Sydney Thomas may be the newest Rodeo Queen on the circuit, but she’s more than just a pretty face and fabulous horseback rider. If only her new boss could see it! But the frustrating, bossy, drop-dead gorgeous man seems bent on pushing her away every chance he gets.
Scott Chandler learned at an early age that he needed to “cowboy up” and take care of his family. The one time he let his guard down, his heart got trampled, and he’s not about to let that happen again. He knows Sydney’s type: rodeo queens who hide their manipulative ways behind good looks, tight jeans, and glittery tiaras.
But just as Scott and Sydney are finally realizing there might be more to their fiery relationship than scorching kisses and passionate nights, secrets from their pasts come back to haunt them. Will the cowboy and the Rodeo Queen ever be able to ride off into the sunset together?
Sydney Thomas finally has gotten her dream job. She’s training horses on a great ranch and still attending rodeos. Unfortunately she had a bad run in with one of her bosses (before he was her boss) and the sparks flew in more ways than one. They frustrate each other as much as they are attracted to each other but Sydney’s just not sure what Scott is thinking half the time. He seems like he’s on again off again with his feelings but she keeps trying.
Scott was hurt by his ranch co-owners daughter who played him. She was a rodeo queen so he’s lumped all rodeo queens into one category – manipulative bitches. He keeps trying to tell himself that Sydney’s like that but even the first day he meets her he realizes that she’s not like his ex girlfriend, Liz.
Scott and Sydney start a relationship and Sydney falls hard. She thinks that Scott is feeling the same but he refuses to believe/admit that he loves her. When Liz shows up at the ranch and makes her move on Scott he wants nothing to do with her but Liz manipulates the couple and Sydney feels betrayed and takes off. Scott finally has to see what’s right in front of his face and then fix things with Sydney if he’s ever to be happy again.
This was a good story by new author TJ Kline. I liked it on the whole but there were definitely parts that I didn’t care for.
Scott but really a bastard to Sydney at times. He would do and say things that he knows would hurt her and though I knew that he was trying to prove a point or something to that effect, I just don’t care for people who do purposely hurtful things to others. That really brought him down a notch or two in the hero department for me. Also, not standing up to Liz and asking her straight out what she wanted when he knew she was there for something kind of annoyed me. He finally did do that but it was almost too little too late.
I really liked Sydney – she was smart and hard working. She knew what she wanted and wasn’t really afraid to go after it – until Scott hurt her. That really brought her confidence down – especially when he flat out tells her he doesn’t love her. Ouch, that’s gotta sting – when you’re carrying someone’s child or not. I thought Sydney was actually older in the book as she acted older for the most part. I found out later that she was only 20 so when she started acting 20 towards the end it wasn’t such a shock. I still liked her but age was definitely showing.
I did like the sweet times between Sydney and Scott. They were very romantic and for a man who said that he didn’t love a woman and never would he treated her like a queen at times. He really had a great heart that’s why his other actions were disheartening. I really liked the supporting cast in the story and loved how they all supported both characters in their own way. They were definitely well written.
Overall I liked the story and the writing and will read more from this author in the future.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5