Her Lucky Cowboy (Jennifer Ryan)

September 18, 2015 Book Reviews 6 ★★★★

Her Lucky Cowboy (Jennifer Ryan)Her Lucky Cowboy by Jennifer Ryan
Series: Montana Men #3
Published by Avon on August 25th 2015
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Pages: 384
Format: Paperback
Source: the publisher
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four-stars
Also in this series: His Cowboy Heart
Also by this author: Everything She Wanted, His Cowboy Heart, Protected By Love, Escape to You

Everything's bigger in Big Sky country, including the hearts of the Montana Men.

Champion rodeo rider Dane Bowden is eight seconds from winning under the Vegas lights, one last hurrah before reluctantly returning to his family's Montana ranch. But his bull has other plans. When Dane wakes up, he's sure he's died and gone to heaven . . . because the doctor who comes to his aid is the same girl who saved his life and disappeared years ago.

Bell would do anything for Dane. He's the fantasy that always kept her going. A child genius hidden away by her family, Bell was the secret no one talked about, the girl no one wanted. Despite finding success as a young surgeon, she's still the awkward girl who's never had a boyfriend. So why does Dane, a notorious playboy and sizzling-hot cowboy, insist on taking her on a real date?

Bell is the only woman in Dane's heart. When a rodeo rivalry turns deadly, it's his turn to save Bell's life—because he sure as hell won't lose his guardian angel again.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher.

Review

All it took was one Jennifer Ryan book, and I am hooked! Interesting, well-developed characters and a soupcon of suspense make this series irresistible.

Bell is a different sort of heroine than I usually come across. Sure, there are plenty of heroines who were emotionally abused as children, but Bell’s intellectual brilliance and social awkwardness make her stand out. She’s the “bright girl who didn’t fit in” taken to the nth degree. I liked and sympathized with her immediately.

The reformed rake or playboy is a common trope in romance, both historical and contemporary, but Ryan really made Dane’s conversion work because it doesn’t come all at once, and he has to work at it. It takes him a while to overcome his habit of calling all women “honey,” for instance, even though Bell hates it. And I appreciated that Bell isn’t the only reason he wants to change; it’s clear from the start that he has been moving toward a more responsible (adult?) life even before he encounters her again. His persistence and patience with her really won me over.

Strong, vivid writing (the scene in the bullring had my heart in my throat!), well-written secondary character, great pacing, and that suspense subplot I alluded to above, all had me turning pages until late into the night. I can’t wait to read the rest of the series, starting with book one – which is already sitting on my Kindle.

four-stars

About Jennifer Ryan

Jennifer Ryan, New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Hunted and McBrides Series, writes romantic suspense and contemporary small-town romances.

Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she isn’t writing a book, she’s reading one. Her obsession with both is often revealed in the state of her home, and how late dinner is to the table. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper.

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6 Responses to “Her Lucky Cowboy (Jennifer Ryan)”

  2. Stephanie Faris

    This made me laugh out loud–one of my fellow children’s writers was asking me about writing romance, since I spent 5 years or so at the beginning of my career trying to get published in that genre. She writes about entertainment stuff and I was explaining that you can’t write that in romance…publishers want pregnant heroines, cowboys, and marriages of convenience. I was wondering if that had changed! I’m guessing no. The romance reading community knows what they want and they love their cowboys!
    Stephanie Faris recently posted…No, I Don’t Want a Sears Rewards Card!My Profile

  4. R_Hunt @ View From My Home

    I like the hunky cowboy on the cover 🙂 though I’m not a big fan of photograph covers.
    That being said, and though it contains the well-used trope of reformed playboy/rake… there are only so many stories that can be told, and then only so many sub-genres in that one story. The handsome, masculine cowboy who decides to change his cheating/wicked ways for a good woman will always be a major plot line in books! I will think about picking this one up or one by Ms. Ryan.
    R_Hunt @ View From My Home recently posted…Weekly Wrap-Up 9/19/15My Profile