One Tough Cowboy by Lora Leigh and Veronica Chadwick Release Date: January 29, 2019 Publisher: St. Martins Press Book #1 in the Moving Violations series Number of Pages: 304 Kindle Edition Source: Net Galley ARC Romantic Suspense M/F Rating: XXX Read 1/21/19 to 1/23/19
LAW AND ORDER
For as long as Samantha can remember, Hunter—a man as strong as steel, with a heart of gold—has been her hero. It came as no surprise to Samantha when she found out that the ranch-hardened cowboy who always protected her from bullies went on to become the town’s sheriff. What does surprise her is how incredibly hot he still is. And how much she still wants him…PRIDE AND PASSION
And, lo and behold, Hunter still has feelings for Samantha. The long-smoldering heat of their innocent flirtation has grown into a full-raging fire. But when tragedy strikes, and their small-town community is shattered, Hunter vows to do everything he can to keep his childhood sweetheart safe. But can Samantha trust that Hunter has her best interests at heart…and that, after all these years, his love is true?
Love the story setting. Love the story plot. Love the hero of the story, Hunter and his deputy, Shane. Love the state troopers and Hunter’s military buddy Jacob. The rest fell flat.
The relationship between Sam and Hunter should work. They had delightful, often hilarious, banter. Their interactions as children is an interesting back story. I just never felt the chemistry. Being as this is the first in a series I don’t want to straight out say there are holes in this story. There’s a slim chance certain things will become more clear in future books, but it’s doubtful since they are things very specific to the main characters of this story. The authors made the reason Sam’s family moved away from Deerhaven seem a bit mysterious, yet that was never any elaboration made on that subject. Things like that meant the story lost depth for me.
I also cannot say with 100% surety that neither author is from the Detroit area, but there’s quite a strong possibility that they’ve never even been there. I’ll be honest, I really didn’t understand why they used Detroit as the other city in this one until way later in the book. Trust me, it does end up making sense. But most of the thoughts of Detroit in this book are way off base. We do not, for the most part, dress up in more than nice jeans to go to a bar. We do not have, in any way, a proper or well-cultured voice. (In fact, we’re known for the way we drop sounds and turning two words into one such as yoosta = used to and we actually say Detroit with barely pronouncing that last T.) And it’s definitely very humid here in the summer. Having live in both California and Michigan, I can guarantee the humidity in the California mountains would have been a non-issue for Sam after years in Michigan. Can you tell this was a bone of contention for me?
I’m sure there Detroit stuff won’t bother anyone not from the Detroit area the way it bothers me. If this was my only issue, this story would get a higher rating from me. I’m nitpicky, but I’m not unreasonable. The lack of chemistry keeps me from making my rating any higher, though.
To be fair, the last couple of chapters of this story are intense. Once the suspenseful stuff starts happening, the authors really had me hooked into the story. I was on the edge of my seat. If there would have been more of that through the rest of the story, this would be rated higher. I must also say there is a HUGE trigger scene in this book and proceed with caution if that will be an issue for you. But it’s written with great skill. I’m not sure if I’ll look for the next book. Like I said in the beginning of this review, I love Shane, Jacob, and the troopers. While I’m curious for their stories, the lack of chemistry in this one gives me pause.
3 stars
**I received an ARC of this book courtesy of Net Galley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely**
All In Good Time 