Guest Review: Lassoing Lara by N. J. Walters

Brody Courage wakes up after a night out with his brothers and finds himself tied to his bed with no idea how he got there. Just when he thinks he’s going to have to rip up the head board to get himself loose, he hears someone entering the house. He thinks it’s one of his brothers and calls out for help, but it’s his neighbor, Lara Jacobs, his long-time childhood friend.

He’s humiliated to have to ask her to help and swears her to secrecy. She’s quiet and pale and leaves after releasing only one arm. When Brody finally gets himself out of the bed, he finds a pair of red lacy panties stuck near the footboard–a perfect match for the red lacy bra he glimpsed Lara wearing when she bent over to untie him. It is then that memories of the past night start to come back to him. He spent one incredible night in bed with his neighbor. Now he wants another–one he can remember. There’s only one problem: Lara is avoiding him.

This is a very cute short story of two long-time friends, Brody and Lara. They have grown up together, been neighbors forever, and have shared just about every experience possible on their Texas ranches. The Brody Boys have now gone out for a night of beer and pool and as is often the case, Lara was there, too. She has always been “just one of the boys”–that is, until Brody notices how nicely she fills out her jeans while bending over the pool table time and again. Lara isn’t a beauty queen, but she is curvy and attractive, and Brody is becoming more aware that she isn’t a kid anymore. Brody is the middle brother–his oldest brother is married and doesn’t seem to notice the gals too much anymore. He has a very pretty wife waiting for him at home. The youngest brother, Matthew, has the kind of government job that keeps him on the move. So he is a “one night stand” kind of guy. Brody has moved back home to the old family ranch, is in the process of fixing up the old place and finishing his latest book for the publishers. So this night is a welcome break these tasks. Only one problem: by the time he is ready to go home, he is really snockered.

Driving home with Lara saved his brother a trip out to the ranch. Brody continues to “warm up” to Lara and begins kissing her. The kisses become more passionate, and they end up in Brody’s bed, sharing a passionate night together. Lara gets up early, goes out for a walk in an attempt to decide how to handle the “morning after” awkwardness, comes back in and learns that Brody remembers nothing. She is so upset she releases only one arm and leaves. It is only after Brody finds the panties that he realizes that Lara had been with him all night and has now left. No wonder she looked pale and upset.

For the next two weeks Brody puts all the pieces back together–still some portions of the night he can’t remember–but now he can’t get Lara out of his head. But inspite of his best efforts she continues to evade him. What can he do now?

As always, Ms Walters seems to have a real knack of writing some very complete tales in very few pages. That’s not always easy to do. My creative writing instructors in college always declared that it takes far more skill and preparation to write few pages than more. Wlaters has pulled it off nicely. It is a gentle love story that reminds all of us that some of the best people we can ever know, even romantically, may be the people whose presence in our lives we take for granted daily. Lara had loved Brody for years; he never noticed her sexually nor thought of her as anything other than a best pal. It took the shock of a “lost night” to get his attention. This is one of those stories that reminds us to look around and take more serious notice of our best friends and even our family. Romance could be lurking just outside the front door or around the corner. This is not a complicated story so it poses no deep philosophical questions. But it is an opportunity to take stock of our attitudes toward those in our friendship circle. Never a bad thing to do under any circumstance.

This is one of that “Quickies” from Ellora’s Cave that I often think of as “lunchtime companions” that go so well with the ham sandwich or are just long enough for those before bed reading moments. It is a very entertaining and definitely a massage for the libido. Romance fans will most definitely find lots to enjoy here. I give this short story a 3.5 out of 5 rating.

This book is available from Ellora’s Cave. You can buy it here in e-format.

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