4 Stars

Publisher: Dragonfly Press

Date of publication: October 7th, 2016

Genre: Romance

Series: Cameron Cowboys

Rodeo Man – Book 1

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis:

Rodeo star Grady Farrell is devastated when a gruesome leg injury ends his career. The rodeo was his life, and retirement gives him too much time to think about Becca Johnson, the woman who betrayed him. But when Grady buys a ranch in Cameron, Utah, he comes face to face with Becca again.

Becca is no longer the insecure teenager Grady remembered – she’s now a strong, confident woman. She’s never stopped loving Grady, but she knows she can’t get too close to him. Becca is hiding a huge secret – she can’t let him find out that her daughter is his daughter, too.

When Grady finds out the truth, will this new betrayal destroy their second chance at love?

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My review:

Becca Johnson was once involved with rodeo star Grady Farrell. In an attempt to get him to come home from the rodeo, she told him that she was seeing someone else. It backfired on her big time when Grady basically told her to have a nice life. The prologue ends with her feeling sick to her stomach and thinking that it was due to the stress of her and Grady ending things. I was once a stupid teenager and did stuff like that to try to get a guy to come to me. Like Becca, it blew up in my face big time. So when I read that, I read it while smirking.

The book flashes forward 9 years later. Becca has grown up. She is now a veterinarian, owns a partnership in the practice that she works for and is the single mother to an 8-year-old girl named Cassie. She is doing well for herself but has never forgotten Grady. Well, wasn’t she surprised when she arrives at the Flying W Ranch to float horses teeth and finds out that Grady is the new owner. The old owner, Sy Ames, lost the ranch to Grady while playing cards. I did pause while reading and think to myself “They still do that (put the property up when there is no money)?”

Becky is carrying a lot of baggage due to her relationship with Grady. A lot and it shows in her interactions with him. She half-lies about things and withholds other important things. Very important things, which drove me kinda nuts. So I didn’t blame Grady for not being very happy when he found out her big secret. I would have been just as shocked and upset as he was.

There are sparks flying between the two of them which Becky tries to ignore. About half the book was her ignoring the sparks between them but when they gave in, the sex was out of this world good. And, guess what!!! They used protection. I swear I did a double fist pump when I read that (if you have been reading my blog, you know my views on fictional unprotected sex….lol).

Becca is also being stalked by someone. Who, she doesn’t know. She does have 2 suspects that she tells the police: Sy Ames, the ex-owner of the Flying W Ranch and Grady’s new ranch manager, Ron Perkins. The author did a great of keeping you guessing as to who the stalker was up to when he was revealed. I was surprised at who it was. Also, I loved Becca’s creative use of plastic wrap to keep the stalker in place while waiting for the police….lol.

I will say that Cassie was the cutest thing, ever. She actually reminded me of my daughter when she was that age. They both love horses and my daughter actually really loved watching the rodeo on TV.

The ending was pretty typical of a romance novel, not that it took away from the book at all. Everything was wrapped up nice and I am expecting Grady and Becca to have a HEA. I can’t wait to see where this series goes and who the book will be about next. The author introduced some pretty interesting characters.

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I would give Rodeo Man an Adult rating. There is mention of sex. There is mild language. There is mild violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Rodeo Man. I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**