out. For the last 7 months, he’s been working himself to the bone to prove he’s worthy of running the ranch. It isn’t until he gets drunk and shows up at Josie’s place that he realizes how wrong he was to treat her as he did. I like it when the heroes realize early on they were jerks and try to fix it.
In the beginning, Josie didn’t let Jack get away with anything. She held herself back from him and tried not to let him mean too much to her. But she didn’t hold out long. On the one hand, I was rooting for her. On the other..well, I think she gave in a little too quickly. I did like her on the whole, though. She was strong and had a great sense of humor. She was also a loving, caring person. That really came through as she spent more time with Jack and tried to help her brother mend his broken heart.
Speaking of her brother, he was one of my favorite secondary characters. I can’t wait to read his book.
Overall a great, sexy read.
4 out of 5
The series:
This book is available from Harlequin Blaze. You can buy it here
Thank you! You’ve redeemed VLT for me. I used to love her stuff until she started the Nerd series. Because of those books, I haven’t read her in forever (although I have a couple of her old cowboy books on my keeper shelf). I will definitely give a try again!
I cannot wait to read all 3 of these books.
I’m more of a fan of requited love – can’t get enough of those!
You’ve made me want to start reading VLT again. I may just have to look for this pronto!
Hmmm I read the last one – Ambushed! ? Heh double punctuation. Thought it was ok but parts annoyed me. Though I do have the first two… will need to read them.