Rowena’s review of One Lucky Cowboy by Carolyn Brown.
Hero: Slade Luckadeau
Heroine: Ellacyn Jane Hayes
Grade: 4 out of 5
Jane Day is on the run from the paid assassin who had been her fiancé. In Wichita Falls, Texas, she meets Nellie Luckadeau, a spitfire of an old lady who desperately needs someone to work on her ranch. But Nellie’s drop-dead gorgeous grandson “Lucky Slade” is sure he can spot a con artist a mile away. He’s determined not to let some upstart like Jane fleece his granny.
When his signature intimidation methods don’t convince Jane to leave, he pours on the charm to make her spill what she’s up to. She’s happy to play along, but she’s not going to let this hot, hostile cowboy run her off his land when all she needs is a lucky break…
I’m definitely warming up to this series. Sexy cowboys working on a ranch and having washboard abs like that cowboy on the cover? I’m all about it. This is the second book in her Lucky Cowboys series (I just made that up because I couldn’t find the name of this series) and this book was Beau’s cousin Slade’s book. I really enjoyed getting to know Beau in his book but I loved getting to know Slade in this book. Even when Slade was being an absolute ass to Jane, I still loved it and him.
I’m starting to see a pattern in these books, both the hero and the heroine hate each other on sight. They fight and they bicker over every little thing and then the fighting leads to loving and then the loving leads to true love. I would like to see Brown shake things up but even though it’s becoming a little repetitive, I still enjoyed this book.
Slade was a stand up good guy who didn’t want anyone conning his grandmother. Can’t hate a man who just wants to protect his grandmother from the con artists of the world. I also couldn’t hate the man for doubting Jane since he didn’t know her from the next woman on the street. She could have been anyone and I can understand why he was so distrustful of Jane but while I understood it, the constant bickering between Slade and Jane got to be a bit much throughout the book but despite that, I still enjoyed the book.
Jane was a smart woman on the run. Her grandparents left her a ranch and an oil company so she’s the rich little heiress. She meets a handsome man who charms her and she falls in love with him. They get engaged and then on the eve of her wedding, she overhears her fiance having sex with the woman he introduced as his sister but if you thought that wasn’t bad enough, you’re wrong because to make matters worse, she overhears their plans to off her before her birthday (when she finally inherits everything) so that her stepfather can inherit the company and her fiance can cash in on the million dollar insurance policy that he took out on her. Jane runs off in the middle of the night and doesn’t look back. She’s only got one plan and that’s to stay hidden and stay alive. She finds the perfect place to hide out for six weeks at the Double L Ranch in Texas.
On the ranch, she develops relationships with both Slade’s grandmother, Nellie and Nellie’s sister, Ellen. She grows closer to Slade as well even though their relationship remains rocky. Watching these two grow close was hard to read because all they did was fight with each other. Every step of the way they argued. They bickered. They were just at each others throats but even with all of that going on, I was still engrossed in the story. I still wanted to know how it would all pan out and when they finally got together at the end, I was happy. I was content.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I enjoyed this book more than I did the first book and I’m anxious for Griffin’s story even though, guess what? He fights and bickers with his heroine. *sigh* I want to see something different from this series but I can’t help myself, the fast paced of the stories keep me interested. The characters are lovable characters and they add the extra umph to these books that keep me coming back for more. Would I recommend this book? Yeah, I enjoyed it and I’m thinking you guys will too. Try it and form your own opinions. I’ll definitely keep reading this series, I love me some Luckadeau men.
This book is available from Sourcebooks. You can buy it here.