Pam's Review: Darn Good Cowboy Christmas by Carolyn Brown

Darn Good Cowboy Christmas
~Carolyn Brown

Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages 
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca 
Publish Date: October 1, 2011 
ISBN-10: 1402261578 
ISBN-13: 978-1402261572
ASIN: B005EU50QK

From Goodreads:
Born and raised in a traveling carnival, all Liz Hanson ever wanted for Christmas was a home that didn't have wheels. After she was old enough to date she added one more item: a sexy cowboy.

She's about given up on Santa ever bringing either one when her father dies and leaves her an ugly house and twenty acres in Texas. Then rancher Raylen O'Donnell walks onto her property...

Lizelle Hanson is a carnie, as she calls herself. She traveled and worked as a fortune teller and belly dancer for most of her life. But what she always wanted was roots; somewhere to call home, a house that has a foundation and not wheels. In fact, that is a Christmas wish that she has; she wants a house and a cowboy. The first part of her wish comes true when her uncle moves out of his house to take care of his father and is going to leave it to her if she still wants to live there after she tries it out for a few months. Liz is ecstatic. She arrives at the house in Texas to find her uncle’s neighbor, Raylen O’Donnell, there. He is the very cowboy that she had a crush on when she used to visit her uncle, and she has been fantasizing about him for years. Could this be the second half of her wish coming true?

My Thoughts:
This is the first book that I haven’t finished since I started reviewing. I definitely gave it a chance though; I read to page 225. Besides just not being interesting, there were a lot of things that bothered me about this book.

First, the shifting of the characters points of view. There was constant shifting with no clear breaks. It gets very confusing, especially if the shift happens within a single paragraph, which it did!

Second, the repeating of thoughts. Liz would think a thought, and then say the thought out loud to someone else. Then she would repeat it later to another character. I get how perhaps the author is trying to show how the third character found out about what she was thinking, but this isn’t the way to do it.

Third, Liz’s character herself. She would ramble a lot, and it just wasn’t attractive to me. Also, everything was handed to her on a silver platter. Where’s the challenge? She wants a house, gets it from her uncle. Wants a job, gets one handed to her right when she moves to town. Wants to decorate her house like the Griswold’s, the neighbors pitch right in to help. It was annoying. I feel like she acted very juvenile too. Here’s Liz talking to Raylen about what kind of Christmas tree she wants.

“I want a real one but Momma reminded me that I’m allergic to cedar and pine trees. Do you think they’ll have one that doesn’t look perfect? I want it to look real even if it’s not.” (p. 181)

I guess I just feel like a grown woman should know what she was allergic to. It wasn’t just that though, it was all things like I listed above.

I can’t imagine the work it takes a write a book, I really can’t. But Darn Good Cowboy Christmas was not worth the read.

My Rating:

 Pam
Book provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Red's Hot Cowboy by Carolyn Brown

Red's Hot Cowboy 

~Carolyn Brown 



Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages 

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Publish Date: August 1, 2011 

ISBN-10: 1402253613 

ISBN-13: 978-1402253614 

ASIN: B0057H76V2 



 
From Goodreads:

When Pearl Richland inherits her aunt's 1950s motel she returns to her roots. Tired of the big city, she's ready for small town life, especially when sexy cowboy Wil Marshall comes in to escape an ice storm. Pearl never thought she'd turn in her high heels and start dating a cowboy, but Wil's got an awful lot to offer if a girl's available for a whole lot of fun, sizzle, and unexpected trouble...

Pearl Richland has given up her job as a loan officer in a large bank, and has decided to run the motel her great aunt Perlita left her in her will.  She's tired of watching other people pursue their dreams and has decided  it's her turn.  She's enjoying running the hotel, even if it does leave her tired and with no time to go out and have fun.  A winter storm knocks the power out in the next city over, and suddenly her little motel is full.  The last guest to check in, Wil Marshall, is one handsome cowboy, even if he did call her Red.  But Pearl has no time for handsome cowboys, she's got a motel to run.



The next morning, however, the motel is overrun by police, looking for Wil, claiming he murdered someone during the night.  Pearl knows he didn't do it, and heads down to the police station to say so.  After a few hours, Wil is released and the police admit they made a mistake.



Wil appreciates her assistance, but has no plans to pursue any sort of relationship with Pearl other than a thank-you dinner.  Pearl doesn't even want that, she's too busy.   Neither can get the other out of their mind, though, and they start talking by phone, then go out a few tiimes, and by the time they realize they're head over heels for each other it's too late to slow down.



My thoughts:

This was a cute read, neither Pearl nor Wil were looking for romance, it just happened.  I have to say, one of the parts I loved about Red's Hot Cowboy was how they'd talk and flirt on the phone just like an old fashioned romance, and had a few kisses before anything else happened.  Their comraderie and friendship was refreshing to read.



I enjoyed seeing Pearl's cousin Austin again, from the first book in this series, Love Drunk Cowboy, and getting to check in on how she and Rye are doing.  We also get to see Rye's family again (I'm looking forward to his brothers' stories)



That being said, I had a little trouble with the dialogue...I think it was because there were so many times contractions were not used ("you are" instead of "you're") it just felt awkward and pulled me out of the story.  I also didn't see the conflict very well:  Wil was worried Pearl wouldn't want to settle down with one cowboy, but I didn't really see what was holding Pearl back.



All in all though, a light, cute read.  Fans of Ms. Brown's books will enjoy Red's Hot Cowboy and be anxious for the next installment in the series, Darn Good Cowboy Christmas, featuring Rye's brother Raylen (*whew!* that should be good!)

 My Rating:

Book received from the pubisher in exchange for an honest review.

Review: Love Drunk Cowboy by Carolyn Brown

Love Drunk Cowboy
~Carolyn Brown

Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publish Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN-10: 1402253583
ISBN-13: 978-1402253584
ASIN: B004TTS2TO

From the back cover:
She’s a Self-Made City Girl…
High-powered career woman Austin Lanier suddenly finds herself saddled with an inherited watermelon farm deep in the countryside. She’s determined to sell the farm, until her new, drop-dead sexy neighbor Rye O’Donnell shows up…

He’s as Intoxicating as Can Be…
Rancher Rye O’Donnell thinks he’s going to get a good deal on his dream property—until he meets the fiery new owner. Rye is knocked sideways when he realizes that not only is Granny Lanier’s city-slicker granddaughter a savvy businesswoman, she’s also sexy as hell…

Suddenly Rye is a whole lost less interested in real estate and a whole lot more focused on getting Austin to set aside her stiletto heels…

Austin Lanier is an oil executive in Tulsa. Her mother has always encouraged her to put her career first and focus on working her way to the top.

Rye O'Donnell is a cowboy through and through - he owns a ranch, raises bulls, and rides in the rodeo.

When Austin's grandmother dies, she leaves her a watermelon farm and very specific funeral instructions. Austin goes out to Terral, Texas to carry out her grandmother's wishes, and she meets Rye, who lives across the street from her grandmother's farm. Rye was friendly with Austin's grandmother, and after her death Austin and Rye spoke on the phone, but Austin assumed he was an older man in his 70s, not a 32-year-old hunky cowboy.

Austin's intention is to clear out her grandmother's home, sell the farm, and move back to Tulsa, but it her plans keep leading her back towards Terral: There's migrant workers who depend on working the farm, a watermelon winery that's a surprise to Austin, and she can't stop thinking about that sexy cowboy right across the street.

My thoughts: Love Drunk Cowboy was pretty cute. I liked both Austin and Rye, and their chemistry was good. I loved how various scenarios made it seem that Austin's grandmother was pushing them together from the grave. The townsfolk were friendly and fun (the workings of the gossip mill had me smiling), and I enjoyed reading Austin's struggle between her corporate career and small-town living. While I liked Rye's family, I didn't care for Austin's mother and aunts - they seemed one-dimensional and flat. Austin's obsession with Rye's tattoo drove me up a wall, I think it was mentioned at least a dozen times.

My Rating:

This is the first book in Ms. Brown's "Spikes & Spurs" series, and I'm looking forward to the next book, Red's Hot Cowboy, coming August 1, 2011:

This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.