Cowboy Honor (Longhorn Canyon)

Cowboy Honor
by Carolyn Brown
Release Date:  September 25, 2018
Publisher:  Forever
Book #2 in the Longhorn Canyon series
Number of pages:  310
Paperback
Source: Warren Public Library
Contemporary Romance/Western M/F
Rating: R
Read 2/12/19 to 2/13/19

 

 

Patience was never one of her virtues. After her SUV runs off the road in the middle of a Texas blizzard and her cell stops working, Claire Mason is about to snap. Getting back home to Oklahoma with her four-year-old niece is top priority. And lucky for her, help comes in the form of a true Texas cowboy…

Levi Jackson has always been a sucker for strays. So he can’t help getting involved when he comes across Claire and her little niece shivering in the cold. By offering them a place to stay until her car is fixed, he can make sure the two are taken care of – and get to know the sassy Claire better.

What starts as something awkward and temporary starts feeling cozier by the minute. And soon Levi is hoping he can convince Claire she has a permanent place in his heart.

I’ve mentioned before that I have mixed results with this author’s work.  Mostly, I love her writing and her stories draw me in.  In my opinion, she has her characters talk to themselves (or their dead relatives) a bit too much.  In some stories it’s charming, in some it borders on annoying.  For the most part, even if it’s not dripping off the pages in every story, the chemistry is always there.  That alone makes her books worth reading.

Levi, with his kind heart and knack with animals, is beyond adorable when it comes to Claire and her niece Zaylie.  Having many young nieces myself, I could totally hear and see Zaylie in my mind.  Ms. Brown wrote her with such love and fun. Of course, I could also understand Claire’s initial reactions to Levi and her determination to keep her eye on him.

I’ve learned that I really love a snowed in story…especially when the people trapped aren’t actually in any real danger.  This was the perfect snowed in story to me since it starts off with a very narrow world for the characters, being stuck in a small one room cabin.  But expands to them still being somewhat trapped, but on the larger ranch so there is more freedom of movement.  It gave Claire a chance to see Levi interact with others and see how beautiful a soul he has.

This is a wonderful Christmas story.  It has joy and sorrow and love.  Lots and lots of love.  Romantic love, familial love, friendly love.  All the love you need.

4 stars