Linda @ (un)Conventional Bookworms

Tempting the Cowboy- Elizabeth Otto
Published by: Entangled Publishing, on 14 October 2013
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Pages: 216, Format: eARC
Source: ARC Netgalley

After taking a job on a quiet Montana dude ranch, ex-cop Rylan Frederickson finds herself surrounded by unbelievably sexy cowboys. Too bad the one she wants is her boss...and the single dad of a four-year-old. It doesn’t matter anyway, because after a recent tragedy, there’s simply no more room in her heart.

Letting a new woman into their life is the last thing Cole Haywood wants for him and his daughter, Birdie. But as Rylan’s presence at Paint River Ranch breathes new life into his family he can’t ignore his growing attraction.

When the sparks between them turn into fireworks in bed, Rylan’s torn between the family she’s lost and the one she may have found. Now she must decide if something that feels this good is worth the risk.

*I received a free ARC of Tempting the Cowboy from Entangled Publishing LLC via Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*

Tempting the Cowboy started out as a sweet contemporary romance, with a sexy cowboy and an ex-cop who felt she needed to escape the big city to get her life back together. Rylan is ready to do the work, and being a house-keeper at a ranch with guest cottages doesn’t scare her in the least. Cole is a tall, sexy, busy cowboy, and their first meeting was not the best it could be. The chemistry was definitely present from the very start, though, but both Cole and Rylan were fighting it – for different, and very personal reasons.

As Tempting the Cowboy went on, it quickly went from ‘just’ contemporary romance to a story with much more substance. Both Rylan and Cole have a lot of bad experiences in their past, and they are both very afraid to trust again. The way they are both trying to heal their own wounds, how they are so attracted to each other, but don’t even dare to hope for love again is very poignant, and their growth is truly amazing – even if there are some set-backs.

The writing is good, and there are some pretty original turns of phrases, some are great, others a little corny, but it worked well for me anyway. I always enjoy it when an author is able to step a little outside of the usual tropes for a genre, and the prose has a lot to do with that. The character development is well done, too, and I enjoyed learning why Rylan reacted the way she did, both to Birdie and to the Haywood family as a whole. As the readers get to know Rylan better, it becomes impossible not to both love her and feel sorry for her! Tempting the Cowboy isn’t all dark either, though, there is a lot of hope, and both Rylan and Cole are very strong characters.

The interactions between Cole and his brother Tucker are really great, too, the way it shows that they love and respect each other, but that they aren’t seeing eye to eye on absolutely everything contributed to making Tempting the Cowboy a good story. Showing more background to all of the characters also help set up the continuation of this sexy series that is Paint River Ranch. I am not sure if the ARC I had was fully edited, as there were some minor mistakes here and there, but I was firmly planted inside the story anyway.

Between the extremely steamy chemistry, the new hope, the character development as well as both the overall story and the plot all participated in making Tempting the Cowboy a good contemporary romance story, with more punch than most. Also, sexy cowboys make me swoon, so having both Cole and Tucker, as well as some of the other men working on the ranch definitely made me salivate, and also made me want more – I will definitely continue this series as more books are released.

Her body was reacting to the first enticing man she’d seen in too damned long. Good thing Cole was her boss so she wouldn’t be tempted to act on her brain’s internal “look at the pretty cowboy” jumping and pointing.

All that time hiding in her house, pacing and sitting idle and flipping through television channels, completely erased her sense of purpose, while very nearly erasing her sense of self.

He caught her looking and his resulting smile wasn’t just wicked – it was bone-busting lust married to evil. Silence dropped between them, their gazes tangling

.

Ice and fire decided to breed painful babies in his balls.

Her eyes flew to his, and he grabbed her gaze as he pleasured her.