Judith’s review of Cowboy Casanova (Rough Riders Book #12) by Lorelei James
His rough touch makes her lose control…
In Sundance, Wyoming, you can’t throw a boot without hitting a McKay cowboy, so Ben McKay is used to fading into the background. Except on weekends, when he’s Bennett, imposing Dom at The Rawhide Club, surrounded by a bevy of female subs eager for the attention of his long…whip.
As for the curvy brunette eying him from across the room? He’ll eat his Stetson if she’s the experienced Domme she claims to be. Bennett offers her a deal—he’ll let her call the shots for one night. But the next night he gets to prove to her how freeing it’ll be when he takes the reins. Ainsley Hamilton is amazed by how well Bennett read her every secret yearning during that one explosive weekend—and she’s stunned when they come face to face in their everyday lives as rancher and new bank president. Now Ben’s urging her to explore her submissive side outside the club, and there’s something in his commanding gaze that makes it too easy to let him take control—of her desires and her pleasure.
Can Ben help Ainsley overcome her fear that a relationship built on dark sexual appetites won’t cause the end of her professional life?
Those of us who have read all the books in this series know that there are McKays coming out of the woodwork of nearly every building in Sundance, Wyoming. And as each book has been clear to point out, every McKay man is a dominant and controlling man just like their fathers. They take charge, especially in the bedroom, but in the case of Ben McKay, his dominant self has coalesced into that of a Dom who is a founding member of The Rawhide Club, a BDSM club located some distance from his home town. Ben has come to accept who he is and is well known with in the BDSM community for his careful use of bondage along with the use of erotic impact–floggers and whips. He has no plan for a family as he knows there are more than enough little McKays running around to perpetuate the name. Yet he is beginning to notice that he has an empty house and many days he has an empty life other than his ranching enterprise.
Ainsley Hamilton is a take-charge woman in her professional life, but her personal life has gone to hell in a hand basket. Her best friend is in a 24/7 Dom/sub relationship and she is truly happy for the first time in their long friendship. So Ainsley decides to visit The Rawhide Club on a fact-finding mission. Of course, she meets Ben and they begin an exploratory relationship only. However, the story wouldn’t be what it is if that didn’t blossom into something more involved. Yet, behind all the search for what will meet a need that just doesn’t seem to want to go away, Ainsley is petrified that her banking position will be lost if anyone in Sundance finds out about the nature of her relationship with Ben.
Like all the other Rough Rider stories, this one is filled to overflowing with characters that have become well-known to this series’ readers. Not only are Ben and Ainsley on an emotional roller coaster of sorts, but all is not smooth sailing within the family, and Ben finds himself embroiled in some family crises that could potentially end some good friendships as well as create problems between him and his family. It is a story that will allow the reader to travel with Ainsley as she tries to get her head around the issues she struggles with over some of the dominance Ben insists on wielding. Yet it is still about the way people find to relate in loving one another, in respecting and negotiating the styles within those relationships. Regardless of what kind of relationship one may now experience, every relationship must be negotiated in some way or other. BDSM is only one of those ways and for people with particular kinds of needs, it works for them. Human relationships, especially within the realm of human sexuality will never be “cookie cutter” specific. This story highlights just one more way that the alpha in Ben is expressed and the way he and Ainsley have to work it out between them.
There is no doubt that all who have followed this family have stories in this series that they like better than others. I think we all have our favorites. I liked this one a lot, not because of the kink, but because of the negotiation issues that kept arising, not only between Ben and Ainsley but also between Ben and others in his family and community. It is the basic reason I love romance fiction–people have to find a way to work things out and when all is said and done, we humans are the most interesting animals on the planet.
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 Samhain Publishing. You can buy it here or here in e-format.