Ames‘ review of Take Me, Cowboy by Jane Porter.
When Jenny Wright’s fiancé leaves her standing at the altar in a Vera Wang bridal gown she can’t afford, she’s humiliated and heartbroken. To have Marietta hero bull riding champ Colton Thorpe witness her shame – makes the rejection even more devastating. Jenny and Colton grew up in the same rough neighborhood and they both left home right after school to pursue big dreams. Now they’re both back, with Colton as the celebrity chair for the 75th Copper Mountain Rodeo, and Jenny in disgrace.
Sexy, rugged Colton didn’t get to be a national champion by chance. He’s a man that takes risks and goes after what he wants. During the rodeo weekend, Colton makes it clear he wants Jenny. Flustered but flattered, Jenny finds it difficult to resist his charm. But what happens when the rodeo ends and Colton leaves town? Will she dare to dream again?
Take Me, Cowboy begins with Jenny’s wedding day and her groom, a stuck up ass named Charles, ditching her before the ceremony even begins. He’s a rich jerk and seeing Jenny’s humble beginnings shakes him and so he cries off. Jenny is devastated and embarrassed and just hits the road, walking away from the church. When Colton spots a woman in a wedding dress walking down the street, he’s unable to resist the urge to help. He offers to drive her home, thinking she lives in the good part of Marietta, but learning she’s from the wrong side of the tracks, like he is, making him realize that he knows Jenny. She’s his younger sister’s childhood friend.
Jenny had the biggest crush on Colton when she was younger. And on this day, the worst day ever, she realizes she still has feelings for him. And over the next week, Colton is going to realize Jenny is all grown up. But he doesn’t do commitment…and he definitely does not care for golddiggers.
I liked this one until I read the ending. LOL This novella definitely suffers from being too short. The story was going along and then BOOM it was done.
But first the good stuff. I thought it was an interesting choice of the author to have Jenny start getting over her non-wedding the day of! When Charles called off, Jenny was hit with some hard truths about their relationship and the choices she had made up until that point. She sacrificed love and passion for security and dependability. Her parents had a loving marriage but a tough life. She wanted better and thought she got it. But Charles calling things off was actually a springboard to Jenny discovering who she was and what she really wanted.
Colton was bitter about marriage. He realized too late that he married a gold digger. So even though running into Jenny after all this time and realizing he was attracted to her, he was worried that she was a golddigger. Which couldn’t have been further from the truth. So I like that these two developed a friendship first. Yes, it was fast, but they had a shared past, so its not like they were total strangers.
Now what bugged me was the ending. Colton had a good reason for wanting to avoid commitment and even though he realized Jenny wasn’t a golddigger, I thought he changed his mind pretty darn quick. I would have liked to have seen some internal dialog from him about his switcheroo at the end.
But overall, this was a cute, quick read. 3 out of 5.
This book is available from Tule Publishing. You can buy it here in e-format.
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