Author: Vicki Lewis Thompson

Throwback Thursday Review: Should’ve Been A Cowboy by Vicki Lewis Thompson (with spoilers)

Posted March 11, 2021 by Holly in Reviews | 1 Comment

Throwback Thursday Review: Should’ve Been A Cowboy by Vicki Lewis Thompson (with spoilers)Reviewer: Holly
Should've Been a Cowboy by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Series: Sons of Chance #4
Also in this series: Wild at Heart (Sons of Chance, #11)
Publisher: Harlequin Blaze
Publication Date: June 1, 2011
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Point-of-View: No
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Westerns
Pages: 224
Add It: Goodreads
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three-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Wanted: One hot cowboy...

Party organizer Tyler O'Connelli is on the fast track to her dream career. She's so close she can almost taste it. But when she returns to her family and sees her one-night stand, Alex Keller, all done up in his cowboy gear, her self-control is stretched to the "breaking point...."

They're worlds apart. She's a busy career girl, and Alex is a cowboy. But while getting together might not bode well for anything long-term, it more than makes up for it in sheer hot chemistry Problem is, this is one wrangler she might want to get tied down--and tied up--to...indefinitely

This review was originally posted on May 25, 2011.

I was anxious for this story after finishing the previous in the series. I’m glad VLT decided to write it. My review contains mild plot spoilers. Read on at your own risk.

Alex and Tyler shared a passionate night together at the wedding of his sister, who was marrying into the same family Tyler’s sister had. As an activities director on a cruise ship, Tyler doesn’t have much opportunity for relations with the opposite sex. She figures she’ll see Alex again after their night – they are related through marriage, after all – but she isn’t worried about it. Having a one off isn’t that big a deal to either of them, especially since Alex is recovering from a divorce.

10 months go by before they’re reunited and both are surprised to find that they haven’t been able to forget the other. If circumstances were different, they might even consider trying to build a relationship. As it stands, Tyler is up for a major promotion and getting ready to set sail on a world cruise. She isn’t interested in settling down on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming.

Although the longer she spends with Alex and the rest of the Chance family, the more she questions her desire to continue being a world traveler. But is Alex willing to commit if she sticks around? And is she willing to stick around if he’s not?

I have to take this story in two parts. 1) the romance. I think the romance worked very well. The connection between Alex and Tyler is well established going into the story, so the small page count doesn’t hurt it. Their decision to keep it light was obviously doomed to failure – both had their emotions engaged early on. I felt the connection between them and enjoyed it.

The second part of this was less easy to like. Tyler’s focus on her career really played a large part in the story. It was the main conflict that kept them apart and the whole reason they resisted entering into a deeper relationship. And yet Tyler decides, rather unexpectedly, that she’d like to settle down after all and perhaps become the marketing director for the town. A position that doesn’t even exist. There was no talk of Alex taking a position on the cruise ship – something he was qualified for with a communications and DJ background – or of them working on something long distance so that Tyler wouldn’t have to give up her career.

That in and of itself wouldn’t have been such a big deal, but once she mentions her plan to Alex and he vetoes it (because he thinks she deserves more) that’s it..she gives it up. It was obvious her only reason for staying was because of Alex. I can understand him being a consideration, but to give up a life long dream and a career, I felt she needed to do it for a better reason than a man.

While I enjoyed the romance, the fact that all the give was done on Tyler’s part really brought the story down for me.

3 out of 5

Sons of Chance

three-stars


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Guest Review: Tempted By A Cowboy by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Posted July 19, 2013 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Tempted By A Cowboy by Vicki Lewis ThompsonReviewer: Rowena
Tempted By a Cowboy (The Perfect Man #2) by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Series: The Perfect Man #2
Publisher: Intermix
Publication Date: June 18th 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance, Westerns
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

The sisters of Gamma Delta Rho just can’t agree whether the perfect man is rich or rugged. But can a cowboy ever prove he’s worth his weight in gold?

Billionaire Astrid Lindberg may have grown up with a silver spoon in her mouth, but she’s determined to have a career as a vet and she feels most at home in a barn surrounded by her beloved horses. Though her parents expect her to settle down with someone refined and rich, Astrid can’t keep her thoughts off of the handsome and hardworking rancher Fletcher Grayson. Too bad he’s one of her clients and thus strictly off limits.

Then, Astrid is involved in an accident after helping one of Fletcher’s horses in the early morning hours, and Fletch comes to her rescue. In the aftermath, the two find their sizzling attraction outweighing common sense and overriding their professional relationship. But Astrid is keeping a secret that is a ticking time bomb with the power to destroy their newfound passion…

This new novella is a part of a series featuring the romantic experiences of sorority sisters, all of whom come from vastly different walks of life and yet whose bond of friendship is stronger than many biological siblings.  This short novel features a woman whose delight is in being a small town vet, one who can simply live as herself and not as a billionaire heiress.  She loves being liked for who she is, appreciated for the expertise she displays in caring for animals, and for her genuine spirit of wanting to be a part of this really nice community.  She is also very aware of the ethics of being involved romantically with one of her clients and it is a tribute to the stalwart nature of her character that no  matter how tempted she may be by the gorgeous body and upstanding character of Fletcher Grayson, she is still determined to be a professional of the highest standing in her field of expertise.

But the human heart has a way of undercutting even the highest of ideals and the heat between these two characters is evident right from the first.  It only gets hotter.  But inbetween Astrid and Fletcher sits those billions, money she doesn’t mind having, but bank accounts she absolutely doesn’t want to determine the way people judge her or look at her.  Her greatest fear is losing the high regard Fletch has for her, possibly losing the love of the one man who has become almost emotionally indispensible to her.  It’s a crisis of rather grand proportion and thus this is not a novella that is comfortable or sickeningly sweet.  It is a story that, in spite of the money involved, is one where two people may well lose out, big time.  So throughout the story there is this tension between what Astrid really wants to see happen in her life and what she fears may happen when Fletch finds out about all that money.

As always, Ms Thompson has given readers a delightful story that is filled with emotion and the energy that comes when real-life people engage in what we call relationship.  It is also about the pressures of real life, although I doubt that many of us know vets who are billionaires.  Nevertheless, it is about the desires and hopes of a young woman who may have been born with a platinum spoon in her mouth but carries within her the same hopes and dreams for being accepted for herself and not for anything external.  I was sorry that the story wasn’t longer–I think these two people are really fine people and I would have liked to see their story teased out a bit more.  But suffice it to say, it is always a pleasure to read one of Ms Thompson’s stories and I have every expectation that all her fans will be pleased.  It’s a fun series.  I think it deserves to be read and enjoyed.

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 InterMix. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

four-stars


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Guest Review: Werewolf in Alaska by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Posted July 17, 2013 by Book Binge Guest Blogger in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Werewolf in Alaska by Vicki Lewis ThompsonReviewer: Judith
Werewolf in Alaska (Wild About You, #5) by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Series: Wild About You #5
Publisher: Signet
Publication Date: July 2nd 2013
Genres: Paranormal Romance
Pages: 316
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

He’s a lone wolf—for now.

In Polecat, Alaska, Rachel Miller and Jake Hunter have a mutual admiration for each other—from across a lake. There’s nothing Rachel likes more than spying on the very fit wilderness guide when he skinny-dips each night. And Jake has always been curious about his reclusive artist neighbor. He even bought Rachel’s first wood carving: a wolf who looks suspiciously like him...

Jake is a werewolf, but not just any werewolf. He’s the founder of WARM (Werewolves Against Random Mating). And that means a human like Rachel is off-limits, no matter how attractive he finds her.

But when Rachel is threatened by a bear, and Jake shifts to save her, their lives collide with an intense passion, one that could change everything they’ve ever felt about themselves—and each other...

I have lots of favorite authors and the list keeps growing.  But those I like the best are writers who have the capacity to move outside a particular aspect of romance fiction, don’t get stuck writing versions of the same thing all the time, and who are not afraid to challenge themselves to write something different.  Ms Thompson has demonstrated that ability in this new novel that is quite different from her cowboy tales and her American life contemporaries.  Here she has constructed a story that is filled with emotional push/pull involving a gawk-worthy wolf whose nightly skinny-dipping mesmerizes his neighbor across the lake, and a young woman sculptor whose renditions of wolves look amazingly life-like.  In fact, Jake is convinced that she has patterned several to look just like him when he was spotted in the woods when he had shifted.  Yet there is also a political component here that brings the reader face to face with the prejudice that can cripple co communities and destroy relationships.  And even though it is all paranormal fantasy, the principles are here to be considered.  Jake doesn’t believe in anything but “pure” matings.  Sound familiar?

Ms Thompson has given her readers a compelling look into the shifter communities who are struggling with this whole idea of species purity while having to face the fact that they live in a wider world and have many paranormals who have formed lasting and wholesome relationships with humans and other shifters.  There are some surprises in this story, many of which are late in the story and which give a unexpected twist to what readers are expecting to be the outcome of Jake and Rachel’s love affair.  This is a very intense story and not always easy to read.  But I think it will be one that will stimulate the mind as well as entertain.  That’s really the absolutely best kind of book, as I see it.

I give this novel a rating of 4 out of 5.

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

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

four-stars


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Guest Review: Wild At Heart by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Posted June 19, 2013 by Judith in Reviews | 0 Comments

Guest Review: Wild At Heart by Vicki Lewis ThompsonReviewer: Judith
Wild at Heart (Sons of Chance, #11) by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Series: Sons of Chance #11
Also in this series: Should've Been a Cowboy
Publisher: Harlequin, Harlequin Blaze
Publication Date: June 18th 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 224
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Some men can't be tamed…

Domesticity can starve a man's soul, and drifter cowboy Luke Griffin believes in absolute freedom. His gig at the Last Chance Ranch will end soon, and he'll move on. But then Luke gets splashed by a green energy drink from a platform in a tree, and suddenly things get complicated.

Naomi Perkins was studying the nesting of a rare pair of bald eagles when she accidentally "baptizes" the delish cowboy. And when his shirt comes off…good morning, libido! But this attraction isn't just mutual—it's fierce enough to send them both tumbling into a no-strings fling.

It's a temporary arrangement, even if it is way more intense than anything Naomi could have imagined. But when the time comes, will she be able to let this wild cowboy go?

In the past several weeks I have read several Vicki Lewis Thompson pieces and I think it safe to say that she has been a very busy writer.  And because I have been reading not only several of her cowboy stories but some of her contemporary romances as well, it is easy to see why she is such a favorite with romance fiction fans, no matter the setting or subject of her stories.  Her “Last Chance Ranch” stories go in lots of directions but this one is a bit different.  It involves people who are as different as it is possible to be.  On the one hand you have Naomi who is connected to the land, loves her friends and family, and who wants to make a long term difference with her science and her ecology studies.  Luke, on the other hand, is a man who moves about so much that he truly leaves no residual of his presence behind.  He’s a no-strings kind of guy in almost every area of his life, not just in his love life.  Yet when he and Naomi begin their fling, neither is aware that there are connections already that may sneak up on them and ultimately sandbag them both.

This is a very sexy and emotional tale, one that will please those who love a sexy cowboy and lots of hot loving.  It will also highlight the efforts modern ranchers are putting forth to be environmentally responsible, and also is a setting for this story wherein an entire community is more concerned with protecting the earth than they are with the bottom line.  This story is very intense, with a sexual tension that weaves itself throughout the text.  Yet hearts are in danger, just as much as those baby eagles Naomi is protecting.  I think readers will also be aware of the strong ties that all the folks at the Last Chance Ranch share, another way in which Luke is really on the outside looking in.

So if you like hot cowboys and hot cowboy stories, this is you book.  It’s fun and engaging and I think will be a very entertaining read, especially for Thompson fans.

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 Harlequin. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher for an honest review.

four-stars


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Guest Review: One Night With A Billionaire by Vicki Lewis Thompson

Posted June 13, 2013 by Judith in Reviews | 1 Comment

Guest Review: One Night With A Billionaire by Vicki Lewis ThompsonReviewer: Judith
One Night With a Billionaire by Vicki Lewis Thompson
Series: Perfect Man #1
Publisher: Intermix
Publication Date: May 21st 2013
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Add It: Goodreads
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four-stars
Series Rating: four-stars

Melanie, Astrid, and Valerie may be best friends, but they have very different ideas of what kind of man is more fun—one with a pocket full of cash or a guy with spurs on his boots?

Growing up on a ranch, Melanie Shaw always assumed she’d end up with a strong, protective cowboy someday. Before she settles down, though, she decides to take a romantic adventure in Paris, a city she longs to explore.

But on the first day of her getaway, Melanie winds up in trouble and is rescued by an unlikely stranger—the handsomest Texan she’s ever seen. He may not be a cowboy, but what girl can resist a billionaire who wants to take her on a whirlwind tour of the City of Lights? And when the romance between them heats up, Melanie realizes that she may have found her perfect man where she least expected…

Some of us who have traveled abroad will be able to empathize with the heroine of this novella, a woman who has almost everything she owns stolen the very first day she is in Paris.  Actually, it all happened within hours of her arrival.  Now Melanie Shaw is stranded and wondering how she can even manage to get to the American Consulate, much find a way to get her credit cards, her funds, and even get back to her shabby hotel.  Enter the “knight in shining armor” as the gentleman who chases the thief and who eventually rescues her from a not-very-nice section of Paris.  And so begins the short but engaging tale of a very ordinary rancher’s daughter who manages to end up spending her vacation in the over-the-top mansion of a billionaire.

What saved this story for me — imagining a rescue by a billionaire is the stuff of fiction, pure and simple — was the very real disaster that puts this ordinary tourist in a very dangerous and difficult situation from the get go.  It happens far more frequently than most of us think.  But who of us hasn’t fantasized about the wealthy rescuer, the fabulous accommodations and meeting someone who is right out of a fairy tale?  What is also so endearing about Melanie is her refusal to allow the riches of her rescuer to change her in any way, for she has her character guidelines and she lives by them 24/7.  So this guy has money.  So what?  She is going to pay her way and thus keep control of her life.  I found her to be lots of fun, even when she was being naive.

Ms Thompson has give us lots of very readable stories and this is the beginning of a series that will feature three women, all of whom are very different but all are linked together in this “family” of sorts.  Their loyalty to one another is without question.  And the reader gets a sense that each is a support to the other no matter the circumstance and certainly no matter if their is money involved.  While I am not a big fan of novellas, I still found this one a very fun read and am glad I found it on NetGalley.  I think Ms Thompson’s fans will be pleased, and anyone who is a true fan of contemporary romance fiction will also find it an entertaining piece.

I give it a rating of 4 out of 5.

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

four-stars


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